Business

Latest Articles

Out of control

Would you want a business like this in your town?
Convenience stores
By AL DIAMON | October 14, 2011

FairPoint layoffs were always part of the plan

While FairPoint executives are saying that the 400 layoffs the company announced last week are related to "workload" and "competition," they're hoping everyone forgot that their business model — especially in northern New England — requires regular down
We Told You So Dept.
By JEFF INGLIS | September 16, 2011

Is Rhode Island a paywall mecca?

Media analysts say Rhode Island could be especially fertile ground for a declining newspaper industry's primary survival strategy — charging readers for access to its heretofore free web sites.
As the ProJo Turns
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | August 19, 2011

Heavy burden

In 2012, collections on homes, buildings, and private infrastructure will feed more than 65 percent of Boston's $2.4 billion budget.
More than any other city on the East Coast, Boston is addicted to property taxes. Could the Hub be hitting a crippling tax-levy ceiling soon?
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 19, 2011

Sallie Mae not

If you have had to borrow money to pay for school, chances are good you've borrowed from Sallie Mae, the largest student-loan company in the US, which currently handles between 40 and 45 percent of the business.
As federally sponsored student-loan giant Sallie Mae prepares to go private, it’s squeezing every last penny from student borrowers while opening up scads of new businesses. How can you protect yourself?
By CATHERINE TUMBER | July 29, 2011

Will Kindles kill libraries?

This week, OverDrive itself will host its own conference to help libraries deal with a massive onslaught of patrons clamoring to check out books on their Kindles. Can embattled public institutions handle such a drastic change?
In this corner: libraries struggling to bring in patrons. In the other: Kindles looking to expand their market. Will it be a bloodbath, or can they hug it out?
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | July 29, 2011

Tips for young artists

This region of the country is, and always has been, a magnet for artists. If I spent some time thinking about why this is the case, I could probably conjure up a few convincing theories. But that's not my purpose today.
Express your self; bus fumes; bands behind bars
By RUDY CHEEKS | July 15, 2011

Big boss man

"Government should be run like a business."
Talking politics
By AL DIAMON | July 15, 2011

Business-led Haiti-aid group shuts down

What happens when lawyers, public-relations experts, bankers and accountants, construction contractors, insurance brokers, and manufacturers join forces to get involved in emergency disaster relief in one of the most underdeveloped countries in the West
Seeking relief
By JEFF INGLIS | June 24, 2011

GOP lawmakers want to do DeCoster 'a favor'

Jack DeCoster is possibly the most infamous Maine businessman of all time.
How Soon We Forget Dept.
By COLIN WOODARD | April 29, 2011

Rewriting the history of capitalism

Brown University president Ruth Simmons has made it hard to ignore the school's ties to slavery — and by extension, the ties of well-known Providence families.
Revisions
By MARION DAVIS | April 01, 2011

LePage’s numbers

This week, we introduce a regular feature, Gubernatorial Scorecard. We'll evaluate Governor Paul LePage's recent moves.
Gubernatorial scorecard
By PORTLAND PHOENIX STAFF | February 11, 2011

Talk time

The state's largest newspaper company is about to negotiate its contract with its employees. With workers seeking a share of the company's newfound profitability, and owner Richard Connor striving mightily to stay in the black, this could go very smooth
Press releases
By JEFF INGLIS | February 11, 2011

Political fodder

Despite some notable successes described here last week, 2010 was a sobering year for the restaurant business.
Will the GOP save the restaurant industry?
By BRIAN DUFF | December 31, 2010

Brave the new world

Maine is in crisis — big budget shortfalls, lots of people unemployed, a cold winter approaching. And there's this new governor, talking about making life easy for business.
Press releases
By JEFF INGLIS | November 19, 2010

[updated] Viacom selling Harmonix

Well, here's some news. Kotaku is reporting that Viacom, parent company of MTV and a host of other media outlets, is planning to sell off Harmonix,...
By Ryan Stewart | November 11, 2010

College kids get confidence

I’m a junior in college and am doing an internship at a nonprofit organization. Last week my boss, who has always been very professional, asked me if she could talk to me outside of work for something that was not work-related.
Dr. Lovemonkey answers your questions
By DR. LOVEMONKEY | October 01, 2010

Paraphernalia paranoia: Allston head shops shut down

Who is responsible for the wave of "functional glass art" shop raids that has recently taken place throughout Allston?
Busted
By VALERIE VANDE PANNE | July 02, 2010

Boycott BP?

Over the past few weeks, friends have posted pictures of defaced BP signs, or empty BP lots, on Facebook. There's a pretty big Boycott BP...
By Deirdre Fulton | June 23, 2010

Just hold it

To Portlanders, they're a familiar sight: out-of-town victims potty-dancing around town, pained expressions on their faces, one sip away from having polished off an iced coffee the size of a small child.
Portland loves its tourists, so why won't we give them relief?
By ANGELIQUE CARSON | June 18, 2010

Drawing inspiration

"Die, yuppie scum," chants the long-haired man, to the beat of a pounding drum. "You don't need to fuck people over to survive."
Anarchist Seth Tobocman brings radical comic-book to the Lucy Parsons Center
By VALERIE VANDE PANNE | June 18, 2010

Menino's money problems

David S. Bernstein’s article on the mayor’s feud with the firefighters and allegations that the city’s coffers are bigger than Mayor Tom Menino lets on is one of the only thoughtful treatments of this contract dispute to appear in the media.
Letters to the Boston editor, June 18, 2010
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | June 18, 2010

Boston pols bail on Bank of America

In this time of political stridency, where everything is either red or blue, Boston City Councilors have found a potential purple issue that everyone can stand behind, be they radical lefties or Fox News worshippers.
Locovore Banking Dept.
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 11, 2010

Pols and blowhards beware: PolitiFact is coming

The Providence Journal , facing the newspaper industry's twin demons of declining circulation and plummeting advertising revenue, is in an intense period of reinvention.
As the ProJo turns
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | June 11, 2010

High-octane coverage

Despite admirable wall-to-wall coverage from the national mainstream press and unusually in-depth reports from network television and cable, the Huffington Post has emerged as perhaps the single best go-to source for developing news and wide-ranging com
The Huffington Post owns Gulf coverage; plus, that Hitchens memoir
By PETER KADZIS | June 04, 2010

Privacy concerns make facebook the new bad guy

There was, for a time, a pretty clear moral hierarchy in the tech sector. Microsoft was the evil overlord, Apple the virtuous underling.
Networks
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | May 28, 2010

Review: MacGruber

From one of Saturday Night Live ’s lamest recurring sketches comes one of its funniest spinoffs.
Sick fun
By BETSY SHERMAN | May 28, 2010

Bragdon vs. Trevorrow, Greens, District 120

Charles Bragdon and Anna Trevorrow vie in the East End legislative race
Primary 2010
By DEIRDRE FULTON | May 21, 2010

Beer on a budget

The beer industry is generally considered recession-proof, since people are still going to drink beer when times get tough. But has the same been true for more expensive craft beer in the recent recession?
In defense of expense
By JOSH SMITH | May 21, 2010

Boston tucks away a $125 million windfall

As debate continues over the city’s finances — and whether the city of Boston can afford firefighters’ raises, branch libraries, community-center staffing, and other costs in tight times — the city is planning to quietly tuck away a one-time windfall of
More for Moneybags?
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | May 21, 2010

Friends' Activity

Popular