Derecktor listing to port
Derecktor Shipyards filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors as it seeks a capital infusion, with a possible option being the sale of its shipyard in Bridgeport.
At its peak, Derecktor Shipyards employed more than 400 people at its 837 Seaview Ave. facility in Bridgeport, also running a shipyard in Mamaroneck, N.Y.
The company”™s largest unsecured creditor is American Equity Underwriters Inc., a maritime insurance company based in Mobile, Ala., which it owes $800,000; it owes more than $300,000 to the Bridgeport Port Authority and more than $200,000 to Newtown-based Moran Environmental recovery.
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PerkinElmer cuts jobs
PerkinElmer reportedly is cutting 75 jobs in Shelton, where its senior local executive reported having some 600 employees as of a year ago of more than 6,000 worldwide.
Waltham, Mass.-based PerkinElmer makes various sensors and equipment used to take measurements in the environmental and life sciences, among other products. Speaking at a Shelton jobs conference last year, the unit”™s president, Dusty Tenney, said the company plans to keep its 710 Bridgeport Ave. offices there “for the foreseeable future.”
The Danbury News-Times reported last month that some 75 jobs are being cut, however.
PerkinElmer was scheduled to disclose its year-end results in early February after press deadline; for the first three months of 2010, the company earned $87 million on nearly $1.4 billion in revenue, up 12 percent from a year earlier.
Rail ridership up
The New Haven Line of Metro-North Railroad tallied a 2.7 percent gain in riders in 2011, despite declines on the Danbury and Waterbury branches of the commuter line.
Including New York, ridership reached 82 million trips, the second highest total ever after 2008, according to the MTA, which predicts a 2 percent gain this year.
MTA reported an on-time rate of 96.9 percent across Metro-North, in a year plagued by snowstorms last winter followed by Tropical Storm Irene and the October nor”™easter.
Hedge fund plea deal
Diamondback Capital Management L.L.C. will pay a $6 million penalty but avoid prosecution for insider trading, though prosecutors reserved the right to reinstate a criminal prosecution if the company does not cooperate.
In a November regulatory filing, Stamford-based Diamondback Capital listed more than $2 billion in assets under management in its primary fund.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara”™s office disclosed evidence of insider trading by two former Diamondback employees, including as recently as Jan. 20. That occurred even as federal authorities publicly pursue a probe of expert networking firms, hedge funds and other entities. Bharara said Todd Newman and Jesse Tortora face charges.
The company”™s co-founders Richard Schimel and Larry Sapanski cooperated with investigators and are not accused of wrongdoing.
Two take Stamford leases
Centerstone Partners L.L.C. and CTC Electric L.L.C. are leasing 3,000 square feet of space at 1281 East Main St. in Stamford, dubbed Holly Pond Plaza.
Centerstone Partners is a private equity firm focused on the health care industry, while CTC invests in solar power. The companies were represented by Darien-based Signature Group, while Cushman & Wakefield represented the building owner.
Feds recoup $19M
U.S. Attorney David Fein”™s office collected more than $19 million in criminal and civil actions in the 2011 fiscal year ending last September, some $4 million more than its annual budget.
That amount includes some awards levied in previous years; for instance, the $2 million Fein”™s office collected from Ionia Management, a tanker company ordered in 2007 to pay a fine for illegal dumping.
The single largest civil recovery by Fein”™s office occurred in November 2010 when Maryland-based Sentient Medical Systems agreed to pay $2.7 million after accusations it violated the Medicare program.
Shays makes Senate bid
Former U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays formally announced his candidacy for the seat of U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, who is retiring.
Shays is touting his long experience in Congress in his bid for the Republican nomination, opposing World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. CEO Linda McMahon with the Republican field including multiple other candidates at present.
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Wage growth among best
Fairfield County had one of the six highest increases in average wages in the nation last year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Labor.
Between the second quarters of 2010 and 2011, local residents saw a $76 boost in pay to about $1,470 weekly on average, or more than $76,000 annually.
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Wiggles make Ruckus
The Australian children”™s troupe The Wiggles granted Wilton-based Ruckus Media Group worldwide rights to create storybook applications for tablets and smartphones.
The Wiggles announced their first iPad app days after revealing founding member Greg Page would return to the group, after a five-year hiatus to recuperate from an illness resulting in fatigue and other symptoms.
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Unemployment down
Connecticut”™s unemployment rate dropped another two basis points to 8.2 percent, with the state gaining a mere 600 jobs according to the Connecticut Department of Labor.
The transportation and utilities sector posted the biggest gain with 2,500 jobs, possibly the result of holiday hiring and also possibly crews still performing clearing and repair work from the October nor”™easter.
SHU adds trustees
Sacred Heart University added as trustees Pitney Bowes Inc. CEO Murray Martin and Teresa Ressel, the former CEO of UBS Securities L.L.C.
Martin already was on the board of visitors at the John F. Welch College of Business at Sacred Heart, and last year received an honorary degree from the Fairfield school. He has led Stamford-based Pitney Bowes since 2008, and is a graduate of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
Ressel started her corporate career at General Dynamics in Groton. Between 2001 and 2004 she held a CFO position for the U.S. Department of the Treasury. She is a graduate of the University of Delaware and holds an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
TNS takes top floor
The TNS Group took the 3,000 square-foot penthouse suite at 3 Landmark Square, within Stamford. Darien-based Signature Group represented TNS in securing space at the SL Green-owned complex.
