Sunday, November 24, 2013, 3:00am By Nora Lockwood Tooher Special To Banker Tradesman For a guy who started his career in a mailroom, Richard Gavegnano has done okay. Gavegnano, 66, has used his street smarts and financial savvy to help increase the assets of East Boston Savings Bank to $2.6 billion and propel it into a leading role in the Greater Boston residential and commercial real estate Continue reading >>>

Half-price tickets to a total of 135 productions in the Greater Boston area will be available through the end of the year under a holiday arts initiative aimed at luring — and keeping — new audiences. A record 76 arts organizations are taking part in the initiative, newly renamed the Mayor’s Holiday Spectacular. They range from such heavy-hitters as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Ballet, and Broadway in Boston to smaller companies like Whistler in the Dark Theatre, Zeitgeist Stage Company, and Actors’ Shakespeare Project. “It’s a promotion that makes it easy for people to come Continue reading >>>

When Hospice of the North Shore, based in Danvers, acquired Partners Hospice in 2011, it caused some confusion. First, there was the new name, Hospice of the North Shore Greater Boston. Not only did the change “tack five syllables onto our name,” said Diane Stringer, the nonprofit’s president and chief executive, it left people unclear on where they fit into the organization’s service area. “It became increasingly clear we needed to look at the name and the brand,” Stringer said. “It required us to step back and take a look at who we are as an organization. “Many people don’t Continue reading >>>

Some pooh-bahs rate champagne toasts and 21-gun salutes, but a media advisory for a French bakery chain suggests that Mayor Thomas M. Menino could be feted Friday with a Croix de Croissant for his long service as Boston’s mayor. A French bakery chain called Paul has big plans for Greater Boston; it says it hopes to open more than a dozen of its “boutique bakeries” in the area by 2016. And an early step in those plans is expected to take place Friday, when Paul has scheduled an “official celebration commemorating the beginning of construction on Paul’s flagship Boston location” Continue reading >>>

Via email, “Matt” asks: What does metro Boston think of Western Mass politically? Is it a monolithic impression of the whole area code or does it vary by municipality? Not monolithic at all! We divide it into several zones as follows: West turnpike. Occasional nice scenery. We keep an eye out for the Friendly’s logo written in flowers or bushes or something. We think people in this zone should pay more for the privilege of driving into Boston, but get fewer jobs working for the Turnpike. Also, we don’t understand why Western Mass. needs any new transportation projects or Continue reading >>>

Gail Goodman of Constant Contact accepts her tech luminary award at the Boston Business Journal and Mass High Tech Innovation All-Stars event. The Boston Business Journal and Mass High Tech celebrated the 3rd annual Innovation All-Star awards at the Harpoon Brewery Wednesday night. Around 250 people attended the event that feted some of the most innovative people Continue reading >>>

To kick off Renters Week 2013, we loosed a mega-map of the new apartment developments either opened, planned, pitched or under construction in Greater Boston in the last 18 months—and asked you to tell us if we missed anything. You did; and we've updated the map, bumping the number of points from 67 to 77. New additions include two projects along the Watertown waterfront; 1480 Tremont Street in Mission Hill (rendered above); and the recently under-construction One Canal. If things looks a little crowded, zoom in to make things more distinct. And if we're missing anything still, drop us Continue reading >>>

By Christopher S. Pineo

Proponents of salvaging a defeated Suffolk Downs casino by relocating the proposal entirely in Revere insisted Thursday before the state gambling commission that the project can be moved without a new referendum. Revere voters approved a Suffolk Downs casino Nov. 5, the same day voters in East Boston rejected the proposal. Original plans called for all the construction to take place on the East Boston side of the city line bisecting the property. Suffolk Downs’s strategy to stay alive in the fight for the sole Greater Boston resort casino license is to shift the proposal entirely into Revere, Continue reading >>>

Hospice of the North Shore Greater Boston will hold its annual Tree of Lights ceremony on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 5 p.m. at People’s United Bank on One Conant Street in Danvers Square. The Tree of Lights is an event that invites members of the greater Danvers community to sponsor a light in memory or in honor of a loved one with a donation to support the mission of Hospice of the North Shore Greater Boston. Immediately following the tree lighting ceremony, there will be a reception inside the bank where guests will be able to view the Honor Roll Book inscribed with the Continue reading >>>