Five things: Business confidence, urban farms, craft brewers, cats to dogs

Business Journals

3 days ago

Good morning, Boston. Here are the five things you need to know in local business news to start your busy Monday.
1. Mass. business confidence rebounds
The AIM Business Confidence Index rose last month, but still sits in pessimistic territory, William Hall reports.
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2. $87M award for 'green' concrete maker slashed by DOE
Sublime Systems, the Somerville maker of low-carbon cement, has lost a $87M federal award. Eli Chavez reports that it was one of 24 that were clawed back by U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.
3. Who's leading Boston's urban farm revolution
Despite the recent collapse of Freight Farms, urban farmers in Boston say the mission and the model are both strong. The cover story of the latest Weekly Edition, by Don Seiffert, has more.
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4. Mass. celebrates MBTA Communities win
Grant Welker reports that a Superior Court judge has ruled in the state's favor in a lawsuit filed by nine Massachusetts towns that looked to not have to abide by a law requiring denser residential zoning in communities with MBTA transit access.
5. Craft brewers combine forces to expand
Among New England breweries, mergers have become the new route to growth, Maya Shavit reports as part of the Business Journal's exclusive list of the largest breweries in Mass.
What else you need to know
By the numbers
700 — new nurses needed by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for its new $1.7 billion cancer hospital. Isabel Hart reports on how it plans to hire them
how it plans to hire them 100 — academic faculty jobs at Clark University expected to be eliminated over the next three years through attrition and retirement, Maya Shavit reports
expected to be eliminated 38 —
number of dogs walked simultaneously by an individual
last September, setting a Guinness World Record (scroll down for more)
Weekend box office
The John Wick spinoff "Ballerina" opened to a sluggish start as Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" continued to dominate the box office.
New England Business Report
Did you hear Don Seiffert on the New England Business Report with Joe Shortsleeve and Kim Carrigan on WRKO yesterday? If you missed it, you can listen here.
Today in history
On this day in 1953, Worcester County was devastated by the strongest tornado ever to hit New England. (Read more at MassMoments.org)
Birds I'm seeing
Black-crowned Night Heron in Belle Isle Marsh, East Boston
What's good on WERS-FM
Candy's Room, by Bruce Springsteen
What I'm watching
Man on the Inside, on Netflix
From cats to dogs
On Friday, I brought you kittens. Today, with a hat tip to Greg Reibman at the Charles River Regional Chamber, whose newsletter alerted me to this, it's the dogs. Not just any dogs: It's a peeing, pellet-shooting robot dog — one that is clearly a ripoff of Boston Dynamics' dog robot, Spot.
Why does this exist, you ask? That's a good question, and I guess we have Temu to blame.
As for whether you should own one, that is a question I cannot help you with. But Wired magazine bought one, and writes that for less than the cost of a round of drinks, this 'plasticized Boston Dynamics fever dream could be yours too.'
PARTING SHOT
See the winner of the Guinness World Record title for the most dogs walked simultaneously by an individual, set on Sept. 5 2024, in Goesan, South Korea:
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Massachusetts' largest residential mortgage lenders
Massachusetts-area mortgage volume, 2024
Rank Prior Rank Business name /
1
1
Guaranteed Rate
2
2
Leader Bank NA
3
3
Crosscountry Mortgage Inc. View this list