Hasbro has top two selling toys
PAWTUCKET – Although Mattel, the world’s largest toy manufacturer, has 11 of the top 20 selling toys in the United States in December, Hasbro, Inc. retained the top two spots with its Furby Babies and Pokemon Fossil Booster playing cards. Furby sells for $24.29 each, while the Pokemon cards sell for $3.41 a pack. The evaluation by a market research firm was reported by Bloomberg News.
Breakfast club begins at Westin Hotel
PROVIDENCE — The Downtown Club has been established by the Westin Providence hotel in conjunction with the Great Providence Chamber of Commerce as a daily breakfast and meeting ground at the hotel’s Agora restaurant. Membership in the club is free to all chamber members, according to a chamber spokesperson. The club had its first gathering last Monday. The club will offer a choice of a full breakfast buffet or a continental breakfast. Members will pay for their own meals. The club will be open weekdays from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Newspapers and business periodicals will be available, as well as phone, fax and Internet access.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
Learn More
LOA, Paolino Properties form Internet link
PROVIDENCE – Log On America and Paolino Properties, Inc. have reached an agreement under which LOA will be the exclusive provider of Internet and telecommunications services for all new Paolino developments, and would be the preferred provider of these services for all Paolino tenants. The companies announced they would include the latest telecommunications equipment in the O’Gorman building in this city’s downtown. The O’Gorman building is being refurbished and converted to apartments and retail space. Other properties affected by the relationship are a planned 28 condominium and 80-room hotel complex being developed by Paolino downtown, the Wellington Hotel and Resort in the historic district of Newport, and the Narragansett Brewery site which is being developed for office space and a shopping center.
APC acquiring Colorado Web firm
WEST KINGSTON – American Power Conversion has agreed to acquire a Colorado-based company that enables customers to research prices of gas and electricity providers. The company, energyOn.com gathers and makes available comparative prices for utilities companies in seven East Coast states (none of them in New England) plus the District of Columbia. APC said it paid cash for the company, but offered no other details, except to say that it hoped to complete the transaction in the first half of this year.
Mr. Potato Head -the statue–seeks sponsors
PAWTUCKET -Long a resident in households where children reside, Mr. Potato Head is being offered for public display as a six-foot statue. Mr. Potato Head is prepared to adapt himself to community needs or expectations as reflected in the design of a local artist. The cost of all this is a $1,000 honorarium for the local artist-designer, plus $3,500 to cover the cost of production, transportation, insurance and installation. The Rhode Island Tourism Division and regional tourism organizations throughout the state came up with the idea, which is intended to promote the state as a family destination. Mr. Potato Head was chosen because of what he represents as a fun-loving native Rhode Islander, born in 1952 here at Hasbro. An unspecified portion of the $3,500 fee will be contributed to Kids Café, a program designed to provide needy children with a hot meal.
SEA CORP awarded Navy contract
MIDDLETOWN — Systems Engineering Associates Corporation (SEA CORP) has won a five-year, $13.8-million contract from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center to perform technical and engineering services for sonar system research, development, design, testing and evaluation. The work will involve the sonar systems on all classes of submarines, including the new SEA WOLF and next-generation Virginia classes of fast attack boats. The work will include improvements to existing systems as well as supporting the Navy in decisions on the future course of submarine and surface ship sonars, to ensure continuing U.S. technological superiority. SEA CORP was one of three firms chosen by the Navy in a multiple-award contract. SEA CORP as prime contractor will be supported by three other companies as subcontractors: Marconi Aerospace Defense Systems of Austin, Texas, Sonalysts of Waterford, Connecticut and APT Technologies of Manlius, New York.
Most hospitals lost money last year
PROVIDENCE – Ten of the state’s community and regional hospitals lost more than $55 million last year, according to a survey by The Providence Sunday Journal. Of the three hospitals that turned profits, one earned $28,307 which is equivalent to the starting salary of one nurse. Some of the largest and most reputable hospitals like Rhode Island Hospital in Providence are experiencing the worst problems. The flagship of the Lifespan network, Rhode Island Hospital had operating losses of $33.1 million last year.
No buyers found for North Providence mill
NORTH PROVIDENCE — The Worcester Co. Mill appears to be the latest casualty in the state’s troubled manufacturing sector. No buyers have come forward since the factory closed last year and laid off 580 workers. A court-appointed receiver has started to sell the company’s assets including 150 looms to a company in Fall River, Mass. The court also expects to sell the electric plant on the mill grounds. The mill, built in 1813 along the Woonasquatucket River, was considered the last in New England to complete every step of the yarn making process, The Providence Journal reported. The company produced finished clothing for the fashion market but was shut down by cheaper foreign imports.
