Curt Nickisch serves as WBUR's Business & Technology Reporter. He covers compelling and interesting Massachusetts businesses, economic issues and other financial stories for WBUR listeners and online users.
To enhance his understanding and coverage of business, Curt is currently a M.B.A. candidate at Boston University. He previously earned an M.S. in Journalism from South Dakota State University and a B.A. from the University of Utah.
His start in radio journalism began during Fulbright study in Europe, where he reported for Germany's international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle. Curt has won various journalism awards, including national Edward R. Murrow and Scripps Howard Radio Awards for his documentary on German POWs interned in America.
BOSTON — Beneath the positive news that the Massachusetts unemployment rate fell last month lurks a very troubling figure that is not getting better: the number of the underemployed. Those are people who are working part-time, only because they can’t find full-time work.
BOSTON — Bucking the national trend, the state jobless rate in October dropped to 8.9 percent, down from 9.3 percent in September. But Massachusetts actually lost jobs in October — 900 in all.
BOSTON — Massachusetts banks say their bottom lines are being hurt by higher fees they have to pay to insure customer deposits.
The Food and Drug Administration has said it will not approve Genzyme’s new drug, Lumizyme, until contamination of vials at the company’s Allston facility is fixed.
Thanks to the recession, Massachusetts residents should not see any major increases in the price of heating their homes this winter.
BOSTON — Edward M. Kennedy served as U.S. senator from Massachusetts for 47 years. So it’s been hard for candidates who want to replace him to emerge from his shadow. And hard for voters to tell the difference.
BOSTON — Some of the region’s leading economists convened in Boston on Tuesday to give their assessment of the recovery. They say that, while the regional economy is technically getting better, it won’t feel like that for a good while.
A Massachusetts hedge fund manager has been arrested in the huge Galleon insider trading case, and more local businesspeople could still be charged in the alleged scheme.
Massachusetts is profiting from its competitive technical prowess. But the news that Evergreen Solar is moving production jobs to China is a reminder that the manufacturing future for green energy is difficult.
Businesses are wrestling with the threat of H1N1 swine flu, worried that if too many employees get sick at once, the company could be brought to a standstill. But a researcher at MIT says it unlikely that their worst fears will be realized.
After speculation that Massachusetts customers of Citizens Bank could find their bank under new ownership, the banks’ parent company, the Royal Bank of Scotland, said it would keep Citizens Financial Group.
Massachusetts customers of Citizens Bank could find their bank under new ownership. Royal Bank of Scotland, the parent company of Citizens Financial Group, said it will likely have to sell off some parts of its business.
BOSTON — The commonwealth’s economy contracted 1.1 percent during the third quarter of 2009, even as the U.S. economy grew 3.5 percent over the same period.
BOSTON — The Wall Street Journal is shutting its Boston bureau and eliminating nine jobs, marking the second round of cuts at the newspaper this year.
BOSTON — Lost amid the hammering high-end hotels are getting during this recession is the growth of boutique brand hotels. The super contemporary W Boston is will open Thursday on Stuart Street in the theater district. The reason: Customers pay an average of $80 extra per night to feel like they’re not staying at a chain, though they are. Can that hold up in this downturn?
MEDFORD, Mass. — The company, Biocell Center, does work in fertility and infant care. CEO Kate Torchilin said the new facility will be the first in the world to collect and store amniotic stem cells for their unique therapeutic properties.
BOSTON — New England businesses are reporting that signs of any economic recovery are small and scattered. The lackluster sentiment is revealed in the latest survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
BOSTON — The state of California is suing State Street Corp., alleging that the Boston investment bank fraudulently managed California’s pension funds.
BOSTON — ALCS Game 7. October 20, 2004. Five years ago. That’s the day everything changed for the Boston Red Sox — and for Boston. Share your memories of that fateful day.
BOSTON — All the major candidates for Massachusetts’ open Senate seat say they’re meeting Tuesday’s deadline to turn in enough signatures to get on the ballot. Even this formality is a reason to drum up support.
