Worcester Business Journal

6 Worcester Business Journal • August 31, 2015 www.wbjournal.com were interest free. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said the firm, Springstone Financial, has been ordered to pay $700,000 in relief to up to about 3,200 consumers who signed up for the product and were ultimately charged and paid deferred interest. The bureau said Springstone ran the program from January 2009 through December 2014. Springstone is a subsidiary of San Francisco-based Lending Club Corp., which bought Springstone in April 2014, according to a report in The Boston Globe. Lending Club's chief executive, Renaud Laplanche, told the Globe that the com- pany pulled the product within months because it was "not up to LendingClub's standards of transparency, consumer friendliness and responsible lending." WESTBOROUGH — SimpliVity and the Chinese computer hardware manu- facturer Lenovo have agreed to a deal in which SimpliVity's data virtualization technology will be included with some of Lenovo's servers, the companies announced. SimpliVity's OmniStack data virtualization platform will be inte- grated into Lenovo's System x3650 serv- ers through Arrow Electronics. The integrated products will be offered in North America starting in the fourth quarter. SimpliVity employs about 500, with 322 in Westborough. Earlier this year, the privately held company said it raised $175 million in Series D fund- ing, lifting SimpliVity's value to $1 billion. ACTON — The former head of a chamber of commerce in Williamstown has been named executive director of the Middlesex West chamber in Acton. Kathleen McDonald, who is originally from Acton and lived in town for 25 years, is returning to the area. She's replacing Sarah Fletcher, who has taken a position as marketing outreach manager at Westford Community Access Television, according to a state- ment from the chamber. McDonald pre- viously owned a marketing consultancy, and is a graduate of the University of California Irvine and Boston University. Fletcher headed the Middlesex West chamber for 10 years, and before that had worked as a community education assistant director for Roudenbush Community Center in Westford. HOLDEN —Two young farmers in Berlin said they have purchased a farm in Holden where they plan to raise a variety of livestock. The new location will be the permanent home of Lilac Hedge Farm, co-owned by Ryan MacKay and Tom Corbett, both 25. Lilac Hedge has been operating on leased land. The new site, formerly Sandstrom's Dairy farm, will be used to raise cattle, sheep, hogs and poultry, the owners announced. Lilac Hedge Farm's mission is to provide local, sustainably-raised meats. GARDNER — Advanced Cable Ties will use an $8-million, tax-exempt bond from MassDevelopment to build an addition and add new equipment, the state's economic development agency said. The manufacturer of cable ties and wiring accessories expects the project to create 60 jobs, MassDevelopment said. Proceeds from the bond, purchased by UniBank, will go toward a 42,300-square- foot addition at the company's facility at 245 Suffolk Ln. The addition will house manufacturing operations, as well as warehouse and office space. Advanced Cable Ties also plans to purchase manu- facturing equipment with proceeds from the bond, according to MassDevelopment. WORCESTER —Hanover Insurance Group declared a quarterly dividend of 41 cents per share to its stockholders. The dividend will be paid Sept. 25 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Sept. 11. n Preferred Mutual Insurance Company One Preferred Way, New Berlin, NY 13411 www.preferredmutual.com The true test of an insurance company is how it handles a claim…or an additional 6,000 claims. Preferred Mutual finished the 2015 Winter Season with a 94% customer satisfaction rate, responding to 100% of claims within 24 hours of First Notice of Loss. Our Claims team is dedicated to providing you with outstanding service so you can live confidently and without fear of what lies ahead. Scan our QR Code to check out our list of products and services. Knowing we'll be there when you need us most. That's Living Assured. 08.05.15 Speaker Kris Ad FINAL WBJ COLOR Ad Summit SIZE: 4.3w x 6h "Understanding the Impact of Autism on the Regional Workforce & Economy" September 22 nd 9 am – 12 noon Assumption College REGISTER NOW! Visit conta.cc/1HjrRC3 Presented by HMEA, Inc. KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Kristine Biagiotti President Disability Employee Resource Group, EMC Corp. O U R S P O N S O R S : REGIONAL BRIEFS >> Continued from previous page 0 1 2 3 4 5 $6B 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 $2.5B Value of exports to and imports from China (in billions of dollars) EXPORTS IMPORTS '11 '12 '13 '14 '11 '12 '13 '14 $4.41B $2.29B 0 1 2 3 4 5 $6B 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 $2.5B Value of exports to and imports from China (in billions of dollars) EXPORTS IMPORTS '11 '12 '13 '14 '11 '12 '13 '14 $4.41B $2.29B 0 1 2 3 4 5 $6B 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 $2.5B Value of exports to and imports from China (in billions of dollars) EXPORTS IMPORTS '11 '12 '13 '14 '11 '12 '13 '14 $4.41B $2.29B Source: U.S. Census Bureau The value of exports from Massachusetts companies to China grew by nearly 16 percent from 2013 to 2014, to $2.3 billion. Meanwhile, the value of imports from China dropped nearly 5 percent. Only Canada exports more to the Bay State. Doing business with China

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