MJSA sets groundbreaking
PROVIDENCE – The Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America announced the groundbreaking for their new headquarters on Friday, October 8 at 11:30 a.m. Completion of the new facility at 45 Royal Little Drive in Silver Spring Industrial Park in Providence is scheduled for next spring. The facility will have seminar/education rooms and a full reference library for members. MJSA headquarters now are located at One State Street. MJSA was founded in 1903 and is a trade association representing jewelry manufacturers and their suppliers.
CVS adds board member
WOONSOCKET – Marian L. Heard, president and chief executive of the United Way of Massachusetts and chief executive of the United Ways of New England had been appointed to the board of directors of CVS, Inc.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
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Textron Financial buys Litchfield Financial
PROVIDENCE – Textron Financial Corp. announced that it had agreed to purchase Litchfield Financial Corp. of Williamstown, Mass. for about $183 million in cash. Litchfield, with offices in Massachusetts, Arizona, Colorado and Georgia, finances timeshare property and rural land developers. It has 140 employees. One observer saw the purchase as an opportunity for Textron to expand its resort and recreation financing business, considered one of the most rapidly growing of its niche markets.
Log On America agrees to acquire Twisted Pair
PROVIDENCE – Log On America announced it has agreed to acquire Twisted Pair Networks of Massachusetts, an Internet service provider that serves residential and commercial clients. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. With the acquisition, a company spokesman said, LOA will have 30,000 customers and more than 115 employees.
Florentine dining to return to Providence
PROVIDENCE – The week-long success of the Casa Florentina during the Splendor of Florence Festival here recently has persuaded the Italian chefs who operated the restaurant to go into business in the city next spring. The Casa Florentina was located in the Federal Reserve restaurant space during the festival, but the operators of the new restaurant are looking for another location. Bob Burke, owner of the Federal Reserve, as well as the Pot au Feu, plans to continue running the Federal Reserve as a catering and special events restaurant. The Florentine chefs, Enrico Verrecchia, Aurelio Fontani, Vito Fanini, and Stefanno Coccoloni have commissioned Stefano Gris, the architect who designed the festival’s Splendor of Florence museo and the museo and artisans’ workshops exhibitions to design the restaurant. Plans call for opening the restaurant next spring.
NSF picks URI Professor Leinen
KINGSTON – Margaret Leinen, dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island since 1990, has accepted the appointment by the National Science Foundation as head of its geosciences directorate starting in January. Her responsibilities at NSF will include coordination of environmental science and engineering programs within NSF and collaboration between NSF and other federal agencies. Along with being dean of the GSO, Leinen has also been vice provost for Marine and Environmental Programs and interim dean, College of the Environment and Life Sciences. Leinen is a noted researcher in paleoceanography, the study of how oceans evolve, and paleoclimatology, the study of climates through the ages. She has been an active participant in the sea-going research program, with 24 cruises. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois in geology, with her master’s degree in geological oceanography from Oregon State University, and her Ph.D. in oceanography from URI.
Quonset berth for Saratoga gets tentative OK
NORTH KINGSTOWN – Approval by unanimous vote of the Rhode Island Development Corporation has boosted prospects for the relocation of the decommissioned aircraft carrier Saratoga to a berth at Quonset Point. Approval by the EDC is contingent on the Saratoga’s sponsors, the Saratoga Museum Foundation and others’ obtaining financing, and having marketing and traffic studies done, among other requirements. The Saratoga, the latest in a series of Navy ships by that name had been in active service for 38 years before it was decommissioned in 1994. It was towed to Coddington Cove in Middletown two years ago. Frank L. Lennon, chairman of the Saratoga foundation, has been spearheading the campaign for relocation of the ship and establishment of a museum, tentatively called the Air, Land & Sea Heritage and Technology Park. He has been successful in obtaining financial commitments from an investment firm and various veterans groups.
Chafee honored by New England Council
Washington, D.C. – The New England Council’s board of directors has included U.S. Senator John Chafee among the recipients of its 1999 New Englander of the Year awards. University of Massachusetts President William M. Bulger and Marshall Carter, chairman and chief executive officer of the State Street Corporation are the other honorees.
