COLUMN: BUSINESS BRIEFS

TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Bloomberg Index

Central Massachusetts

-1.44

178.24

Volume: 49,338,732

Up: 7

Down: 17

Unchanged: 8

Gainer: Providence and Worcester RR Co. $16.90 +$.36

Decliner: Waters Corp. $61.61 -$1.31

(volume of 468,200 shares)

Noteworthy: 3Com Corp. of Marlboro was downgraded to "hold" from "buy" by analyst Daniel Scalzi at Matrix USA. (Bloomberg News)

People

Industrialist dies

CLINTON - Nicholas Aznoian of Andover, co-chairman of Nypro Inc. and a 33-year veteran of the company, died Saturday, Nypro said yesterday. Mr. Aznoian, 78, was chief financial officer of the injection molding company from 1974 to 2002, stepping down to become co-chairman. During his tenure at Nypro, revenues rose from $12 million to $1.2 billion. "His many contributions led the company to the success we all enjoy today,'' Nypro officials said in a memo to the staff.

Local

IPG gets grant

OXFORD - The U.S. Navy has awarded a $3.8 million contract for a 44-kilowatt fiber laser system to IPG Photonics Corp. Under the contract, IPG Photonics will supply eight commercial 5.5-kilowatt fiber lasers between September and December to the Naval Warfare Surface Center, according to a news release issued yesterday by IPG Photonics. The company makes lasers and amplifiers for communications, medicine, science, research and materials processing. IPG Photonics said the lasers for the Navy will be manufactured at the company's facility in Oxford.

DCU gets award

WORCESTER - The DCU Center has been selected for a 2007 Prime Site Award from Facilities and Destinations magazine, according to a news release from SMG, the company that manages the DCU Center. SMG reported that 27 facilities managed by SMG were selected for awards, which recognize top convention, expo and exhibition centers in North America and the Caribbean. The DCU Center is owned by the city of Worcester.

Jobless grant

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Labor Department will give Massachusetts a $196,110 grant to improve its unemployment insurance information technology security, the government reported. The grant is part of $6 million in funding the federal labor agency is giving to states and Puerto Rico to identify weaknesses in unemployment insurance systems and secure them against fraud, the government reported in a news release.

Contract pending

The federal government is expected to award a contract this week worth more than $1 billion to build a new air traffic control system that officials say will help reduce chronic flight delays, the Washington Post reported. Raytheon Co. of Waltham, ITT Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. have bid on the project, the Post said. The system, known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, would cost at least $15 billion and use satellites instead of radar to guide aircraft so planes could fly closer together and take more direct routes, saving fuel and time as well as decreasing pollution, government officials told the Post. Officials at the Federal Aviation Administration estimate that controllers could begin using the system by 2013, the Post said. Raytheon has operations in Marlboro. (Bloomberg News)

Staples stock

FRAMINGHAM - Kristin A. Campbell, a vice president at Staples Inc., sold 4,497 shares of company stock at $23.11 on Aug. 23, according to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She retains 26,169 shares, directly held. (The Washington Service)

EMC shares

HOPKINTON - David A. Donatelli, a vice president at EMC Corp., sold 300,000 shares of company stock at $19.50 on Friday according to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.(The Washington Service)

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: Mr. Aznoian