CMGI, Compaq in venture with Shanghai firm
ANDOVER – CMGI is joining with Compaq Computer Corp. for a venture into the Chinese Internet market with Shanghai Information Investment, Inc. According to the Boston Globe, CMGI and Compaq have signed a memorandum of understanding to create a joint venture with SII to run various Internet services in China. SII is reportedly financed largely by the Chinese government and has controlling stakes in Internet backbones and broadband services in Shanghai. According to a CMGI executive no money has changed hands yet in the agreement and final details of the association remain to be settled.
Cahners announces layoffs, 30 in Newton
NEWTON – Cahners Business Information, a unit of Anglo-Dutch publishers Reed Elsevier PLC has announced that it will lay off 150 employees, including 30 here in what had been the company’s headquarters. The layoffs are the latest in the company’s restructuring designed to “accelerate development of new Internet and print information products,” the company said. The company had 546 employees here before the layoffs and 4,531 worldwide. In October the company announced that its acting chief executive would move his office from Newton to New York City.
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Citizens Energy resumes heating oil program
BOSTON – Citizens Energy, whose chairman is former congressman Joseph P. Kennedy has announced it is resuming its program to provide heating oil at a low cost to qualifying households in Massachusetts. Qualified households may buy a one-time delivery of 175 gallons of heating oil at 40 cents a gallon. Kennedy said the organization would distribute more that two million gallons of oil. Citizens Energy can be reached by calling 1-877-Joe4-oil.
Paul Allen invests $70M in HarvardNet
CHARLESTOWN – HarvardNet, a digital subscriber line offering quick access to the Internet, is getting a $70 million investment from Paul Allen, a co-founder with Bill Gates of the Microsoft Corp. According to the announcement, the investment will cover HarvardNet’s cash needs for six to nine months while the company builds its DSL network. HarvardNet is competing with Bell Atlantic in offering fast Internet access.
Tufts Health plans 430 job cuts
MEDFORD – Tufts Health Plan has announced it will eliminate 430 jobs, including the 90 being eliminated by closing Tufts’ operations outside of Massachusetts. The job eliminations are part of the health maintenance organization’s effort to induce cost savings on its money-draining programs. The organization hopes to save $30 million next year through the job cuts. A company spokesman said the job cuts would affect virtually every department, including senior management.
Reebok drops Olympics sponsorship, sues
STOUGHTON – Reebok International has ended its sponsorship of the upcoming Olympics and filed suit for breach of contract alleging that organizers of the games had made deals with Reebok’s competitors, Bonds and Canterbury. The Olympics committee denied the allegations in Australia, and in Switzerland, Olympics officials dismissed the dispute as “a local issue” that had been “blown out of proportion.” A Reebok spokesman said the company still hoped to outfit the Australian athletes. The Sydney organization’s chief executive said Reebok still owes the organizers “millions of dollars in cash and goods” and shouldn’t be able to “cherry pick” the best part of the contract, such as outfitting the athletes.
Chelmsford start-up gets $5 million contract
CHELMSFORD – Integral Access, Inc., a start-up company that provides competitive local phone companies with systems to handle voice and data traffic announced that it had obtained a $5 million contact from Actel Integrated Communications of Mobile, Ala., to supply equipment that will enable the company to offer customers new services such as high-speed Internet access and voice calling over digital subscriber lines. Actel also serve New Orleans and other companies in the Deep South in competition with BellSouth.
Raytheon drops Teledyne from contract
LEXINGTON – Raytheon Corp. announced that it was dropping Teledyne Technologies Inc. as the manufacturer of the engine for its new Tomahawk tactical cruise missile and replacing it with the former maker of the engines for the Tomahawk, Williams International of Michigan. Teledyne, which edged out Williams in the 1997 competition for the contract, notified Raytheon that it was unable to meet the standards for thrust and fuel efficiency set by Raytheon for the Navy. Raytheon has a $256 million contact from the Navy to produce the new version of the missile.
Learningsmith going out of business
BURLINGTON – Learningsmith, Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal bankruptcy court and announced that it will close all 87 of its stores. The closing of the educational toys and games stores will eliminate 850 full-time and 1,500 part-time jobs, a company spokesman said. He added that severance packages were being put together for the employees. Learningsmith is liquidating all its assets, a company statement announced. Analysts concluded that Learningsmith was unable to compete in the ever-growing toy market, made more so by the addition of Internet retailers such as eToys.com. Besides toys, Learningsmith sells computer software, art supplies, books, puzzles and science projects.
Two new hotels proposed for Hub
BOSTON – Two proposed hotel projects could add 600 rooms to the Boston market, according to plans reported by the Boston Globe. Both projects are in the Park Square area not far from the Boston Common and Public Garden. One project that would be called the Loews Boston, a combined project of the Loews Hotels chain and Sawyer Enterprises would be at Stuart and Tremont Streets, in the heart of the theater district. Two blocks away Millennium Partners Boston propose to build s luxury hotel of 100 to 150 rooms in a 16 or 17 story building that would also include 200 luxury condominiums. The building would be directly behind the Four Seasons Hotel and Heritage on the Common. The Millennium building will be on Park Square.
