Worcester Business Journal

6 Worcester Business Journal | August 22, 2022 | wbjournal.com T H E T I C K E R $1 billion Investment by Westborough electric vehicle battery recycling firm Ascend Elements for a new 500,000-square-foot production facility in Kentucky Source: Ascend Elements 22% Source: The Warren Group Civil penalty paid by Framingham-based retail parent company TJX Cos., Inc. for selling and offering to sell recalled consumer products from 2014 to 2019 $13 million 534 Cambridge St Source: Worcester District Registry of Deeds Drop in the number of home sales in Worcester in July vs. July 2021, compared to an 11% drop throughout Worcester County and a 17% drop statewide Site of the historic firehouse in Worcester, which the sex trade recovery nonprofit Living in Freedom Together plans to turn into a shelter Source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission B R I E FS NYC developer buys slice of former Staples HQ for $25M New York City-based e Lightstone Group, with its partner Outshine Prop- erties, has purchased 100-150 Staples Drive in Framingham for $24.7 million, which is more than double the price the property sold for in 2021. e deal closed on Aug. 9, according to the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds. Lightstone's purchase came just over a year aer Calare Properties of Fram- ingham purchased the 11.2-acre site, once part of the headquarters of office supplies retailer Staples, in June 2021 for $9.5 million. Texas-based real estate giant CBRE, which has an office in Boston, represent- ed the seller. Outshine and Lightstone, which are headquartered in the same building, intend to convert the facility on the Staples Drive property from office space to lab space, which is the main reason for the price increase. Lightstone officials declined to com- ment when reached on Aug. 15. Boston Scientific investigating corruption allegation in Vietnam Marlborough medical device man- ufacturer Boston Scientific Corp. has received a whistleblower letter saying it violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Prac- tices Act in its dealings in Vietnam. Boston Scientific received the com- plaint in March and disclosed the matter in its second quarter financial report to the U.S. Securities & Exchange Com- mission, which was filed on Aug. 4. e company's disclosure didn't pro- vide any further details on the matter, except to say Boston Scientific is coop- erating with government agencies while investigating the complaints. e Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which was created in 1977, prohibits companies from bribing government officials in foreign countries, in efforts to benefit their business. Boston Scientific doesn't list any Viet- nam facilities on its website. However, it does list Vietnam as one of 20 emerging markets where it believes the company has strong growth potential based on the countries' economic conditions.

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