First up: the purchase of another fast-growing IT provider, Portland, Maine-based CyberNorth. This deal, announced on Monday, is the first acquisition in EchoStor's history. But it won't be the last. Johnson wouldn't disclose the deal price, or specific revenue figures, but he estimates EchoStor is getting close to $500 million in annual revenue now that CyberNorth is part of it.

CyberNorth's president, Jeremy Lombardo, joins EchoStor as its president, reporting to Johnson. Together with the CyberNorth employees, EchoStor will have more than 200 people, and offices in Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. (EchoStor will close CyberNorth's Walpole office and move those workers to Norwood.)

There's still more room to grow the geographic footprint, including by finding deals outside of New England.

"Now that we have a blueprint and a structure to do so, I think you will see more acquisitions coming within three to six months," Johnson said. "We're not slowing down after this one."

EchoStor will also look at deals that expand its technology offerings, as CyberNorth does with its specialization in data protection.

EchoStor currently resells tech from the likes of Dell, Cisco, Microsoft, and ServiceNow. The goal is to be a client's one-stop shop for tech needs, from AI to cloud storage to cybersecurity, all with a personalized touch.

Goodwin Procter and Embarc Advisors advised EchoStor on the CyberNorth deal. EchoStor didn't need an infusion of private equity to pull it off, or extra debt, Johnson said.

"It just speaks to the health of our business, . . . to have the ability to handle that transaction internally, based on the scale of our growth," Johnson said. "Twenty years in business, and I've finally made an acquisition."

There's a new captain at the helm of Community Boating Inc., the Boston sailing center.

Kate Ferris Richardson has climbed aboard as the nonprofit's new executive director, taking over for Charlie Zechel. For Ferris Richardson, it represents a way to fuse her career as an educator with her lifelong passion for sailing into a dream job.

A sailing friend heard that the job would be opening up following Zechel's retirement and mentioned it to Ferris Richardson; she had been working as undergraduate medical education coordinator for Harvard Medical School programs at Mass. General Hospital. She also has volunteer leadership experience in the nonprofit sector, including as the current finance committee chair at the Boston Yacht Club in Marblehead, as well as previous roles with the Salem Jazz and Soul Festival and Boston Symphony Orchestra.

"This is where my heart is at," Ferris Richardson said, referring to her office overlooking the Charles River. "My heart is on the water."

She will lead a team with a nearly $3 million budget and a year-round staff of 15 to 20. In the sailing months of March through October, that number ramps up to more than 130 people. The nonprofit offers an inexpensive way for people to learn to sail. (EF and Polar Beverages are key corporate sponsors.)

Ferris Richardson said she's starting the job with a "listening and learning phase" to deepen the sailing school's connection with the city, and Boston Public Schools in particular, and highlight the science programs that the nonprofit offers. One key goal: to attract new boaters from beyond the adjacent Beacon Hill and West End neighborhoods.

"I want to make sure all parts of the city know we are here," she said. "I want to make sure we're less of a secret and more of a household phrase."

Nicole Obi has led the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts for nearly four years, and the organization has had a similar number of homes over that time.

But the days of moving around will soon be over. As the group approaches its 10th anniversary, BECMA is preparing to settle into a permanent home. And it's getting some financial help from the city of Boston to do so.

Last month, the Boston Planning & Development Agency board approved a $100,000 grant to help BECMA with its new "sustainability hub" at 253-257 Roxbury Street, a few blocks from Nubian Square. BECMA bought the 4,500-square-foot building -- actually two adjoining commercial condos -- for $1.5 million at the suggestion of previous board chair Teri Williams, president of OneUnited Bank. (BECMA is currently based at nearby Roxbury Community College.)

Obi, BECMA's president and chief executive, said the group "sprang into action" last year after Williams flagged the property. The Barr Foundation helped by donating $500,000, as long as BECMA could raise matching funds. BECMA still needed to borrow money from Eastern Bank to seal the deal; the city of Boston contribution will help pay off that loan.

The term "sustainability hub" takes on multiple meanings in this context. Obi said owning its home will help ensure BECMA's financial stability, and the 13-person organization plans to use it to foster greener-building businesses, climate-friendly construction techniques, and similar ventures.

Obi said she wants to raise another $1 million to pay off the mortgage and renovate the space.

The renovations won't be complete by the time of the anniversary in November, but Obi still plans to show off the property.

"If nothing else," Obi said, "we're going to have a ribbon cutting and a celebration. . . . I think it will be really interesting to see what we can do with that space over the next couple of years."

Eastern Bank executive chair Bob Rivers is quick to point out the many parallels between him and René Jones, chief executive at larger rival M&T Bank.

They both grew up in Massachusetts -- Rivers in Stoughton, Jones in Ayer -- and went on to local Catholic colleges -- Rivers at Stonehill, Jones to Boston College -- as Rivers recounted last Wednesday during a meeting of the Boston College Chief Executives Club. They both have vacation homes on Cape Cod. And, importantly, they both honed their banking skills at Buffalo-based M&T.

Jones says he actually reached out to Rivers in the early 1990s after receiving an offer from a bank he didn't know much about, M&T. Rivers had joined the previous year, and encouraged him to come along. They quickly became friends.

Rivers joked with Jones that he was the first to arrive at M&T, and the first to return to Boston. Rivers noted that Jones and his wife are "searching for a home here in Boston [which] might be a news flash to some of you." (It turns out Jones already has an apartment here, and will remain primarily based in Buffalo.) Separately, M&T announced that another top executive, Chris Kay, relocated here from the Buffalo area.

M&T previously was in the Massachusetts market in a limited way, but the acquisition of People's United in 2022 gave it a significant retail presence here. Jones said having a footprint that spans a dozen states is made possible with a strong local bank president system. Grace Lee, M&T's local president until recently, played a critical role in helping M&T dig in here; Lee left to lead St. Mary's Credit Union, and now Jeff Carpenter is the interim Massachusetts president.

The fusillade of compliments on stage prompted Diane Hessan, a board member at Boston-based Eastern and a tech entrepreneur, to jokingly ask the two banking buddies how they maintain such a friendly relationship when they're supposed to be vicious competitors.

"You're coming into Eastern's territory and yet the two of you have, like, this love affair going on in the front of the room," Hessan said. "With the companies I run, I can't imagine sitting in front of hundreds of people telling my competitor they're doing a great job."

Norwood's EchoStor on path to billion-dollar sales, with Mike Johnson at the helm - The Boston Globe