R.I. invests in technology venture fund

The State Investment Commission has invested $10 million of state pension funds with .406 Ventures, a Boston-based early-stage venture-capital firm, which offered Rhode Island the opportunity to participate in a fund that will invest primarily in seed and early-stage technology companies. The SIC approved the investment, which had been recommended by its alternative-investment consultant, Pacific Corporate Group.

“The Commission clearly recognized that this was a unique, ground-floor opportunity for the state and .406’s interest in working with us was a sign that this could be a very effective partnership,” said General Treasurer Frank Caprio, SIC chairman. Caprio said Rhode Island’s investment represents about 7 percent of the $150 million raised by .406 Ventures. The firm will invest primarily in the following sectors: IT Security and Infrastructure, Technology-Enabled Business Services, and Next Generation Software, with a focus on the Northeast region. The fund is expected to build a portfolio of 20 to 25 companies and make four to five new investments each year. There will be an initial investment of $6 million to $10 million in each company.

CVS signs $500-million deal in Texas

CVS Caremark Corp. has won a pharmacy benefits contract with the Texas state pension agency worth nearly $500 million a year. The Employees Retirement System board of trustees announced this week that it selected Caremark Rx LLC, a unit of CVS, as its new pharmacy-benefits provider. Pharmacy-benefit managers enter into contracts with employers and government health plans that offer prescription drug benefits to process claims for medications provided to patients enrolled in the health plans. PBMs use their buying power to obtain volume discounts and rebates from drug manufacturers and to negotiate discounts with retail pharmacies that dispense the drugs. The PBMs then pass these savings on to clients.

During its four-year contract, the CVS unit will contract with pharmacies throughout Texas to provide prescription drugs and process mail-order medication deliveries to some 450,000 active and retired Texas state employees and their families. CVS replaces rival Medco Health Solutions as the PBM servicing the Texas pension agency. Brokerage house Wachovia Capital Markets LLC expects the Texas contract will have a slight impact on CVS’ annual earnings, adding 1 to 2 cents per share. The PBM side of CVS Caremark, coupled with pharmaceutical sales in its stores, account for about 85 percent of the Woonsocket company’s total revenue, company executives said last month in a conference call with investors. Last year, the Caremark side of the business saw revenue rise 13 percent to $11.6 billion: mail-order sales rose 7 percent, to $4.3 billion, and retail sales climbed 17 percent to $7.22 billion.

Expo to feature online marketing guru

Author and “online strategist” David Meerman Scott will deliver a speech at this year’s Business EXPO, the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce announced yesterday. Scott’s speech will be given at the Rhode Island Convention Center. The Business EXPO will be held May 6 and May 7. Scott’s lecture is scheduled for the first day. In his talk, Scott will discuss Internet marketing and public relations. His presentation, the Chamber said in its announcement, “will draw on innovative, cost-effective online tactics and strategies he has used to sell over a billion dollars in products.”

“The Internet has dramatically changed the rules of marketing and the way businesses reach their customer base,” Laurie White, the Chamber president, said in a statement. “David is a foremost expert of what’s working in the world of online marketing.” Scott is the author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to use news releases, blogs, viral marketing and online media to reach buyers directly.

Monitise Americas names mobile-strategy VP

Providence-based Monitise Americas LLC, a provider of mobile-banking and payment services, has named Jeff McLaughlin executive vice president of mobile strategy. He will focus on adoption among wireless subscribers working with carriers and handset manufacturers to accelerate mobile-banking use in the United States, Canada and Mexico. McLaughlin has more than 13 years of experience in the wireless industry, spanning various roles with carriers, vendors, systems integrators and content providers. Monitise Americas launched in the fall of last year and has agreements with 20 financial institutions, giving their customers and members mobile financial services, including the ability to check account balances, view recent transactions, transfer funds and receive text-message alerts. Future product delivery includes bill-payment functions and actionable alerts.

Raytheon unit chooses 2 new VPs

Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon Co.’s Integrated Defense Systems, which has a unit in Portsmouth, has named Sanjay Kapoor vice president of Patriot programs and Anthony F. “Toby” O’Brien vice president of Finance IDS and chief financial officer. Kapoor will report to IDS president Dan Smith, and O’Brien will report to Smith and Raytheon senior vice president and chief financial officer David Wajsgras. Kapoor had been vice president of Finance IDS and chief financial officer since 2004. Replacing Kapoor, O’Brien most recently was the Raytheon vice president of finance.

Power company cited for spike

Federal regulators have cited Dominion Resources, the owner of the Millstone nuclear power plant complex in Waterford, Conn., for a power spike last year. Dominion, which also owns power stations in Providence, and Somerset and Salem, Mass., is investigating the cause of a power surge last year at its Unit 3 reactor that resulted in federal regulators citing the company for not responding quickly enough to the situation. The incident was one of three “more than minor” violations in a federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission quarterly inspection report released this month. A Dominion spokesman says reactor power surged by about 2 percent Nov. 10 and that there was never any threat to public safety or the routine safety function of the reactor.

Mass. seeks single ticket for transit, tolls

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority officials are floating the idea of a “one-size-fits-all” device that could pay for everything from MBTA rides to highway tolls and parking at government facilities. The turnpike’s executive director, Alan LeBovidge, says the agency is accepting bids from firms to create those links through changes to its toll-collection system. LeBovidge told The Boston Herald he’d like to see one device take care of all of a person’s transportation needs.

GE units work with Lord & Taylor

Norwalk, Conn.-based GE Commercial Finance Corporate Lending has provided a five-year, $300-million asset-based credit facility to department-store retailer Lord & Taylor. The loan will be used for working-capital needs, in-store improvements and other general purposes. GE Money also provides the company with private-label credit cards. Based in New York, Lord & Taylor was founded in 1826 and is America’s oldest department store. The company sells its merchandise through 47 Lord & Taylor stores in the Northeast and through its Web site.