Yahoo to open center near Buffalo

Internet pioneer Yahoo Inc. plans to open an East Coast regional data center near Buffalo. Gov. David Paterson on Tuesday said the center, housing computer systems and other equipment, is set to begin operating at an industrial park in Lockport in January 2011. The New York governor said it will create about 125 jobs and construction could begin this fall. Based in Sunnyvale, Calif., Yahoo has been expanding its number of data centers around the country. The centers use a large amount of energy, and Paterson said the New York Power Authority came up with a low-cost hydropower plan to lure Yahoo to Lockport.

Conn. reservation center to close

American Airlines has announced plans to shut down a reservation center in Connecticut by this fall. The airline says it will close the call center in Windsor, a move that affects hundreds of employees. The airline said Monday that it’s too soon to know how many workers might lose their jobs. A spokesman says some workers will be given the chance to work from home or transfer to one of the three remaining reservation centers in Dallas, Tucson, Ariz., and Raleigh, N.C. The shutdown is expected by September. The Windsor call center on Day Hill Road takes ticket reservations and handles customer questions.

N.H. coal-fired plant ahead of schedule

Public Service Company of New Hampshire has reported to legislators that work on the disputed scrubber project at its coal-burning power plant in Bow is ahead of schedule. The utility reported Tuesday that the latest cost estimates for the project to reduce mercury and sulfur dioxide emissions have remained steady, at $457 million, and may go down. Public Service is required to report annually to a legislative oversight committee as part of the 2006 state law directing it to build the scrubber system by July 1, 2013. The utility’s technical business manager, Lynn Tillotson, said the project is on an accelerated schedule.

Maine Wreath-making company to expand

A wreath-making business in Machias, Maine, says it stands to add 250 jobs this fall after being picked to provide balsam products for the 2009 L.L. Bean holiday catalog. David Whitney, president and owner of Whitney Wreath, said Tuesday that winning the competition for the work establishes his company as the nation’s largest mail-order Christmas wreath business. Whitney Wreath estimates that several full-time employees, about 20 eight-month positions and an additional 250 seasonal workers will be needed in order to meet the increased production demand. The company’s four facilities are in Machias, Crawford, Indian Township and Presque Isle.

Maine employer to add 48 jobs

Maine is in line to gain 48 jobs by the end of September when the parent company of Old Town Canoe consolidates operations for its paddle sports brands in Old Town. Johnson Outdoors Inc., of Racine, Wis., announced Tuesday it is closing its Ferndale, Wash., plant, with a loss of about 90 jobs, as part of the consolidation that’s expected to save more than $4 million a year. The company said it selected Old Town as hub of its watercraft operations because of its depth of manufacturing capability and capacity for expansion.

Online video start-up switches focus

Struggling online video start-up Joost, begun with much fanfare in 2007 by the same people behind Skype and Kazaa, is restructuring its business after discovering that it can’t survive on advertising to fund its operations. The chief executive, Mike Volpi, has stepped down but will remain as chairman. The London-based company said it will shift its focus from being an online video site for consumers supported by advertising — similar to Google Inc.’s YouTube. Instead, it will help businesses manage their videos on the Internet as they build brands. Its target market will be media companies such as cable and satellite TV providers, broadcasters and video aggregators.

Commercial satellite launches

The world’s largest commercial satellite was launched into space Wednesday, with a mission to provide phone service to cellular “dead zones” in North America. The satellite, owned by TerreStar Corp. of Reston, Va., blasted off from Kourou in the South American territory of French Guiana. The satellite is designed to unfurl an umbrella-like antenna of gold mesh 60 feet across, so it can pick up and relay signals from phones that are not much larger than regular cell phones. TerreStar has shown prototypes of the phones, which are similar to BlackBerrys, and like them, would have access to data and e-mail. The phones aren’t on sale yet. TerreStar plans to have the system running before the end of the year.

G.E., partners plan laser project

General Electric Co., Hitachi Ltd. and Cameco Corp. plan to seek U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantees to help finance a venture that would use lasers to enrich uranium for nuclear fuel. GE Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment said it completed an application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build the world’s first commercial uranium enrichment plant to use laser technology. The proposed development in Wilmington, N.C., would create as many as 300 permanent engineering and support jobs, as well as employ more than 500 workers during construction, Tammy Orr, chief executive officer of Wilmington- based GE Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment, said in a telephone interview.

Vt. prescription law upheld

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is allowing the implementation of a Vermont law that would restrict the work of companies that collect information about the drugs doctors prescribe. Last week a number of so-called data-mining companies asked a three-judge panel of the court to block Wednesday’s implementation of the law on grounds it would violate the First Amendment rights of the companies. The companies gather information on drugs ordered by doctors and sell that information to pharmaceutical companies. Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell says after nearly two years of litigation, Vermonters can now start reaping the benefits of the law.

Facebook hires biotech executive as CFO

Facebook says it has named David Ebersman, a former executive at biotech firm Genentech, as its chief financial officer. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based online hangout said Monday that Ebersman will formally start at the company in September. He replaces Gideon Yu, who left abruptly in March. The company said at the time it was looking for someone with “public company experience.” Ebersman hails from Genentech, which is being bought by pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG.

Vt. company wins Pentagon grant

A Vermont company has landed a Pentagon grant to study materials that may be used in developing the next generation of protective suits for America’s fighting men and women. The $770,000 grant to Norwich University Applied Research Institute won’t go to make the suits themselves, only to study which materials offer the most promise in protecting service members from biological and chemical agents they could face. Phil Sussman, president of the institute, said tells the Barre Montpelier Times Argus that nanospheres and nanocytes — self-contained microscopic systems — have the potential to neutralize contaminants. The institute in Northfield, a nonprofit with ties to Norwich University, has an 18-member staff, but that number will nearly double later this summer.

Passenger traffic drops at N.H. airport

Passenger traffic at New Hampshire’s big airport dropped 19 percent from May 2008 to this May. Manchester-Boston Regional Airport says in numbers, that was 66,000 fewer people. Airport director Mark Brewer said the economy and airline consolidation played a role in the decline. The news was better for cargo operations. Airport officials say that was down 11 percent in May from a year earlier.

N.H., hospitals fight over insurance fund

A judge has frozen a malpractice insurance fund that the State of New Hampshire planned to use to balance the new state budget. Judge Kathleen McGuire ruled Monday in Superior Court in Laconia, whose hospital is among those claiming ownership of the fund’s $110-million surplus, The Citizen newspaper reports. The state set up the fund to ensure that affordable malpractice insurance would be available. The state claims that contributors to the fund got what they paid for, and the state is entitled to the surplus. Lakes Region General Hospital and other policyholders say the money is theirs and the state has no right to it. McGuire also delayed Wednesday’s scheduled start of the trial to decide who owns the money.