Jostens bringing ring work back from Mexico
ATTLEBORO – Reversing its decision made in 1996, Jostens, the class ring manufacturer, has decided to bring back about 200 seasonal jobs that it had transferred to a plant in Mexico south of San Antonio, Texas. The company said the eight-to-nine-month class ring finishing jobs would once again place their fabricating and finishing processes under the same roof. Despite its expectations for savings in Mexico, the company, through a spokesman, said the “efficiency and savings did not meet expectations.” The spokesman said the Mexican workers were unable to match Attleboro workers in efficiency and savings. The Jostens spokesman said the company hopes to employ 450 workers by this fall, about the same number it employed in 1996 before the work was shifted to Mexico.
State Street passes BankBoston
BOSTON – State Street Corp. has passed BankBoston Corp. to rank second among Boston’s financial services companies. Fleet Financial Group maintains its first place position, according to the Boston Globe. The Globe reported that State Street bank’s value was put at $11.5 billion, about $900 million more than BankBoston. Still. BankBoston is more profitable, earning $792 million last year, compared with State Street’s $436 million. It is in its concentration on the back shop investment side of the business that State Street has had its success. It only makes one-tenth of its income from conventional banking services, earnings from the interest rate spread between borrowing and lending. Wall Street places a value on State Street stock at 24 times earnings expected for 1999, compared with BankBoston’s stock value of 11 times earnings.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
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Boston Scientific Corp. to cut 2,000 jobs
NATICK – Boston Scientific Corp. has announced it will cut about 2,500 jobs, including 250 at its Watertown operation. The layoffs are part of the company’s reorganization plans, the announcement said. Boston Scientific, a maker of medical devices, will still employ 12,000 people worldwide after the layoffs, the announcement said. The company is in the process of absorbing the operations of Schneider Worldwide, a medical devices company purchased from Pfizer Inc. last September.
Wang reports fourth quarter loss
BILLERICA – Wang Global reported a fourth quarter loss despite a tripling of its revenue. Wang, a computer network and desktop service provider, attributed the loss to restructuring charges. Wang reported a loss of $16.4 million or 43 cents a share, compared with a net income of $12..4 million or 22 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Last year Wang reported revenues of $338.9 million. This year the company reported revenue rose to $1.03 billion.
Keane Inc. reports 88 percent income gain
BOSTON – Keane Inc., an information technology consulting firm, reported its net income for the fourth quarter rose 88 percent to $27.4 million, excluding one-time merger related costs of $2.1 million. Keane acquired Fourth Tier. After consideration of the merger costs, Keane’s net income was reported to be $23.6 million, a 62 percent increase from the same period a year ago.
Radcliffe offers mid-career program for women
CAMBRIDGE – Radcliffe College is offering a mid-career program for women for the week of June 27. About 30 women will be selected to participate in the program which will offer a variety of classes from career development to tai chi. The program is designed help women in single track careers to “unleash their creative abilities” and benefit from new associations with peers and academic scholars. Martha Nussbaum, a professor of law and ethics from the University of Chicago will conduct morning seminars.
Environmentalists in a quarry
HOLYOKE — For more than a century, the Mount Tom quarry has been a source of stone and gravel for western Massachusetts and beyond. But a plan to expand it from its current seven acres to 90 acres has also been a source of controversy between environmentalists and the quarry’s property owners. But on Mount Tom, the rights of rare frogs, salamanders, snakes and wildflowers may settle the issue. Robie Hubley, legislative director for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, calls Mount Tom “a biological and geological phenomenon.” Of 12 species of salamander to be found in New England, 10 can be found on Mount Tom. Of 11 species of frogs native to New England, nine can be found on Mount Tom. Of 15 species of snakes native to New England, 13 can be found on Mount Tom, he said. The increase of dynamite blasting, the movement of more heavy equipment in and around the quarry, and the loss of habitat acreage will threaten wildlife if the quarry is expanded to boost business, environmentalists argue.
Training the underemployed
BOSTON — In the first private partnership of its kind, nine financial institutions in Boston have pledged $1 million over three years to send underemployed and jobless candidates from four inner-city training programs to an academy created by the New England College of Finance. The purpose is to fill thousands of future jobs with trained recruits from urban areas who will earn between $18,000 and $25,000 a year. “These are not maintenance jobs,” said Robert Regan, president of the New England College of Finance. “These are career-track jobs, with benefits and a fully paid education at the college. The emphasis is on long-term retention, not hiring people and then wishing them well.”
(Compiled from news reports and releases, print and electronic.)
