Five things: BIO in Boston, 'Loganing,' Petri Dish and Best Places to Work rankings
Good morning, Boston. Here are the five things you need to know in local business news to start your busy Friday, and one more thing to know: Tomorrow marks yet another Saturday with rain in the forecast.
1. Forget 'Storrowing.' Massport deals with 'Loganing'
MassPort is taking steps to address an uptick in "too-tall" truck strikes on road signs and overpasses at Logan International Airport, Isabel Hart reports.
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2. BIO is nigh upon us
BIO International, the global convention for life sciences companies, investors, partners and the state and national economic development officials wooing them, is arriving in Boston starting on Monday. Hannah Green has all you need to know about what it means to host this major trade show, and spoke with one of the original architects of the Massachusetts life sciences industry.
3. Alnylam, GSK, Vertex pledge Mass. jobs for tax incentives
Green also reports that 33 life sciences companies are slated to receive $29.9 million in tax incentives in exchange for creating over 1,500 new jobs in Massachusetts.
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4. Boston vaccine developer acquired for $1.25B
And because she's not busy enough, Green also reports that CureVac NV, whose U.S. headquarters is in Boston, is being acquired by BioNTech in a deal valued at $1.25 billion.
5. How small businesses can use AI
Small businesses are learning to put AI to work as an extra pair of hands through a partnership with a local nonprofit led by a Boston University researcher and the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, Eli Chavez reports.
What else you need to know
By the numbers
The Petri Dish
A spinout from Scorpion Therapeutics debuted with $177 million, Bicara Therapeutics doubled its footprint, and the Mass. Life Sciences Center gave out health equity awards of $50,000 — all in the latest biotech news roundup from Hannah Green.
On the radio
This morning at 6:45 or 8:45 on GBH Radio's "Morning Edition" you can hear Jess Aloe report the "Boston Business Journal Minute" — a quick highlight of the week's top stories. Not near the radio? Listen here anytime.
Listen this Sunday to the New England Business Report, where I will be discussing the news of the week with Kim Carrigan and Joe Shortsleeve. Tune in at 8 a.m. on WRKO-AM 680 or listen here.
Quotable
'I feel like the grandmother who sits at the soccer game, and I look out there and I see my little grandchild running up and down the field and scoring goals and being a star player. And nobody knows that that's my grandchild, but I know.' — Susan Windham-Bannister, former head of the Mass. Life Sciences Center, reflecting on the growth of the industry since 2008.
Today in history
On this day in 1995, Alanis Morissette released her breakthrough album, Jagged Little Pill. (On This Day In Music)
Birds I'm seeing
Tree Swallow in Belle Isle Marsh, East Boston
What's good on WERS-FM
Brilliant Mistake, by Elvis Costello
What I'm watching
Kaos, on Netflix
Welcome to the jungle
Whether you like Guns N' Roses, or not, you couldn't ignore the jungle theme at last night's 23rd annual Boston Business Journal Best Places to Work ceremony and reception. Stay tuned for photos from the event, which will be posted to our site later today, but for those of you wondering which companies ranked highest in their size category, you can find all the 2025 Best Places to Work here or scroll below for the rankings themselves.
As I mentioned, the event was 'jungle-themed,' meaning lots of vegetation, animals and reptiles, stilt-walking giraffes, elephants and lions, and more. We had over 300 nominations this year, and from those, Massachusetts-based employees were surveyed by Quantum Workplace, our longtime data partner, and their responses led us to expand this year's ranking from 80 companies to 100 qualifying as Best Places to Work.
If you love your company and think it could be among the top-ranked Best Places to Work, be sure to contact Sean McFadden, our associate editor, research, who will make sure you're included in the survey process next year.
PARTING SHOT
You know how much I love a wildlife webcam. Well, these researchers are using hidden cameras in the jungles of Central America to get help from the animals themselves in documenting the rainforest's incredible variety of species.
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Best Places to Work: Extra Large Companies (500 employees and up)
Score
Rank Prior Rank Company
1
1
VHB
2
6
Arbella Insurance Group
3
3
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. View this list
Best Places to Work: Large Companies (250 to 499 employees)
Score
Rank Prior Rank Company
1
2
Wasabi Technologies
2
2
CyberArk
3
3
Weston & Sampson View this list
Best Places to Work: Medium Companies (100 to 249 employees)
Score
Rank Prior Rank Company
1
1
SEI - Boston
2
2
RapDev LLC
3
2
J. Calnan & Associates View this list
Best Places to Work: Small Companies (50 to 99 employees)
Score
Rank Prior Rank Company
1
1
Tines
2
3
Ligris + Associates PC
3
3
Your Part-Time Controller LLC View this list
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