REGIONALREPORT Triangle
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK — Victoria Haynes plans to retire as CEO of Research Triangle Institute, a nonprofit research center that operates as RTI International. Haynes, 63, will step down once a successor is found. She has led the institute for 12 years. Its workforce has nearly doubled under her leadership to 2,800, which includes 2,200 at RTP.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK — Startup drug company Ascletis, founded by a Chinese businessman and a former GlaxoSmithKline researcher in the Triangle, has raised $100 million from investors that will go toward research on treatments for cancer and infectious diseases. The research will be conducted in China, but the company plans to base its management in the Triangle.
DURHAM — Lip balm and lotion maker Burt’s Bees has a new top executive. Nick Vlahos, a 15-year veteran of parent Clorox, replaced John Replogle, who left as CEO in February to become CEO of Burlington, Vt.-based product producer Seventh Generation.
DURHAM — Verisk Analytics, which provides risk data to insurers and mortgage lenders, bought Bloodhound Technologies for $82 million. Bloodhound uses technology that spots fraud in insurance claims. Jersey City, N.J.-based Verisk says it will keep Bloodhound’s 46 employees.
GARNER — Butterball says CEO Keith Shoemaker resigned. The turkey producer gave no reason for his departure and said members of the company’s board would assume his responsibilities until a successor is hired. It employs about 80 locally.
The Blackstone Group, a New York-based private-equity firm, is donating $3.6 million through its charitable foundation to create an entrepreneurial network in the Triangle that will forge a partnership with UNC Chapel Hill, Duke University, N.C. State University and N.C. Central University. The grant will finance the network for five years, paying for an executive director and 15 experienced entrepreneurs who will mentor 30 of the region’s most promising startups.