Distribution plants to be closed in New Bedford
NEW BEDFORD – Calvin Klein Jeans has notified about 230 employees that it will close its distribution plants here, eliminating their jobs. The company, now owned by Warnaco also makes men’s suits at the Riverside Manufacturing plant here, but that operation is not affected by the closing of the distribution plants, Warnaco spokesman said. However, the Calvin Klein plant is only one of three Calvin Klein plants that are closing. In all 566 employees at plants in New Bedford, Nesquohoning, Pa. And Abbeville, S.C. were notified by Warnaco that it was closing those facilities. While the company would not say where the work was going, analysts speculate Warnaco would move its distribution facility closer to its manufacturing operations in either Mexico or the Caribbean.
Quincy investment broker accused of Ponzi scheme
QUINCY – Arthur F. Good, 51, president of the Boston Investment Group, based in this city, has been accused by federal investigators of bilking customers out of at least $7 million by using a so-called Ponzi scheme to get them to invest more than $21 million in fake or highly speculative stocks and bonds. Good was charged in U.S. District Court in Boston with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and money laundering in a 43-count information filed against him. Good allegedly had several co-conspirators, and is reportedly cooperating with investigators in the probe. He remains free during the investigation.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
Lycos offering new features
WALTHAM – Lycos, Inc. has announced its plans to introduce several new features for Web page commerce, such as auctions on personal home pages and a “universal shopping cart” in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the company (the third largest search directory) will continue to acquire additional properties related to commercial activities, Lycos’ president, Robert Davis said.
Polcari’s restaurant to be franchised
BOSTON – Boston Restaurant Associates Inc. has formed a joint venture partnership, Regina Venture LLC, with Italian Ventures LLC of Louisville, Ky., to franchise and operate Boston-based Polcari’s North End restaurant. Boston Restaurant Associates will be the majority stockholder in the partnership. Construction of the first franchise, a Polcari Bistro, is scheduled to begin in February in Medina, Ohio. The group is initially concentrating on Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, but at least one new franchise is expected to be built in the Greater Boston area this year.
Organogenesis to collaborate with Novavax
CANTON – Organogenesis, Inc. has announced it will collaborate with Novavax Inc. in early stage research. Organogenesis’ living-skin technology research will be combined with the transdermal research technology done by Novavax to explore new developments of “mutual interest,” according to a spokeswoman..
Solectria marks year of Florida electric bus service
WILMINGTON – Solectria Corp. executives are celebrating completion of a full year of successful service by the “ElectroWave” shuttle bus service in Miami Beach, Fla. The 22-passenger buses manufactured by Advanced Vehicle Systems, Inc., of Chattanooga, Tenn., are powered by an electrical drive system designed and built by Solectria. The seven-bus fleet carried nearly 1.5 million passengers during the year, Solectria reported. Solectria produces all-electric drive systems, as well as hybrids with diesel or compressed natural gas propulsion, in conjunction with several bus companies operating around the world. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has provided some of the funds for research and development of these systems through the Northeast Alternative Vehicle Consortium
.
Stratus Computer being sold
MARLBOROUGH – Plans by Ascend Communications Inc. to sell the Stratus Computer division which it bought last October were reported last week by the Boston Globe. Ascend bought the Stratus Computer Corp. for the high speed switches used by phone companies in handling Internet traffic and said at the time that it would dispose of the computer and software divisions. The Globe estimated the sale price at about $125 million, and added that sale of the two software units was expected to be completed later this month. The computer division makes “fault tolerant” machines with redundant and duplicative parts that keep the computer running despite parts failure. The Globe reported Ascend would sell the division to Investcorp of New York, an investment company. According to the Globe, Stratus will operate as an independent company under Investorp with the current chief executive continuing in that capacity. It will employ about 1,000 people worldwide, about 500 of them in Massachusetts. A company spokesman said its fault tolerant products would be manufactured in Ireland by an independent contractor. The spokesman also said it would move out of its Marlborough headquarters in the spring.
Swank to have work done in Costa Rica
ATTLEBORO – Swank has announced it has agreed to a joint venture with Gamier & Gamier of San Jose, Costa Rica, for the manufacture there of jewelry and belts. Swank will hold 65 percent of the shares in the venture, investing cash, inventory and equipment. Gamier will provide the inventory and equipment of an existing jewelry manufacturer that had been a supplier to Swank. The product will be distributed by Swank.
Cambridge software firm bought by Lucent
CAMBRIDGE – Kenan Systems Corp. has been acquired by Lucent Technologies Inc. for $1.45 billion in Lucent stock, all of which will go to the company’s founder and owner, Kenan Sahir, a Turkish-born entrepreneur and former teacher at MIT and other Massachusetts institutions. Sahir, who founded the company in 1982 with $1,000, had retained personal control of it, rejecting investors. He told the Boston Globe he would use some of his new fortune to establish an educational foundation that will focus on classroom instruction via the Internet. Sahir said he decided to sell his company when he realized that independent software companies were limited during this era of explosive telecommunications growth. Kenan Systems developed software that was useful to telecommunications companies, and, as that industry has grown rapidly in recent years, so did Kenan’s revenues, surging from $40 million to $175 million in the last three years. Its number of employees similarly rose from 100 to 750, half in Cambridge, the rest elsewhere in the country as well as in Europe. Sahir plans to continue running Kenan software, but now as a subsidiary of Lucent. The company also is expected to remain in Cambridge.
(Compiled from news reports and releases, print and electronic.)
