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Wed. Feb. 08, 2012 Fidelity: Participation up at workplace retirement savings plan for Children’s Hospital Boston Fidelity Investments said employee participation in one of its workplace retirement savings plans jumped sharply at Children’s Hospital Boston. Headquartered in Boston, Fidelity is a financial services company whose investment products include workplace retirement savings plans. Last year, Children’s Hospital Boston consolidated its plan administration solely with Fidelity. At year’s end, 95 percent of Children’s Hospital Boston’s 9,400 eligible employees were participating in the plan, versus 37 percent a year earlier.	Advertisement
Jones Lang LaSalle secures financing for Framingham apartment complex Jones Lang LaSalle, a professional services firm specializing in real estate, said it has secured $98 million in senior financing for Jefferson Hills, a Framingham apartment complex with 1,020 units. Greystar, a South Carolina-based apartment management company, purchased Jefferson Hills with a loan from Freddie Mac. Jefferson Hills consists of four, six-story apartment buildings. The complex is currently 95-percent leased.
At Staples, Martha Stewart unveils home office products The Martha Stewart line of office products is ready at last. In September, Stewart disclosed plans to team up with Staples Inc. and Avery Dennison Corp. to lend her touch to a line of office products. That line has just been publicly unveiled. It includes more than 300 products in such categories as notebooks and vertical file folders. The line is sold exclusively at Staples.
MassMutual makes list of Top 50 Companies for Executive Women MassMutual Financial Group of Springfield made a list of the “Top 50 Companies for Executive Women.” Drawn up by the National Association for Female Executives, the list looks at large companies that have at least 500 US employees. To merit consideration on the list, a company must have at least two women on its board of directors.
Bruins’ Seguin renews Dunkin’ deal Tyler Seguin of the Boston Bruins has renewed his sponsorship with Dunkin’ Donuts through September, the Canton-based coffee-and-baked goods chain said today. Under the agreement, Seguin will appear in radio commercials that help promote such campaigns as “What Are You Drinkin’?” and “Caught Cold.” He will also be featured in Dunkin’ Donuts’ social media campaigns, conducting Facebook chats with fans, and promoting the local Boston-area Twitter handle.
Fidelity urges SEC not to change money market mutual fund rules Fidelity Investments sent a report to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, urging regulators not to adopt new rules for money market mutual funds that would drive customers away. Boston-based Fidelity is the nation’s largest manager of money market funds, with $433 billion under management in 10.9 million accounts at the end of 2011. Fidelity said in its report that changes made in 2010 to keep money markets safer, in the wake of the financial crisis, were sufficient.
Caesars head to address Boston College’s CEO club Gary W. Loveman, who heads casino giant Caesars Entertainment, is set to address the Boston College’s Chief Executives’ Club of Boston next week. Loveman will speak about “The Gambling Business: Fortune, Science, and the Public Debate” at an invitation-only lunch set for Feb. 14. The remarks promise to be timely. A state law legalizing casino gambling was signed by Governor Deval Patrick in November; the law authorizes up to three resort casinos, one each in Western Massachusetts, Greater Boston/Worcester, and the southeast.
AIM: Mass. business confidence rose in Jan. A confidence index that tracks the mood of local employers posted a 1.8-point gain in January for a reading of 52.8, a sign that many of the state’s business leaders believe that the economy is undergoing a “slow and halting recovery.” The monthly index is maintained by the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, or AIM. The index uses a 100-point scale. A reading above 50 indicates a positive outlook, a reading below 50 a negative one.
iFood app is powered by Dragon speech technology A new version of the iFood Assistant app from Kraft Foods is powered by Nuance Communications Inc.’s Dragon speech-recognition product, Burlington-based Nuance said today. A consumer using the iFood app with an iPhone or an iPod Touch can now use voice commands to create shopping lists, search for recipes, and draw up meal plans, Nuance said in a press release.
Report: China looks to biopharma Greater Boston prides itself on being a biopharmaceutical hotbed, but a new report suggests that the Chinese are also keenly interested in the life sciences industry. The report is from Lux Research of Boston. One line from the report: “A clutch of promising Chinese companies ... underlines the emergence of the Asian giant as a center for biopharma innovation and entrepreneurship, even as Western pharmaceutical companies continue to enjoy technological and business advantages.”
BioMed Realty Trust agrees to buy Cambridge Place for $119m BioMed Realty Trust Inc., a San Diego-based real estate investment trust that focuses on the life sciences industry, has agreed to buy Cambridge Place for $119 million. The transaction would expand BioMed’s real estate portfolio in the Greater Boston-Cambridge market to about 3.2 million square feet of space. Cambridge Place is made up of three buildings, and the property is 80-percent leased. Tenants include CDM Smith Inc., an engineering and construction firm, and Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company.
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