Five Scarborough firms to be honored at meeting

The Board of Directors of the Scarborough Economic Development Corp. will honor five businesses at its annual meeting Oct. 5 at The Landing at Pine Point. The meeting also will mark the corporation’s 25th anniversary.

The awards and recipients are: Project of the Year, to Robert Gaudreau, president of Hardypond Construction for Elevation Farms; Outstanding Community Service, to Hospice of Southern Maine; Legacy Business of the Year, to Len Libby Chocolates; New Business of the Year, to PlumChoice; and Micro Business of the Year, to Snyder & Bilodeau, CPA.

The annual meeting and celebration will be open to the public. Former Gov. Angus King will deliver the keynote address. Tickets cost $15 at the door. For more information, e-mail sedco@maine.rr.com or call 883-4893.

 

Log Cabin’s syrup getting rid of its caramel color

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The maker of Log Cabin All Natural Syrup says it’s getting rid of the product’s caramel coloring in response to complaints by producers of the real thing.

Pinnacle Foods said Tuesday it’s changing the ingredients to assuage concerns by maple syrup makers in Vermont and New Hampshire. Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch and Vermont’s agriculture secretary called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate whether the brand violates federal guidelines by marketing itself as “natural.”

Log Cabin officials say the caramel coloring doesn’t pose any health risk, but they’re taking it out anyway.

Still, Welch says the product’s labeling doesn’t clearly show it’s not all-natural maple syrup, like the stuff produced in Vermont, which has no artificial ingredients.

 

Walgreen profit increases 8 percent with expansion

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Walgreen Co., the largest drugstore chain in the U.S., said Tuesday its profit rose 8 percent in the fiscal fourth quarter as it boosted sales by adding more than 500 stores.

The Deerfield, Ill., company reported net income of $470 million, or 49 cents per share, for the quarter. That’s up from $436 million, or 44 cents per share, a year earlier.

Walgreen shares rose $3.46, or 11.4 percent, to close at $33.81.

 

Proxy fight concluded, Barnes & Noble looks ahead

After shareholders backed its founder and his family Tuesday, concluding a contentious proxy fight, book seller Barnes & Noble Inc. is looking to its next chapter, focusing on e-commerce as shoppers shift from paper books to digital.

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The company expects 31 percent of its revenue to come from e-commerce by 2014, up from 10 percent now, CEO William Lynch said Tuesday at the company’s shareholder meeting. He said the company’s brick-and-morter stores give it an advantage over online competitors in selling the Nook, its digital reader, because shoppers can come to stores and try it out.

Billionaire investor Ron Burkle had fought for months to increase his stake in the company, even taking the feud to court.

 

AOL buying TechCrunch in bid to expand news sites

AOL Inc. said Tuesday that it will buy technology blog TechCrunch and its sister sites for an undisclosed amount in a bid to expand its news production.

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong and TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington made the announcement onstage at TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference in San Francisco. They signed the acquisition agreement in front of the audience.

Armstrong said TechCrunch is something New York-based AOL – which already owns a number of tech blogs, including Engadget – has been interested in “for a while.”

 


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