Textron Inc. – parent of Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft Company and Textron Systems – saw its profits increase by 6.3 percent to $151 million during the third quarter of 2012, the company reported Wednesday. more

Bell Helicopter, the Fort Worth, Texas-based subsidiary of Textron Inc., broke ground on its new global headquarters on Monday. more

Gas prices in Rhode Island dropped 2 cents this week, after holding a steady price last week, according to AAA Southern New England. more

Gas prices in Rhode Island held steady at $3.97 this week after rising 1 cent last week, according to AAA Southern New England. more

BOSTON – Massachusetts Auditor Suzanne Bump announced an audit of the Mass. Bay Transportation Authority’s automated-fare-collection system that highlighted revenue variances of more than $100 million between the system’s records and the actual money collected. In addition, the audit showed missing keys to bus and trolley fare boxes and incomplete tracking of fare-box cash. more

What a ride it’s been for John Olinger. What started out just eight years ago as a two-person transportation startup catering to tour-bus users has morphed into a mini conglomerate that provides luxury transportation to clients in more than 600 cities worldwide. more

Gas prices in Rhode Island rose 1 cent this week after dropping 3 cents last, according to AAA Southern New England. more

Workers install wooden piles as well as rebar for concrete beneath the new Sakonnet River Bridge on Sept. 24. The new bridge is on the left; the old one on the right. Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee joined officials from the R.I. Department of Transportation for a tour of the new bridge the same day. DOT opened northbound traffic on Route 24 onto the new bridge Sept. 20. Southbound traffic on Route 24 will also shift to the new bridge. The bridge and ramps are set for completion in 2013. Construction crews broke ground on the $163.7 million bridge project, which carries Route 24 between Tiverton and Portsmouth, in April 2009. more

A gain in demand for capital goods such as equipment and machinery in August failed to make up for declines in the previous two months, showing slowdowns in business investment and exports threaten to further restrain the U.S. economy more

Gas prices in Rhode Island dropped 3 cents this week after surging 10 cents to the highest-ever price in September last week, according to AAA Southern New England. more