Fernández Alcalde takes the reins at EMD Serono, one of Boston's newest biotechs
That logic drove Round and other senior leaders to uproot a corporate office from its longtime home in suburban Rockland, and relocate roughly 400 people to Boston's Seaport last September — joining the likes of
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
,
Alexion
,
Foundation Medicine
, and
Eli Lilly
. Fernández Alcalde said attracting and retaining talent was a major motivation for the move to a modern office built on what was the parking lot for the former Anthony's Pier 4 restaurant. The building, developed by
Tishman Speyer
, opened in 2019; textbook publisher
Cengage
first occupied EMD Serono's space before relocating to Government Center. (EMD Serono — a provider of neurology/immunology, fertility, and oncology treatments — also runs a research center in Billerica.)
Although some commutes were disrupted, Fernández Alcalde said his company is already reaping the benefits of moving to the big city, particularly with regard to hiring. However, the move also makes it easier for rivals to poach his employees, he said, so EMD Serono needs to ensure it remains an attractive place to work.
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'You want to be where things happen,' Fernández Alcalde said. 'You need to be surrounded by the people who have that passion and that drive to make it happen.'
He acknowledges the uncertainty looming over the industry given the changes underway at federal agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration. But he remains convinced that the US is a great place to operate for a life sciences company. That's especially true for Boston. 'This is,' he added, 'by far miles ahead of any other place.'
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JetBlue CEO eyes growth in Boston market
Can
JetBlue
get back to cruising altitude here? Chief executive
Joanna Geraghty
sure thinks so.
Speaking at the
Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
event last week, Geraghty pledged to
'We continue to grow Boston again and again ... reestablishing our presence here,' Geraghty said in a Q&A session with PR executive
Geri Denterlein
on stage.
The New York-based carrier held the number one position at Logan for a long time before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. But JetBlue has since lost momentum here amid stiff competition from
Delta Air Lines
and a federal lawsuit that broke apart its
Spirit
didn't help.
JetBlue's daily departures out of Logan are back near 2019 levels when it had an average of 150. But JetBlue's passenger count has not recovered as quickly, even though Logan's overall traffic recently passed
pre-pandemic levels.
So who is Logan's busiest carrier?
JetBlue has a bigger market share in the winter, but Delta takes the lead in the summer months, per a Massport spokesperson, and generally has the edge year-round now.
Geraghty pointed to strong growth ahead in Boston, including a 15 percent increase year-over-year in seats sold for the next quarter. JetBlue in January announced it will have 77 nonstop destinations from Boston, more than any other airline, once a bevy of seasonal routes are included. JetBlue is also working on a new 11,000-square-foot lounge at Terminal C.
To bolster her local cred, Geraghty referred to
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'My president, sometimes we need an interpreter for him,' she said, 'he's so Boston.'
AG Campbell delivers fiery words about Trump
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell speaks at a news conference in February 2025 in Boston.
Michael Casey/Associated Press
For Attorney General
Andrea Campbell
, the legal fight to stop the Trump administration's research funding cutbacks isn't just about protecting the billions of federal dollars that flow to Massachusetts institutions. It's about protecting the principles of democracy itself.
Campbell delivered fiery words to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce last Thursday, at the Sheraton hotel in the Back Bay. Much of her speech was devoted to criticizing the Trump administration, and outlining how she has reacted to the changes coming out of Washington. Campbell's words echoed the defiant rhetoric that Boston Mayor
Michelle Wu
used in her
MGM Music Hall
the previous night. In particular, Campbell detailed how her team worked through a weekend to prepare a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration's gutting of National Institutes of Health funds for overhead costs associated with biomedical research.
'The rule of law isn't just important to the AG's office. It's important to the business community. If you don't have a system where we value the rule of law ... we're all in trouble,' Campbell said. 'We're heading in a dangerous direction.'
Her office has been engaged in eight lawsuits so far challenging the Trump administration, including five in which Massachusetts co-led. Her roughly 650-person staff includes about 340 assistant attorneys general.
'We punch above our weight every day,' Campbell said, referring to conference calls with AGs who have bigger staffs. 'I feel like Muhammad Ali on most of these calls.'
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Giving merchants a helping hand
Greg Reibman, the president of the Charles River Regional Chamber, stands at a dam at the Echo Bridge Office park, in this 2021 photo.
John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
Every chamber of commerce president wants to grow their membership levels. But how many want to give away memberships for free?
That's exactly what
Greg Reibman
at the
Charles River Regional Chamber
is doing. He's giving away memberships to independent brick-and-mortar retailers via a new program dubbed 'Small Shops.' The hope is they'll make the chamber's online directory of businesses more robust while giving members access to the chamber's networking and advocacy opportunities.
Of Reibman's roughly 1,100 dues-paying members, he estimates between 50 and 100 are eligible, and might drop their $325 annual membership plans.
'There is, maybe for us, $10,000 in revenue at risk, assuming those members don't all renew or some of them convert to the free membership,' Reibman said.
Some bigger businesses, led by
Comcast
's
NBC10 Boston
and Wellesley consultancy
Insource Services
, will help cover the free memberships (which don't include a few services available to full-paying members).
'The goal ... is really to help businesses get through this challenging, uncertain time,' Reibman said. 'These folks need our collective support.'
The secret to survivin'
You've got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away.
And if you're the two golfers in the new
DraftKings
ad, you've got to know when to run.
Among the scenes in the ad shot in and around Miami: a pair of golfers fleeing a seemingly upset alligator. The 60-second spot also features vignettes with fans of various teams, including the
Boston Bruins
and
Boston Celtics
, while the
Kenny Rogers
tune, 'The Gambler,' plays in the background. In some cases, the fans sing along. (The fleeing golfers were not among them.) The focus of the light-hearted ad is a serious topic: responsible gambling. The tagline: 'It's more fun when it's for fun.'
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DraftKings debuted the ad last week to launch a multimillion-dollar national campaign. The script was developed by DraftKings's marketing team; the video was directed by
Henry-Alex Rubin
of
Smuggler
, a production company.
'The song, we feel like it's a perfect fit,' DraftKings chief marketing officer
Stephanie Sherman
said. 'It really captures the spirt of fandom and fun, and bringing people together.'
Sherman confirmed the production team used a real gator.
'That scene certainly was a tricky one,' she added. '[We] certainly had a trainer on site.'
Jon Chesto can be reached at
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