Business News in Brief

People's Yoga Co-op under new ownership

Amesbury resident and yoga instructor Jennifer Freeman assumed ownership of People's Yoga Co-op on Dec. 1. The co-op, located at 14 Cedar St., Amesbury, is a collaborative effort among several yoga instructors to make a variety of yoga styles and classes available and accessible to people across the North Shore. Each instructor operates independently, yet together the group offers a complementary cornucopia of classes.

Since Freeman has taken over its helm, The People's Yoga Co-op has added a yoga dance class and made arrangements for Zumba and children's yoga to begin in January.

The mission of the co-op is to make yoga accessible to everyone regardless of age and ability. Classes are led in a nurturing, non-judgmental environment and students are encouraged to move and grow at their own pace.

IMarc receives International Davey Awards for websites

iMarc, LLC announced the International Davey Awards honored the Cubist Pharmaceuticals website, EcoHealth Alliance website and PetWatch Mobile site with Silver Davey Awards.

The Davey Awards is judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), a 200-plus member organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media. With nearly 4,000 entries from across the US and around the world, the Davey Awards honors the finest creative work from the best small firms, agencies and companies worldwide.

iMarc values its long-term partnership with Cubist Pharmaceuticals, and has been working with the company since 2006 to redesign its website with new branding; and updated the front-end design once more in 2010.

Working in partnership with EcoHealth Alliance and PetWatch, iMarc provided website strategy, design, and programming for the corporate site as well as development for its mobile site.

Provident earns a top 5-star rating from BauerFinancial

The Provident Bank announced that it has earned a top 5-star rating for positive performance from BauerFinancial, Inc., the nation's bank rating firm. The quarterly ratings were announced in December and are based on Nov. 30, 2011, financial data.

BauerFinancial is the source for unbiased, independent bank and credit union star-ratings. Using quarterly financial reports filed with federal regulators, it thoroughly analyzes and compares all U.S. bank and credit union current and historical performance data. Upon completion of the analysis, a star-rating is assigned based on a scale of zero to five stars, with five stars being the strongest. Since 1983, BauerFinancial has been analyzing and reporting on the financial condition of the nation's banking industry, providing people with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions regarding their banking relationships.

Destination Salem's leader joins Regional Tourism Council's board of directors

Kate Fox, executive director of Destination Salem, has accepted a position on the North of Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau (NBCVB) board of directors. She joins fellow tourism colleagues from the 34 cities and towns of Essex County, and will act as an ambassador for the North of Boston region, promoting area tourism which is the third largest industry in the state.

Exercise business collects holiday toys

Get In Shape For Women, which has a franchise in Newburyport, collected hundreds of boxes of toys and raised more than $10,500 for underprivileged children in December to be donated to the Marine Corps Toys For Tots program. More than 70 small, group personal training studios throughout the country participated in the national holiday promotion called "You Lose, Everybody Wins." For every pound a participating member lost over four weeks, their local Get In Shape For Women studio donated $1 to Toys For Tots. Funds raised by a given studio will serve underprivileged children in that respective state and toys collected will be distributed through the local Toys For Tots chapter as well.

CAI aligns company organization

Currier & Associates Inc. (CAI) has recently updated its company organization and added new team members, setting the firm up for continued success in the upcoming year.

CAI's organizational changes include new titles for three team members. Senior designer, Melanie Conant has been appointed CAI's director of design; Susan Mailhoit, formerly the financial services manager, is now the firm's director of operations; and Suzanne Cap is now the firm's director of purchasing. These changes reflect more accountability for each area of operations, and combining CAI's finance and administrative departments.

CAI also brought on two new members to their design team. Kate MacAulay originally of Naugatuck, CT, and a graduate of Endicott College in Beverly, is a designer. She started as an intern for the firm, and then joined CAI a year later, where she now applies her skills and talents serving on multiple design project teams. Also new to the CAI team is Amanda Shaw from Bristol, VT. Another alumnus of Endicott College, who completed and internship with CAI, and serves as the firm's interior design assistant and marketing/communications specialist. Her creative approach is applied to both design projects and the re-branding of CAI's logo and overall design of printed material and the construction of a new website for the firm which is scheduled to launch in 2012.

Reed earns life underwriter designation

The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa., has awarded Derek J. Reed, a managing partner in the Gloucester-based Beauport Financial Services LLC, the Chartered Life Underwriter professional designation, adding a high level of insurance expertise to his financial services capabilities. Reed earned status as Certified Financial Planner in 2007, and has specialized in investment counseling and financial planning to Beauport's clients for over 15 years. In earning CLU designation, he joins a select group of over 100,000 individuals worldwide who have been awarded that professional status by The American College since its founding in 1927.

A board member of Pathways for Children in Gloucester, Reed also serves as a member of the Essex County Estate Planning Council, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors Boston Chapter and a qualifying and life member of the Million Dollar Round Table organization. He resides in Groveland with his wife Karen, sons Nathan and Jeremy and daughter Katherine Rose.

Newburyport-based PCI Synthesis completes expansion

PCI Synthesis, Inc. (www.pcisynthesis.com), a 12-year-old

custom chemical manufacturer of new chemical entities (NCEs), generic active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and other specialty chemical products, announced the successful completion of a major expansion at its Devens, Mass. research and development facility.

The expansion, which includes several new research hoods, analytical instruments, additional support equipment, additional staff, and a major expansion to the site's existing kilo lab capacity, was initiated

to support PCI's expanding activities in early- and late-stage clinical candidate programs. Since Sept. 1, the company has brought on board 20 new staff members in several functional areas to further support its growth in development of new compounds.

All together the additional staff and capacity enables PCI to offer its biotech and pharmaceutical customers a bridge from lab scale development to commercial manufacturing. This represents an important intermediate step as customers work on new compounds for new therapies,

conduct clinical trials and seek to bring products to market. The 30-percent capacity increase positions PCI to handle increased customer demand.

Part of the expansion was driven by a new collaboration agreement with Biogen Idec to work closely with its process research group to augment its internal small-molecules capabilities and optimize a number of new compounds.

This expansion follows last month's announcement of an eighth successful FDA inspection of PCI's Newburyport facility and its sixth product pre-approval.

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