Economy

AFTER A 10-month investigation, WPRI-TV CBS 12 on Friday reported that W. Whitney George, the CEO of Toronto-based investment firm Sprott Inc., played a role in financing the effort. / PBN FILE PHOTO/JAMES BESSETTE

Report: ‘Mr. Big’ investor revealed in Pawtucket soccer team, stadium project

Economy 07/31/2026

PAWTUCKET – Another private investor has been identified in the $137 million, 10,000-seat soccer stadium project along the Seekonk River and the team that...

Do you support the proposed $25M Providence affordable housing bond that...

Government 07/31/2026

Providence Mayor Brett P. Smiley is backing a proposed $25M affordable housing bond that will appear on the November city ballot? The mayor says it...

IN GOOD COMPANY: The R.I. Commerce Corp. board meets at Cumberland-based baby product company Baby Delight Inc. in June for a strategic retreat to discuss economic and workforce trends. Gov. Daniel J. McKee, third from the left, leads the meeting.  COURTESY R.I. COMMERCE CORP.

ELECTION26: Gubernatorial race puts performance of R.I. Commerce in spotlight

Economy 07/31/2026

On the top floor of the Wexford Science & Technology building overlooking Providence’s I-195 District, Gov. Daniel J. McKee stood before business executives and...

CLEAN TEAM: Roger Williams Park Zoo has a new plan to prevent stormwater runoff from contaminating the park’s 100 acres of lakes. Contributors to the project included, from left, Molly Welsh of the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, Lou Perrotti, director of conservation programs for the zoo; and Brian Kuchar, Horsley Witten Group principal landscape architect who is leading the project. PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Horsley Witten completes plan to address stormwater runoff at RWP Zoo 

Focus 07/31/2026

Positioned along the border of Providence and Cranston sits the nation’s third-oldest zoo. Opened in 1872, the Roger Williams Park Zoo has undergone many expansion...

R.I. PUBLIC TRANSIT AUTHORITY CEO Christopher Durand stands in a field next to the Providence train station, one of two parcels being considered for a new central transit hub. PBN FILE PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

Providence transit hub process getting attention from candidates

Government 07/31/2026

For more than a decade, plans to move the R.I. Public Transit Authority’s central bus hub out of Kennedy Plaza in Providence have cycled...

FULL HOUSE: Gov. Daniel J. McKee, third from the left, leads a June meeting of the R.I. Commerce Corp. board, whose 12 members are appointed by the governor.  COURTESY R.I. COMMERCE CORP.

Give business leaders more say on economic development

Business Services 07/31/2026

Every gubernatorial election year seems to be a referendum on the state’s economic-development policy and the agency primarily responsible for carrying it out, R.I....

R.I. has everything needed to make great sales pitch

Economy 07/31/2026

We are all both proud of our state and sometimes critical of various sectors that can be improved. I have long been somewhere between...

TAKING SHAPE: internationally recognized architect Julian Bonder has worked with the Newport Middle Passage Port Marker Project to refine the design of a memorial between Thames Street and America’s Cup Avenue.  COURTESY NEWPORT MIDDLE PASSAGE PORT MARKER PROJECT

Newport’s slave trade memorial taking years to become reality

Focus 07/31/2026

Nearly a decade after the idea was first proposed, Newport’s Middle Passage Memorial is moving closer to becoming reality. But for those behind the...