The Backup files; A look back at the week in business.

Byline: Bob Kievra

COLUMN: THE BACKUP FILES

Overture, curtain, lights

No, we're not talking about Friday night's opening of the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts in Worcester. Another cross-town entity won rave reviews from Wall Street last week. RXi Pharmaceuticals, which focuses on using ribonucleic acid to block the action of genes in cells, had a strong opening act. The company went public Wednesday and its shares jumped 75 percent. It followed that up Thursday with a 29.4 percent gain. Now that's something to sing about.

Unwelcome advances

Rejection was a big topic last week, particularly in New York, where Gov. Eliot Spitzer headed for the exit after being caught leaving a hotel door open for a call girl from an expensive prostitution service. Closer to home, EMC Corp. of Hopkinton was spurned by Iomega Corp., which told the data storage giant it wasn't interested in its $178 million takeover offer. The San Diego-based company said the $3.25-a-share bid was undervalued and that EMC's conditions for the sale were overly broad. EMC indicated the initial brushoff wasn't a deal-killer and said they were looking forward to further discussions with Iomega.

Grumble, grumble

Not a business day went by last week without a fair amount of grumbling. Legislators, business officials and health care executives lamented the rising cost of health insurance at a Worcester event Wednesday. A day earlier, retailers complained about the lack of business as consumers trimmed spending because of rising gasoline prices and slumping home values. On Thursday, businesses in Northeastern Connecticut expressed concern about rising energy prices.

Hanover Insurance CEO Fred Eppinger last week wanted to keep objections to a minimum when he sold a small subsidiary to a Missouri-based company. Hanover's AMGRO finance company will become part of Premium Financing Specialists of Kansas City. Eppinger said he likely took less money on the deal because he would only sell to someone that would keep AMGRO in Worcester and retain most of its employees. And in this economy, that's nothing to grumble about.

Permanent barrier

Not even Ty Pennington and his cheerful crew could help Oldcastle Precast's plant in North Brookfield. Known as Chase Precast to most locals, the manufacturer of road barriers and retaining walls closed its manufacturing plant last week, putting approximately 50 employees out of work. The company, founded by Allen Chase in 1957, was sold in May 2000 to Washington-based Oldcastle Precast Inc. The North Brookfield plant was recently in the news through donations it made to ABC's "Extreme Makeover - Home Edition" television program, which recently filmed upcoming episodes in New England.

ART: PHOTOS