Good morning, Boston. Here are the five things you need to know in local business news to start your busy workday, plus a treatise on the various styles of pizza and a flashback to the infamous Fenway Park pizza-throwing incident.

1. These are the largest Mass. M&A technology deals in 2024 so far

The Greater Boston tech sector has seen an uptick in M&A activities in recent months, with large enterprises or private equity firms getting their hands on local firms. Lucy Maffei has more on the M&A deals tracked by the Business Journal since the beginning of 2024.

2. Layoffs hit another Massachusetts genetic medicines company

Another local gene-editing company is reportedly trimming its workforce, Hannah Green reports.

3. New data shows Mass. competitiveness in jeopardy

A new report shows that the state ranks third to last nationally in labor-force growth over the past five years as the high cost of living here and other factors are quickly overshadowing the state's strong reputation for education and innovation, Amber Tai reports.

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4. Broad Institute lays off workers

Isabel Hart reports that the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the prominent biomedical research center in Cambridge, has laid off 87 employees across its software engineering, IT and administrative divisions. 

5. Meet Mort, the toy that wants you to buy a casket

Lucy Maffei reports on why the fastest direct-to-consumer casket company in the U.S. is selling a plush casket mascot.

What else you need to know

By the numbers

What’s going on?

Tomorrow is the Center for Women & Enterprise’s Women of Color Business Summit 2024, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester.

Today in history

On this day in 2017, actress and activist Alyssa Milano tweeted that women who had been sexually harassed or assaulted should write “Me too” as a status, and within hours went from a hashtag to a full-fledged movement. (AP)

Meet the up-and-comers

BostInno has released its annual 25 Under 25, while the Business Journal is ramping up for its annual 40 Under 40 event at the end of this month.

Women Who Mean Business awardees announced

Former Lt. Gov. Evelyn Murphy, the state's first woman to hold constitutional office, will be awarded the BBJ's inaugural lifetime achievement award as part of the Women Who Mean Business program this fall. Here are all of this year's awardees.

What’s good on WERS-FM

Natural Blues, by Moby

What I'm watching

Steve! (Martin), a Documentary in Two Parts, on Apple TV

A new style of pizza?

Welcome to the second Monday of the week, thanks to yesterday’s confusing holiday.

Few topics get people more worked up than what type of pizza is best. Most of us in New England favor the brick-oven, thin-crusted pies you find at Pizzeria Regina or Santarpio’s. Unless you grew up in a neighborhood that had a Greek “house of pizza” nearby — as I did, with Niko’s Pizza on Grafton Hill in Worcester — in which case you might favor Greek-style pizza, which is kind of halfway between New York–style more traditional Italian pizza. Of course, if you’re from the South Shore, you’ll probably email me to explain why bar pizza is the best.

Farther afield, Chicagoans make their case for deep-dish pies, and anytime I’m in Portland, Maine, I go out of my way to stop at Slab for its giant, square Sicilian-style pizza. And then there are California- and Detroit-style pizzas (in a baking pan), which have their own unique ingredients (avocado, chicken, or goat cheese, for California, or government brick cheese and pepperoni for Detroit).

Until yesterday, I’d never heard of “Springfield-style” pizza. But Jim Casapizziolo, owner of Casa Pizzeria in Ludlow, is trying to make it a thing. According to this piece from MassLive.com, the self-described “crazy pizza guy” has unveiled a new item on its menu: a Springfield-style pizza. Casapizziolo calls his shop a “pizza lab” and describes his new style as a round pizza cut into squares.

MassLive writer Harrison Giza asked  just what makes Springfield-style football pizza stand out. Casapizziolo’s response? “I remember this from the 80s. This pie has a fluffy dough characteristic as opposed to the super-thin New York or New Haven style that we make.”

Next time I’m in the 413 area code, I may have to stop by and give it a try.

PARTING SHOT

While we’re on the topic of pizza, there is no greater video on the Internet involving pizza than the pizza-throwing incident at Fenway Park, which I've shared before, but I can't help it. The play-by-play analysis from Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo (and the giggling at 44 seconds and beyond) are worth watching over and over:

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