Quigley has deal with Priority Pay Payroll

Fenway Sports Group has negotiated a sponsorship agreement for PGA Tour golf professional Brett Quigley with Priority Pay Payroll, a New Jersey-based payroll processor. Under the agreement, Quigley will wear the PPP logo at all golf-related appearances, will appear in PPP advertisements, including an upcoming outdoor billboard campaign in Rhode Island, and will participate in corporate hospitality events. The sponsorship deal, which began Nov. 1 and is slated to run through the end of next year, is the first of its kind for PPP. Terms were not disclosed.

Turbine plant expands into smaller units

Mass Megawatts Wind Power Inc., of Worcester, Mass., is expanding into small, wind power-plant manufacturing. The units are often used for residences, farms and other small businesses. Because of recently passed federal tax-credit legislation, the company is preparing to establish itself as an alternative to the traditional horizontal or propeller-style turbine technology. The company will be building demonstration units with a rated output of 5kW that are expected to be directly competitive with small wind-power systems currently on the market. The cost, however, is anticipated to be less because of new adjustable augmenter technology. Combining federal and state tax-credit incentives as a down payment, the purchaser may finance, through the company, the remaining balance over a 10-year period. At a reasonable wind location, the savings from electricity costs is predicted to counterbalance the payments, making the units potentially immediately profitable.

EMC names chief information officer

Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC Corp., a provider of information infrastructure, has named Sanjay Mirchandani as chief information officer, where he will be responsible for extending the company’s operations and developing technological innovations. Reporting to David Goulden, the company’s chief financial officer, Mirchandani will also continue leading the network of global delivery centers around the world. Mirchandani, 44, most recently was senior vice president in charge of the office of globalization, where he identified global growth opportunities and built the processes and infrastructure needed.

Linear Air secures $1.3 million in financing

Linear Air, a Concord, Mass.-based personal-jet air taxi service provider in the Northeast, has closed $1.3 million in financing, which includes new capital and debt. With the new financing, the company is poised to begin an aircraft-management program designed to assist those who have very light jet aircraft in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, with future potential for national service. The program will assist those with VLJ aircraft who desire access to aircraft maintenance, pilot training and the potential for higher charter revenues. While the program is most beneficial for Eclipse 500 VLJ aircraft owners, it applies to a broad base of VLJ owners and aircraft types.

RainDance instrument speeds DNA sequencing

Lexington, Mass.-based RainDance Technologies Inc., a provider of microdroplet-based processes and equipment for human health and disease research, has shipped a new instrument and application to The Genome Center at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, a world leader in genomics research. RainDance will provide the technology and expert training to the center, along with customized libraries for their research initiatives. The applications use the company’s breakthrough droplet-based technology, whose simplicity, speed and minute volume are designed to maximize the efficiency of DNA sequencing.

Raytheon to develop missile-defense system

Raytheon Co., the world’s largest missile maker, has won a contract valued at as much as $441.9 million from the U.S. Defense Department to develop and test a system that shoots down enemy missiles. Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon will get $54 million for the first segment of work on the Ballistic Missile Defense System Multiple Kill Vehicle Payload System, the Pentagon said Friday. The work will be done in Tucson, Ariz., and be completed by December 2011. Raytheon already builds the kill vehicle for the current Ground-based Midcourse Missile Defense system that’s being deployed in Alaska and California. The next-generation warhead is designed to shoot down multiple enemy missiles.

Conn. banks pledge $100-million lending pool

Gov. M. Jodi Rell says Connecticut’s community and regional banks have pledged to make $100 million available to businesses and manufacturers. The lending pool is part of a plan to help maintain a free flow of credit in Connecticut as national economic problems have tightened the credit market. Rell says the $100 million will be backed by loan guarantees, cash reserves and participation loans from the quasi-public Connecticut Development Authority. The lending pool is intended to help small businesses, particularly those in key economic sectors such as aerospace, medical devices and alternative energy. Bank executives who pledged this month to participate say they liked the idea because the lending pool spreads the risk among the banks.

Fares for Downeaster run to increase

Fares will soon be going up for the Downeaster passenger train that runs between Portland, Maine, and Boston. The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which operates the Amtrak service, is taking public comments through the end of this month on the proposed fares. A final determination on the increases will be made next month, with fares scheduled to go up on Jan. 1. The plan now calls for some one-way fares to increase by $2 in some markets and for multiride passes in some markets to go up 10 percent. No fare increases are proposed for riders departing stations in Maine. Train officials say the increases are necessary because of rising fuel and operating costs.

CVS offers diabetes info, specials this month

Woonsocket-based CVS Caremark Corp. is offering educational material about managing and preventing diabetes during American Diabetes Month this month. The drugstore chain is also offering money-saving specials during the month on products for patients with diabetes. By working in collaboration with the American Diabetes Association, which is asking Americans during Diabetes Month, “Why Should You Care About Diabetes?” the company has created a free educational resource booklet, Diabetes: Solutions for Life, which is available at all company pharmacy locations nationwide. The comprehensive educational booklet provides patients with information on diabetes symptoms, risk factors, successful disease management and ways to prevent diabetes through healthy choices.

N.H. town pays $205,000 to end gossip lawsuit

The town of Hooksett, N.H., has paid $205,000 to settle a federal lawsuit filed by two women who were fired for gossiping about their boss. Former Assessor Sandy Piper and former Code Enforcement Officer Michelle Bonsteel received money for back pay, damages and attorney fees. The town paid Piper $140,000. Bonsteel received $65,000. The Town Council fired the women, and two colleagues, last year after concluding they had spread gossip about Town Administrator David Jodoin. The town denied any wrongdoing and the women agreed to waive any age-discrimination claims. The other fired women, Jessica Skorupski and Joanne Drewniak, already received $65,000 settlements.