State takes over Taunton insurance company
TAUNTON – Trust Insurance has been taken over by the state insurance commissioner in an effort to avoid the company’s liquidation. Asserting that the company’s 200,000-policy holders would be protected, the commissioner’s announced objective is to either rehabilitate or sell the company. Meanwhile, The Boston Globe reported that insurance agents are moving their customers out of Trust’s coverage as quickly as they can. Linda Ruthardt, the insurance commissioner, is quoted by The Globe as calling Trust’s situation “a swampland.” According to statements filed by the commissioner with the Supreme Judicial Court as justification for the takeover, Trust Insurance has no outside auditor, its financial statements are in disarray, and its cash accounts haven’t been reconciled for years. Earlier Ruthardt said in a brief that she had not acted earlier because Trust Insurance, the ninth largest auto insurer in the state, had “sufficient reserves.”
Corning to acquire NetOptix in $2 billion deal
STURBRIDGE, Mass. — Corning Inc., the world’s leading supplier of glass fiber, has ventured further into the world of optical network technology with the acquisition of NetOptix Corp. and new deals with Samsung Electronics and British Telecom. The company said it will acquire Sturbridge-based NetOptix for about $2 billion. NetOptix makes filters that divide light into different wavelengths, a technology known as DWDM that multiplies the amount of data that can be sent through fiber-optic cables. Corning also said it has formed a venture with Samsung to manufacture micro-optic products. South Korea-based Samsung Corning Micro-Optics will produce DWDM components using robotics and other technology developed by Samsung to automate key manufacturing steps. Corning also announced a partnership with British Telecom focusing on photonics research. As part of the deal, Corning agreed to pay $66 million to acquire BT’s Photonics Technology Research Center in Suffolk, Britain.
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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W.R. Grace knew insulation contained asbestos
BOSTON — W.R. Grace and Co. knowingly sold attic insulation that contained asbestos for more than 20 years and never alerted the public, fearing that a warning label might hurt sales, according to the Boston Globe. The Globe said it uncovered a number of documents showing the company knew Zonolite Attic Insulation contained asbestos. A draft of a 1977 press release declared the company was discontinuing the insulation because of “health hazards,” the Globe said. The release was never issued, and Grace continued selling Zonolite for seven more years. Asbestos has been linked to several diseases, including lung cancer. There were no labeling requirements at the time the insulation was manufactured. But while Grace may not have broken the law, the company could find itself the target of a lawsuit from homeowners who believe they have been sickened by the asbestos, said Keith Partlow, chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s civil litigation section.
Suddenly, Boston’s no longer ‘The Hub’
BOSTON — There’s a move afoot to extend Massachusetts beyond Boston.
That’s right, outside the city once referred to as the “Hub of the Universe,” the state’s long-ignored outer regions are beginning to demand attention. Sixty percent of new jobs in the Boston-area are now created outside the Route 128 beltway. For the first time in recent memory, a governor left Boston to give the State of the State address. And the state’s second city — blue-collar Worcester — even had the temerity to challenge Boston’s long-held title of the “Athens of America.” “In previous years, there was the view that it was all about Logan, or the Central Artery, or downtown,” said Marlboro Mayor William J. Mauro. “But with the booming economy, the business is moving out beyond to 495.”
Spaces in line going for $500 in Edgartown
EDGARTOWN — Building permits in Edgartown are so precious that people are now standing in line for as long as five days to get one. But not for themselves. They’re being hired, for as much as $500 a day, to hold spaces in line for one of the eight permits issued each month by the Martha’s Vineyard town. Edgartown limited the permits to slow construction. In the year before the town began restricting permits in October, Edgartown issued permits for 139 single-family homes. In one three-day period before the restrictions took effect, 25 building permits were granted, The Boston Globe reported. Building permits are issued on the first Tuesday of each month on a first-come-first-serve basis. Two permits are reserved for residents intending to build their own homes. Anyone can claim the remaining six.
Mexican firm to buy energy systems from SatCon
CAMBRIDGE – SatCon Technology Inc. announced it had reached agreement to sell 100 of its flywheel energy systems for $2.5 million to TLER Associates, a Mexican housing developer. TLER would use the devices to provide backup power to residential telephone systems. SatCon makes flywheels through its Beacon Power Corp. unit. A flywheel designed to spin almost unimpeded is used to generate electricity.
Ocean Spray gets new CFO
WAREHAM – Ocean Spry Cranberries continued its reorganization with a Pillsbury tone as the company president and chief executive Robert Hawthorne appointed a former colleague at Pillsbury, Timothy Chan as chief financial officer. Chan, 48, is a former vice president for finance with the Pillsbury Brands Group in Minneapolis. For the last three years he has been finance chief of RTW, Inc., a provider of managed care disability services for employers in 13 states. That company is based in Bloomington, Minn. Chan had also worked for General Foods, Oscar Meyer Foods, Inc. and the Campbell Soup Co. grocery division.
U.S. Maritime agency rejects shipyard proposal
QUINCY – A proposal by Massachusetts Heavy Industries, Inc., owners of the Fore River Shipyard to reorganize its finances has been rejected by the U.S. Maritime Administration. The government agency refused to accept a plan under which it would share the rights to the shipyard’s assets with other investors if the yard had to be liquidated. The government retained its position as the primary recipient of the yard’s assets in the event of its default. Heavy Industries is trying to attract new investors who would put up $10 million to $15 million in “bridge” loans to help the company survive until it becomes productive. Heavy Industries is already behind in several loan payments and needs more money to upgrade its shipbuilding equipment, according to The Boston Globe. Payment on a $55 billion loan from Fleet National Bank that is guaranteed by the federal government is due Feb. 25. Failure to meet that deadline could lead to Fleet calling the loan, the federal government taking over the loan and repaying Fleet, and liquidating the shipyard to recover its investment. Or the deadline could be extended, again.
