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Boston Business Journal
New board chair named at Mass. Bankers Association
Robert Fraser, president and CEO of MountainOne Bank, was recently elected president of the Massachusetts Bankers Association, the largest banking trade group in Massachusetts. <\p> Fraser will serve a one-year term as board chair. There are 19 members on the Mass. Bankers Association board of directors, including Fraser. <\p>
Five things to know, and housing news that could actually be worse
Good morning, Boston, and some good news: The missing goat was found safely. Here are the five things you need to know in local business news to start your busy workday.<\p> Isabel Tehan reports that the 32 medical students in the first class at UMass Chan-Lahey Regional Medical School start classes today.<\p>
Apartment construction in Boston hits 10-year low
The pace of market-rate apartment construction in Greater Boston is at its lowest point in more than a decade, according to a new Colliers report, though activity in the suburbs has dropped off much less than it has in Boston and Cambridge.<\p> Building activity is poised to fall further, with many of the projects underway now having started when construction was easier to finance. High costs and tighter lending standards have hampered real estate developers.<\p>
Biogen accused of blocking generic MS drug competition
A new lawsuit against Biogen Inc. alleges that the Cambridge drugmaker participated in an “unlawful scheme” to reduce competition from generic versions of its brand-name multiple sclerosis prescription drug Tecfidera.<\p> The lawsuit was filed by the health plan Local No. 1 Health Fund, a health benefits fund associated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), in the Northern District of Illinois. <\p>
Mass. home sales on pace with sluggish 2023
As state lawmakers were putting the final touches on legislation they hope will ease some of the state's housing problems, home sales ticked up more than 8% in July and put 2024 sales just ahead of last year's sluggish pace.<\p> The Warren Group on Tuesday reported 4,427 single-family home sales in Massachusetts last month, representing an 8.2% increase over July 2023 sales. The median sale price of $650,000 — a new record high for the month of July — was up 6.6% over July 2023's $610,000 median price. But Warren Group Associate Publisher Cassidy Norton found a slight silver lining for prospective homebuyers.<\p>
Lahey campus of UMass medical school welcomes inaugural class
The new UMass Chan Medical School campus at Lahey Hospital in Burlington is unassuming — its 29 Mall Road address places it adjacent to the hospital, among shopping outlets and office buildings. But inside, Lahey and UMass Chan leaders say they are crafting the next generation of healthcare leaders.<\p> The Lahey campus is UMass’ second regional campus, an outpost of the Worcester medical school with a focus on a specific aspect of healthcare. The LEAD@Lahey program has an emphasis on health systems science and leadership. UMass also operates UMass Chan-Baystate in Springfield, which is focused on population health. <\p>
Fresh off HQ move, Kymera raises funds to advance medicines
Kymera Therapeutics Inc. is raising funds it plans to use to move forward its preclinical and clinical medicines, and to potentially take advantage of in-licensing, acquisitions or investing opportunities. <\p> The Watertown biotech said late Monday that it would hold a public offering to raise gross proceeds of about $225 million. The offering is expected to close on August 21, 2024.<\p>
More Mass. nurses vote to strike
Visiting and home-care nurses on Cape Cod have voted to authorize a strike related to contract negotiations with the Visiting Nurse Association of Cape Cod Healthcare.<\p> Some 62 nurses, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association labor union, voted unanimously in favor of authorizing a strike as they push for more competitive wages, better contracts and more attention to patient assignments, the union said.<\p>
Citizens to close four branches in Mass.
