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Wed. Oct. 24, 2012 iRobot is cutting 80 jobs, including 40 in Bedford Bedford’s iRobot Corp., which makes robots for both military uses and for performing household chores, said Wednesday that it will cut about 80 jobs, or 13 percent of its workforce, as part of a corporate restructuring. Of the jobs being cut, 40 are in Bedford, and another 30 are a result of iRobot’s decision to close its maritime office in North Carolina. The company expects to have a head count of 510 jobs after the restructuring is completed. Shares of iRobot were down nearly 20 percent in early afternoon trading.	Advertisement
EMC slides after 3Q results show slowdown HOPKINTON — EMC Corp.’s net income and revenue grew at a slower pace in the third quarter as the uncertain economy led to more cautious spending by customers for its data storage equipment. The results fell short of Wall Street’s expectations and EMC’s stock slipped in morning trading. The company said Wednesday that its net income rose 3 percent as revenue growth slowed from the double-digit gains that it’s seen in the 10 previous quarters.
Rolls-Royce facility in Walpole will work on water jets for the US Navy Rolls-Royce, a name associated with luxury automobiles, said it will develop a highly efficient water jet to propel unmanned surface craft for the US Navy, with much of the work to be done at its facility in Walpole. The company sold its automotive brand name to BMW in the 1970s and is now primarily a maker of jet engines and marine propulsion systems. Walpole is the North American headquarters for the Rolls-Royce naval business.
Chief operating officer Bertrand Loy will succeed Entegris CEO Gideon Argov Entegris Inc., a Billerica-based provider of a wide range of products for purifying, protecting, and transporting critical materials used in processing and manufacturing in the semiconductor and other high-tech industries, said that its chief operating officer, Bertrand Loy, will succeed chief executive Gideon Argov as part of its succession plan. Effective Nov. 1, Loy will be promoted to president. Argov will continue to serve as chief executive until Nov. 27 when Loy will assume the CEO post.
Massachusetts is not necessarily a wine lover’s paradise, OpenTable restaurant survey suggests When it comes to restaurants with swell wine lists, Massachusetts may be taking a back seat to Maryland, Texas, and New Jersey (Exit 8 chardonnay, anyone?). That’s one conclusion that can be drawn from a new list from OpenTable, a California company that helps consumers make restaurant reservations online. OpenTable said it sifted through more than 5 million reviews submitted by OpenTable users to devise the “2012 Diners’ Choice Award Winners for the Top 100 Restaurants With the Most Notable Wine Lists.”
FDA grants priority review of Ariad cancer drug candidate Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Wednesday that the Food and Drug Administration has decided to review its lead cancer drug candidate on an accelerated timetable. Cambridge-based Ariad is working on a drug candidate called ponatinib, which is being developed to help patients with certain kinds of leukemia --- specifically, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The FDA has indicated that it expects to take action on Ariad’s drug application for ponatinib no later than March 27.
Thermo Fisher Scientific reports 3Q results Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., a large Waltham company that provides supplies to the laboratory science industry, said Wednesday that third-quarter net income was $290.4 million, up 9.4 percent from a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share grew 11 percent to $1.19, versus $1.07 a year ago. Company president and chief executive Marc N. Casper crediting “solid execution” for Thermo Fisher Scientific’s third-quarter results. Third-quarter revenues increased 5 percent to $3.09 billion.
Zynga closes Boston office, layoffs elsewhere Troubled game-maker Zynga Inc. closed its Cambridge office Tuesday as part of a company-wide cost cutting plan as it continues to struggle with the decline of game playing on Facebook and increasing competition. The local outpost had grown to about 50 employees, formed after the San Francisco company acquired two Boston-area start-ups in 2010 and 2011, Conduit Labs and Floodgate Entertainment. The unit, known as Zynga Boston, launched its first game, “Adventure World,” in September 2011.
Employees of Morton Hospital in Taunton vote to join Service Employees International Union The overwhelming majority of nearly 500 employees at Morton Hospital in Taunton have voted to join Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union, in what union officials described as the largest union organizing vote of the year in Massachusetts. Workers taking part in the vote at the 152-bed Taunton hospital included respiratory therapists, radiology technicians, licensed practical nurses, nurse assistants, housekeepers, environmental services workers, and dietary workers, according to the union.
American Express OPEN survey: Massachusetts small business owners are more upbeat than national counterparts Thanks partly to the Bay State economy’s reliance on health care and education, Massachusetts-based small business owners seem to be more optimistic about economic issues than their national counterparts, suggests the recently released American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor, which looks to take the temperature of the small business climate twice a year. According to the survey, 66 percent of Massachusetts-based small business owners have a positive outlook on the economy and business prospects, compared with the national average of 49 percent.
Bettie Page 1950s retro fashions have arrived on Newbury Street Tatyana Designs Inc., a Nevada-based retailer whose 1950s retro styles for women draw inspiration from the “iconic Bettie Page,” said it signed a 10-year lease to open a Bettie Page Clothing boutique on Boston’s tony Newbury Street. The company’s Bettie Page boutique, the 10th in the chain, had its official opening last week, and it has such neighbors on Newbury Street as Chanel, Burberry, Cartier, Brooks Brothers, Valentino, Loro Piana, and Giorgio Armani as well as Ann Taylor, Juicy Couture, and DKNY, the company said.
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