Visiting nurses unit being closed by Quincy Medical
QUINCY – After nearly 100 years of service, the Quincy Visiting Nurse Association is being terminated by Quincy Medical Center. Its 400 patients will be transferred to other health care agencies by June 30, Quincy Medical announced. Quincy Medical’s board chairman said the Visiting Nurse Association had been operating under severe financial pressure because of the reduction in funds from Medicare, as well as health care agencies. As a result, he said, the agency’s losses threatened to drain the hospital’s financial resources. The agency employs 110 home health care workers.
Hill, Holliday to take over San Francisco firm
BOSTON – Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopoulos, the advertising agency based here, will take over the operation of Goldberg Moser O’Neil, based in San Francisco. Both firms are owned by Interpublic Group, the second biggest ad agency in the world. The merged firm will be called GMO/Hill and will be directed by Jack Connors, the chief executive at Hill Holliday. The combination creates a national firm with 1,000 employees and anticipated annual billings of $1.2 billion, according to The Boston Globe.
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Raytheon announces first quarter loss
LEXINGTON – Raytheon Co. has announced a first quarter loss of $181 million, compared with net income of $205 million for the same period last year. The loss was attributed principally to the sale of the company’s heavy construction unit. Raytheon recorded a $191 million loss on the sale of the unit to Morrison Knudsen Corp., of Boise, Idaho, which reported that it planned to buy the unit for $10 million in cash and assume debts of $500 million. Despite the losses, Raytheon’s chief executive, Daniel Burnham, said the company’s performance otherwise was “an important first step in repositioning the company for 2001 and beyond,” the Boston Globe reported. He cited the prospects of additional revenue for the company in possible future missile contracts and work on the proposed National Missile Defense Program.
Desalinization plant proposed for Dighton-Taunton
BRAINTREE – Blue Stone Energy Services, based here, is proposing to build a $35 million desalinization plant in Dighton, near the Taunton line to take water from the Taunton River, treat it and sell it to area towns for drinking water. Blue Stone proposes to take 10 million gallons a day from the river, process the salt out of the water, and pipe it to Taunton, Easton, Raynham and Brockton. Blue Stone needs approval from the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency, various boards and conservation agencies in the affected towns and cities, as well as hundreds of abutters along the river.
Newton vinyl-films plant to close
NEWTON – Geon Co., the world’s largest manufacturer of vinyl compounds announced that it would close a vinyl-film plant here by the middle of next year to save $1 million production costs. The plant employs about 80 workers. Geon bought the plant from the O’Sullivan Corp. last year. Geon, located in Avon Lakes, Ohio, announced it would sell the site, and expected the proceeds from the sale to exceed closing costs. The company said it was negotiating with the union representing the employees.
Bay State unemployment falls to 2.4 percent
BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Employment and Training reported that the state’s unemployment level dropped to 2.4 percent in March, down from 3.1 in February as 1,200 more workers were employed. DE&T attributed the increase to a surge in hiring by construction and service companies that offset losses in manufacturing and trade. Massachusetts is now tied for fifth place with Vermont on the list of states with the lowest level of unemployment.
Polaroid to sell diode business
CAMBRIDGE – Polaroid Corp. has announced that it has agreed to sell its laser diode development and manufacturing business to Boston Laser, Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Boston Laser is located in Norwood. Laser diodes are used to provide concentrated light sources in various fiberoptic processes including communications, medicine and printing.
Corning completes purchase of NZ Applied
WOBURN – NZ Applied Technologies Corp., based here, has agreed to sell the remaining 80 percent of its closely held stock Corning, Inc., manufacturer of glass fibers used in high-speed telecommunications. Corning will pay $150 million in stock to acquire NZ, Bloomberg News reported. Corning already owned about 20 percent of NZ, which makes equipment that increases the volume of information that can be transmitted over fiber optic systems.
Parlex reports 57 percent revenue increase
METHUEN – Parlex Corp. reported third quarter revenues of $25,271,000, a 57 percent increase over the same period a year ago. Net income was $1,703,000, an 80 percent increase. For the nine months, revenues were $70,020,000 versus $46,945,000 for the same period last year and net income was $4,599,000, up from $1,682,000 a year ago. Parlex Corp. is a leading provider of flexible interconnect solutions to the automotive, telecommunications and networking, diversified electronics, aerospace and computer markets. The company also has a facility in Rhode Island.
