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Wed. Jul. 11, 2012 Mass. AG to review utility service standards BOSTON (AP) — Attorney General Martha Coakley has launched a review of standards used to measure the overall service quality of local utility companies to determine if they are adequate.	Advertisement
Bingham McCutchen appoints L. Tracee Whitley as new chief operating officer Bingham McCutchen LLP, a global law firm with a major presence in Boston, announced the appointment Wednesday of L. Tracee Whitley as its new chief operating officer. Whitley was previously deputy chief operating officer. She succeeds William A. Bachman, who now holds the title of executive director of partner leadership development.
Microsoft to open Boston store in August Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday that it will open its first Boston store on Aug. 23 at the Prudential Center. The Redmond, Wash., software giant currently has 20 retail outlets around the country. Microsoft opened its first store in 2009 in Scottsdale, Ariz., in a bid to compete with rival Apple Inc., which has more than 360 stores worldwide. Microsoft’s stores will sell hardware and software such as Windows products and the Xbox 360. They will offer training and tech support.
Mass. takes big drop on CNBC list of ‘America’s Top States for Business’ Texas ranked first in CNBC’s 2012 list of America’s Top States for Business, and Massachusetts was 28th, down from last year’s ranking of 6th, the biggest year-to-year drop of any state. According to CNBC, the Bay State fell in a number of categories, including cost of doing business and the condition of its infrastructure. Several big states took hits in the infrastructure category, partly because of updated census data about the nation’s roads, CNBC said.
Mass. attorney general, treasury officials examine state impact of Libor scandal State officials are examining how the growing scandal over manipulation of a key interest rate used to price credit around the world may have affected public finances in Massachusetts. Officials working for Treasurer Steve Grossman and attorney general Martha Coakley will meet later this week to look into the impact of manipulation could have affected finances of the state and state agencies.
Apple leaving Green Registry leads to purchasing fallout San Francisco plans to suspend purchases of Apple Inc. computers after the company stopped participating in an environmental certification program used by governments and universities to make purchasing decisions. San Francisco’s employees will no longer be able to use city funds to buy Apple desktops, laptops, or monitors because the company dropped out of the rating system called EPEAT. According to EPEAT’s website, the registry is used to make purchasing decisions at the states of California and Massachusetts, Ford Motor Co., and Yale University.
Zipcar buys Austrian car-sharing company as it looks to expand in Europe Zipcar Inc. of Cambridge is expanding its European car-sharing network with the acquisition of Austria’s Denzel Mobility CarSharing GmbH, which operates under the name CarSharing.at. The deal adds another 200 vehicles and 10,000 members to Zipcar’s growing European market. Last year, the company bought the majority stake in Catalunya Carsharing SA, a Spanish car-sharing network known as Avancar. Zipcar did not disclose the financial terms of the deal to purchase CarSharing.at.
Gen9 announces appointment of Kevin Munnelly as president and chief executive Gen9 Inc., a Cambridge company developing technologies for synthesizing genes, announced the appointment of Kevin Munnelly as president and chief executive. Company cofounder Joseph Jacobson had been serving as interim CEO. Munnelly joined Gen9 in September as chief operating officer, a post that will now be held by Martin Goldberg. Before joining Gen9, Munnelly was the general manager of a business unit of Life Technologies Corp.
Mass. Association of Realtors: Pending home sales rise for 14th month in a row The number of Massachusetts homes put under agreement in June went up for the 14th straight month on a year-to-year basis, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors said Wednesday. There was concern that the momentum from the spring market might slow, but the numbers for pending sales in June suggest that new buyers are continuing to enter the market, the association said. The number of Bay State single-family homes put under agreement in June was up 29.1 percent compared with the same time last year.
TA Associates completes minority investment in Forgame TA Associates, a private equity firm with offices in Boston, said Wednesday that it has completed a minority investment in Forgame Tech Co. Ltd, one of the largest Web game companies in China. Qiming Venture Partners, a venture capital firm in China, and Ignition Capital Partners, another private equity firm, partnered with TA Associates on the investment. Terms were not disclosed.
Backupify secures $9m in Series C funding Backupify, a Cambridge-based provider of online backup services for cloud application data, announced Wednesday that it has secured $9 million in Series C funding. The funding is from Symantec Corp. as well as existing investors Avalon Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, and Lowercase Capital, said Backupify, which added that it has now raised a total of $19.5 million.
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