JOHNSTON – FiberMark Inc., a maker of fiber materials used in products ranging
from wallpaper to computer chips, will shut a Rhode Island plant and fire most
of the facility’s 140 employees. Some employees at the plant in Johnston might
be offered jobs at FiberMark’s Lowville, N.Y., factory, which the company will
expand, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Moore said in an interview. FiberMark
plans to hire 85 workers at Lowville, it said. The Brattleboro, Vermont-based
company expects to save about $5 million by closing the plant, FiberMark said
in a statement. The plant closing and related actions will cost about $7.5 million,
the company said. The company’s New York facility now employs 129 people. (Bloomberg
News) .
URI, DEM certify six RI
farms for good agriculture
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KINGSTON – Six farms in South County and the East Bay are the first to be certified
for their good farming and good food handling practices as part of the voluntary
Good Agriculture Practices program sponsored by the University of Rhode Island
and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. The newly certified
farms are Hallen Farm in Exeter, Manfredi Farms in Westerly, Maplewood Farm
in Portsmouth, Quonset View Farm in Portsmouth, Sweet Berry Farm in Middletown,
and Walker Farm in Little Compton. The farms received their certification last
month following and extensive training program and audit of their facilities
and work practices by DEM’s division of agriculture. The New England-wide program
was launched in 2001 after URI’s Food Safety Education Program received a $500,000
grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The primary issues that farmers
must address to reduce contamination are worker hygiene, irrigation water quality,
proper use of fertilizers, produce handling and contaminated run-off.
Binswanger/CBB named agent
for sale of Smithfield building
SMITHFIELD – Bingswanger/CBB, a member of the Chesterton Blumenauer Binswanger,
a full-service real estate agent with over 160 office worldwide has been named
the exclusive agent in the sale of a 153,000-square-foot building on 53 acres
in Smithfield. The one-story building, located northwest of Providence, off
of Highway 116, contains 3,200 square feet of office space, and seven dock doors.
Company officials say the building also offers additional acreage for expansion
and future development.
Mohegans pursuing shellfishing
initiative
WESTERLY – The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council has approved
a 10-year permit for the Mohegan Indian tribe to build a shellfish nursery along
the Connecticut and Rhode Island coasts. Also, the Army Corps of Engineers has
granted Mohegan Aquaculture LLC the rights to install an operation that could
span up to 125 acres in Long Island Sound within the next five years. The $10
million project is expected to raise scallops, oysters and clams.
Training grants awarded
to seven local companies
WARWICK – Excellence Through Training Grants have been awarded to seven Warwick
Companies. Gregg’s Restaurant, Kearflex Engineering , Moran Shipping Agencies
and PerkinElmer Fluid Sciences were each awarded $30,000. Precision Etching
and Findings received a $25,500 grant, Belair Finishing Supply Consortium, $16,815,
and the Rhode Island Automobile Dealers Association, $10,000. Funding for the
grants comes from the state’s Job Development Fund, which is administered by
the State Human Resource Investment Council, a division of the state Department
of Labor and Training. The money come from set aside unemployment taxes levied
against businesses. In all 45 companies statewide have received $1.3 million.
Leadership RI accepting
applications
PROVIDENCE – Leadership Rhode Island is now accepting applications for its
2003 Psi class. Applications must be received in the LRI office by 5:00 p.m.
on October 1, 2002. An independent, non-profit educational foundation now in
its 22nd year, Leadership Rhode Island is dedicated to identifying and nurturing
a diverse and ever-growing network of informed, visionary, and action oriented
team leaders enriched with knowledge, commitment and highly developed skills.
Selected from all sectors of the state, including business, government, and
community organizations, participants will bring back their organizations enhanced
leadership capacities and new professional networking connections with over
1000 alumni who make up Leadership Rhode Island.
Lincoln gets $700,000 for
open space
LINCOLN – The town of Lincoln will receive a $700,000 reimbursement for two
open space purchases. Close to $400,000 of the funding will go towards the Thibaudeau
Farm in Lonsdale, which the town bought two years ago. The town didn’t file
for reimbursement when it purchased the old 14.7-acre dairy farm, which abuts
the Blackstone Canal and the Blackstone River Bikeway. The remaining $300,000
will reimburse the town for the purchase of land owned by the Conklin Family.
The 125-acres of wooded property, which abuts Route 146 in the Lime Rock section
of town, was bought in tandem with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Management and the Nature Conservancy. Town official estimate that if developed
the land could have held 150 homes, but instead is now used as an ecological
preserve complete with walking trails and wooded scenery. (Compiled from news
reports and releases.)
