Cheapskate tourists might have been well advised to give Boston a good leaving-alone in recent months --- according to a new survey, the Hub was the most expensive hotel destination in the US this spring. The survey is from CheapHotels.org, and it looked at the time frame of March through May. The spring rankings were based on the average rate for the cheapest available double room. Hotels had to carry a minimum three-star rating to be included. Only hotels that are located in or within one mile of the city center or the beach were considered. Boston clocked in at number one, with travelers having had to spend an average of $245 per night. Slightly behind was Santa Monica, Calif., with an average nightly price tag of $239 nightly. Dassault Systèmes, a French company with close to 1,000 employees in Massachusetts, said Wednesday that it has agreed to buy Apriso for about $205 million. Dassault Systèmes specializes in computer-aided design and 3D design software. California-based Apriso provides manufacturing software. Apriso’s software “enriches” the manufacturing operations management capabilities of Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Its 3DEXPERIENCE platform is used by such customers as General Motors, Hitachi, Lockheed Martin, L’Oreal, Philip Morris International, and Volvo CE. “This acquisition will merge 3DEXPERIENCE and Apriso’s solutions and deliver a new business experience to our customers,” Bernard Charlès, president and chief executive of Dassault Systèmes, said. Added Apriso CEO Jim Henderson, “Now in combination with Dassault Systèmes’ leadership in 3DEXPERIENCE, we are ‘closing the loop’ between design, engineering, manufacturing, and consumer experience.” Jamie Parker has left WGBH, where she served as vice president of marketing and communications, to join the Boston-based Greenough public relations agency founded by her husband, Phil Greenough. Parker will take the position of president and, according to a company press release, will assume overall responsibility for operations. She will also be charged with developing a new practice area dedicated to serving mission-based nonprofit organizations. The Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure announced Wednesday the membership of a new advisory council on Private Occupational Schools, which will be chaired by Undersecretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation Barbara Anthony. The oversight of private occupational schools was transferred to the department last year from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. There are currently more than 200 occupational schools licensed to operate in Massachusetts. “I look forward to moving this industry forward in the right direction,” Anthony said. “There are many areas, such as advertising and sales practices in particular, where the advisory council has the chance to make a positive difference for students and schools alike.” The council’s first meeting is scheduled to take place on June 7, the division said. Artfact, a Boston-based auction marketplace, said it is helping to auction off an acrylic nail worn by Lady Gaga during a Dublin concert last year. Current bid price: One thousand pounds or just over $1,500. Fans who covet such an item have just over 24 hours to submit a bid of their own. The auction deadline is Thursday evening, British time. Known for stretching the limits of fashionista panache, Lady Gaga included a black acrylic fingernail with a gold-bead pattern as part of her stage get-up during a Dublin stop on her “The Born This Way Ball” tour, Artfact said. While performing, Lady Gaga apparently shed the faux fingernail, and it was later recovered by a crew member after the show. The median price for single-family homes in Massachusetts rose to $313,000 in April, a near 14 percent increase compared to the same time last year as increased buyer demand and a tight housing inventory pushed up home values, new data released Wednesday shows. An index that seeks to measure global investor confidence posted a 94.8 reading in May, up 1.8 points from a revised April reading of 93. The index is maintained by State Street Global Markets, the investment research and trading arm of State Street Corp., a financial services company headquartered in Boston. The State Street Investor Confidence Index was developed by Harvard University professor Kenneth Froot and Paul O’Connell of State Street Associates. It measures investor confidence or risk appetite quantitatively by analyzing the actual buying and selling patterns of institutional investors. “Institutional investors continued to augment their allocations to risky assets this month, albeit at a slower pace than we observed in either the first quarter, or the last weeks of April,” Froot said. |
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