Starting new businesses — and starting them more quickly — are key to jumpstarting the economy, the co-chair of President Obama’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship said today. Each year, about 500,000 businesses are started in the United States, creating about 4 million jobs annually, Desh Deshpande told members of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. But starting a successful business requires a good idea, a good entrepreneur, a good mentor and access to capital, said Deshpande, co-founder and chairman of Sycamore Networks and founder of the Deshpande Center Continue reading >>>

Minneapolis-based furniture retailer Room Board will search for a Greater Boston distribution center for customer deliveries for its Newbury Street store slated to open late in 2013. The company, which sells modern American-made furniture and accessories, plans to open its 13th U.S. store at 407 Newbury St., on the corner of Newbury Street and Mass. Ave. It will occupy the entire building with a multi-level showroom encompassing 39,000 square feet. The company plans to add a new, modern glass structure to the rear of the building, which also will include a second-floor terrace and a sidewalk area Continue reading >>>

Have you had your eye on Tom Brady’s condo? Time’s up.

The Beacon Street property owned by the Patriots quarterback and wife Gisele Bundchen is officially off the market, after selling last week for $9.2 million. But, worry not, there are plenty of luxury condos still out there.

Many come with city views, to be enjoyed from a private deck, custom kitchens, and massive en suite bathrooms. These properties start just above $1 million and peak at $6.5 million.

Kountry Kraft recently honored TRK Design Company with its Outstanding Design and Sales Award as the largest distributor in the Greater Boston area and one of the top distributors in the country. Left to right: Thomas R. Kelly, founder and owner of TRK Design Company; Dolores Hurst-Funk, CFO of Kountry Kraft; Linda Doliber, general manager of TRK Design Company; Elvin Hurst, Jr., President of Kountry Kraft.The following was submitted by TRK Design Company: Kitchen and bath design firm TRK Design Company, headquartered at 183 Tedesco Street in Marblehead, has been honored for “outstanding Continue reading >>>

    Tom Layman checks in with the folks from Shooting Touch and a recent workout. CANTON — Justin Kittredge has witnessed first-hand the popularity of CrossFit workouts as the new way to get total-body conditioning for any level of athlete. So Kittredge added a basketball, a court and the fresh-faced local hoopsters of his Shooting Touch program to bring a new twist to offseason workouts. For the past two months, young men and women from the Greater Boston area — ranging from middle school to college players —  have been putting themselves through a non-stop workout that tests their Continue reading >>>

Celebrate the 4th of July with these fireworks displays scheduled in the Greater Boston area and North Shore of Massachusetts.

Lynn, MA – June 26, 2012 –Stacey’s Home Décor today announced the launch of www.northshoreblindandshutter.com as an information portal for Greater Boston homeowners and businesses to find information about shutters, shades and blinds and draperies for their windows. With articles being added almost every day and an online monthly newsletter of window treatment tips, the website is anticipated to quickly become Massachusetts primary resource for residential and commercial window covering tips.Future plans include educational guides on selecting a blind and shutter company and professional Continue reading >>>

The explosion left a pile of rubble where the row house had stood in the town of Oldham, 160 miles (260 kilometers) northwest of London, and damaged two other houses beyond repair.

Regardless of what the Supreme Court decides on Obamacare, reining in health-care costs is key to Massachusetts’ fiscal sustainability, the state’s budget czar said today. “Health-care cost growth in Massachusetts has been outpacing everything else,” Jay Gonzalez, the Patrick administration’s secretary of administration and finance, told Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce members. “This is true for families, businesses and government. Health care has been eating up more and more of everyone’s dollar.” In 2000, health care consumed 23 percent of the state’s budget, Gonzalez said; Continue reading >>>