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Tue. Sep. 18, 2012 Ann-Ellen Hornidge will chair Lahey Health System’s board of trustees Ann-Ellen Hornidge, a partner at the law firm Mintz Levin with extensive experience in health care financing, will serve as chair of the Lahey Health System board of trustees, the Lahey Health System said Tuesday. The appointment follows the alliance of Lahey Clinic of Burlington and Northeast Health System of Beverly, which formed a hospital network that stretches from Boston’s northwestern suburbs to Cape Ann. The network includes such hospitals as Lahey Clinic, Beverly Hospital, Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, and BayRidge Hospital in Lynn.	Advertisement
Nuance Communications to buy Ditech Networks to expand voice-technology services Nuance Communications Inc., a Burlington company known for its Dragon brand of speech-recognition products, said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy Ditech Networks, which offers such voice technology services as PhoneTag voicemail-to-text services. Nuance said it has agreed to acquire Ditech Networks for $1.45 per share in cash, representing a total enterprise value of about $22.5 million, net of Ditech Networks’ cash as of the signing date. Among other things, Nuance said that Ditech Networks’ PhoneTag service will enhance Nuance’s Dragon voice-to-text services business.
Treasurer Steve Grossman proposes that state pension fund chief take on additional duties Massachusetts Treasurer Steve Grossman Tuesday proposed that state pension fund executive director Michael Trotsky take on the additional role of investment chief. The $50 billion retirement fund for state workers, formally known as the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, or PRIM, has had a number of key vacancies. The most gaping of those has been the investment chief’s role, following the June departure of Stanley P. Mavromates Jr. Trotsky, a former hedge fund executive, has been acting investment chief since then.
Priceline app for Kindle Fire uses Skyhook technology Skyhook Inc., a Boston company that provides location services, said its technology has been integrated into Priceline Hotel Negotiator app designed for the Kindle Fire e-reader/tablet device. Priceline Hotel Negotiator is designed to help travelers quickly find and book hotel rooms at the last minute. As a result of Skyhook technology being incorporated into the Priceline app, travelers can use their Kindle Fire devices to quickly find and book last-minute hotel rooms nearby at current published prices.
T.J. Maxx looks to hire 80 employees for new store in Cambridge T.J. Maxx has scheduled a job fair for later this week to hire more than 80 employees for the new store it is planning to open at the CambridgeSide Galleria shopping complex. The three-day fair is set to take place at CambridgeSide Galleria on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, said T.J. Maxx, a chain of off-price apparel and home furnishings stores operated by TJX Cos. of Framingham.
Norway cancer company Algeta is opening an office in Cambridge Algeta ASA, a Norwegian company specializing in cancer therapeutics, said it has scheduled the official opening of its Algeta US office in Cambridge for Tuesday afternoon. The office will initially have a head-count of 12 employees with plans to grow. Algeta US president Jeff Albers said, “Algeta Group’s expansion to the US is an important step toward realizing our vision for building a global oncology company commercializing innovation.”
NStar Gas says it’s proposing the lowest heating price in 10 years NStar Gas said Tuesday that it has submitted a new supply rate that has the potential for lowering natural gas heating bills for residential customers by $15 a month when compared with prices from a year ago. NStar’s proposal requires regulatory approval. NStar added that it is hoping that its request will be approved so the new rate would go into effect Nov. 1.
Bedford’s iRobot buys California robot maker Bedford’s iRobot Corp., maker of the Roomba vacuum cleaner, will buy California robot maker Evolution Robotics Inc. for $74 million. The deal, which is expected to close later this year, adds a new line of floor-cleaning robots to iRobot’s suite of consumer and military robots. Evolution Robotics’ Mint, which is designed to automatically clean wood floors, sell for about $200.
Massachusetts steps up inspections of gas stations on the heels of recent price hikes As the average price of gas reaches nearly $4 a gallon, state officials are stepping up inspections of gas stations to make sure consumers aren’t being gouged and that gas stations are following signage regulations. “At a time when gas is significantly more expensive than normal, it is important to ensure consumers are not paying more than they should because of mistakes by gas stations,” said Barbara Anthony, Undersecretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation.
Microsoft store is set to open at the Mall at Rockingham Park in NH The Mall at Rockingham Park is gearing up for Sept. 29 grand opening of a Microsoft store, mall officials said. The mall is ocated in Salem, N.H., and mall officials added that other new retail tenants coming to the shopping center include the Art of Shaving, a Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt shop, a Fanzz sports apparel store, a Select Comfort store (Select Comfort is known for its Sleep Number mattresses), a Garage (a Canadian haberdasher keen on casual fashions), and a Halloween Shoppe.
Alex Krieger has been appointed to the US Commission of Fine Arts President Barack Obama has appointed Alex Krieger to be a member of the US Commission of Fine Arts, his firm said Monday. Krieger is a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and he is a founding principal of the architecture and urban design firm Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, which is now part of the firm NBBJ. The commission advises the federal government and the District of Columbia “on matters of design and aesthetics, as they affect the Federal interest and preserve the dignity of the nation’s capital.”
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