The closure of several Stop & Shop grocery stores has led Citizens Financial Group to close four supermarket-based bank branches. <\p> Citizens (NYSE: CFG) has applied to regulators to close four branches in Massachusetts. Those branches — in Brockton, Raynham, Shrewsbury and Worcester — are all situated in Stop & Shop locations that were announced to be closing in July. <\p>
Boston office building heads to foreclosure auction
A four-story, mixed-use South End building, once the home of real estate firm The Davis Cos., is set to be auctioned off.<\p> One Appleton, located at 439-441 Tremont St., is scheduled for a foreclosure auction on Aug. 28, according to a notice from auctioneer Paul E. Saperstein Co. The building is just across the Mass Pike from Back Bay. The restaurant Reunion BBQ is on the ground floor.<\p>
New Hack.Diversity exec helped change Snapchat
Bertrand Saint-Preux remembers he was completely calm as he approached the CEO of Snap, the technology titan that owns Snapchat, to tell him that there was a major mistake in his app: The lens did not work on Black people.<\p> “I was the only Black engineer in the room,” said Saint-Preux, realizing that he needed to speak up in order to make the Snapchat camera inclusive. “I wasn’t intimidated, because I was just thinking, ‘Let’s just do it.’”<\p>
Massachusetts CEOs are calling it quits at a record pace
After braving the Covid-19 storm and giving some thought to succession plans, Massachusetts CEOs are calling it quits at a record pace. <\p> Massachusetts is among the top five U.S. states for CEO turnover, with around 60 chief executives leaving their corner offices in the first half of 2024, according to a recent report by Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc.<\p>
AI is already fueling layoffs, but there is one silver lining
Employee concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on their career prospects have ramped up as generative AI tools like ChatGPT have taken center stage.<\p> They have good reason to be concerned, according to a new survey of 984 business leaders by ResumeTemplates, which found 3 in 10 companies said they have replaced workers with AI this year. Additionally, 38% of companies that said they will use AI in 2025 will replace workers with the technology next year. <\p>
State calls for insurance flexibility during Carney, Nashoba closures
State officials have instructed health insurers to be flexible with handling prior authorizations for patients and credentialing health care workers who are impacted by the impending closures of Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center.<\p> In a Friday bulletin, the Division of Insurance said it expects commercial health insurers, health maintenance organizations, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts to waive prior authorization reviews for 60 days for "any previously approved surgeries, procedures and behavioral health or non-behavioral health admissions at Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center that need to be transferred to another facility upon notice of the updated location and date of service."<\p>
General Motors mum on Boston software layoffs
General Motors Co. is reported to be cutting over 1,000 positions in its software and services division, but the Detroit-based maker of Buick, Cadillac and Chevrolet cars (NYSE: GM) didn't say how its reported layoffs across its global workforce might impact Massachusetts team members. <\p> About 600 roles are being cut from the company’s Detroit-area headquarters, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Monday. <\p>
'Not in the right roles:' 3D printing company cuts jobs
SoftBank-backed Formlabs Inc. confirmed to the Business Journal on Monday that it has eliminated the jobs of a "small number" of workers "who are not in the right roles" or who were working "in departments that are below our efficiency goals."<\p> A spokesperson for Somerville-based Formlabs didn't say whether any of the eliminated roles were based in Massachusetts. After the initial publication of this article, the Formlabs spokesperson clarified the number of layoffs, saying that it's 40 people over a two-year period. Formlabs had a total headcount of approximately 750 employees. <\p>
Here's who's buying Steward’s hospitals
Unless Steward Health Care delays its hearing for a sixth time, this week the public will find out the terms under which the bankrupt healthcare organization's hospitals will be sold to local buyers.<\p> Late last week, Gov. Maura Healey made public the identities of the health systems that intend to purchase Steward's Massachusetts hospitals. The announcement came after a fifth delay of Steward’s sale hearing for the properties in Massachusetts, which has kept members of the public in the dark about the future of their community hospitals.<\p>
Research group outlines policy reforms to unlock housing affordability
Housing affordability is becoming a bigger issue for U.S. voters, spurring policymakers — especially at the state and local levels — to consider new measures aimed at easing the burden facing both renters and prospective homeowners.<\p> While every city, county or region thinks about housing affordability (and potential solutions) differently, several common policy changes are being pursued, especially to ease restrictions around building new housing. New research from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia, outlines some of the biggest reforms being adopted across the U.S. today and offers a menu of potential options for policymakers to consider.<\p>
Ph.D. student launches AI music meetup
Christian Steinmetz was disappointed when he couldn’t find meetups about AI in music in Boston, so he decided to start his own. <\p> The Ph.D. candidate at Queen Mary University of London is studying how to create AI-based tools for producers, with a specific focus on mixing and mastering. When Steinmetz looked for opportunities to connect with other people interested in AI in music, he noticed there weren’t many avenues to do so. <\p>
Take a tour of Suffolk Downs’ first apartments (Photos)
The first apartment building in the redeveloped Suffolk Downs opened in June. By early August, more than 70 were leased and 16 were actually occupied.<\p> If all goes according to plan, those residents will be the first of tens of thousands to call the onetime horse-racing track home.<\p>
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