Tuesday, August 25, 2026

TOPICS

Meet the Makers

MANY USES: VR Industries Inc. CEO and President Brian Pestana, left, visits machine technician Brandon Roy on the factory floor of the Warwick-based electronic contract manufacturer, which focuses on making circuit boards for a variety of industries, including industrial, defense, medical and the blue economy.  
PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Meet the Makers: Adaptability, customer relationships key to VR Industries’ 40...

(Editor’s note: This is the 29th installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the...
ATTENTION TO DETAIL: Gorilla Gaming co-owner Gretel McCrory works on the factory floor at the Warwick gaming table manufacturer. The company’s attention to detail has caught the eye of big players in the gambling industry, including signing a deal in 2017 to be the official poker table of the World Series of Poker
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Meet the Makers: Warwick poker table maker has played its cards...

(Editor’s note: This is the 28th installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the...
MILESTONE: Sisters Marcia, left, and Julie Blount lead the Blount Boats Inc. shipyard in Warren, which was founded by their father and recently celebrated its 75th ­anniversary.
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Meet the Makers: Warren shipyard has navigated the waters of boat-building...

(Editor’s note: This is the 27th installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the...
CLOSER LOOK: S&P Heat Treating Inc. Vice President Mike Rapoza examines parts at the company’s Warwick facility, which offers metal-hardening services for a variety of industries.
PBN PHOTOS/MICHAEL SALERNO

Meet the Makers: S&P has honed detailed heat-treating process over 38...

(Editor’s note: This is the 26th installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the...
GETTING A LIFT: Joshua Holt, founder and president at Orbit Motion Systems in Bristol, demonstrates a suction-cup device that can be used to pick up items. The device is normally attached to an Orbit robotic arm for automated lifting tasks. Behind him is his wife, Jennifer Holt, the company controller. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Meet the Makers: Orbit assembles plan to focus on R.I.

(Editor’s note: This is the 25th installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the...
THE END RESULT: International Packaging Corp. CEO John Kilmartin, standing right, speaks with employees Vera Cruz, left, and Marybell Berdugo at a station where finished presentation boxes are packed for shipping. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Meet the Makers: Nimble moves keep Interpak going strong amid overseas...

(Editor’s note: This is the 24th installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the...
TOTAL PACKAGE: Wardwell Braiding Co. Vice President John Tomaz points to one of the company’s braiding machines on its factory floor in Central Falls. Wardwell not only designs, builds and sells the machines, it also produces and provides replacement parts and performs repairs.
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Meet the Makers: Wardwell woven into success of customers all over...

(Editor’s note: This is the 23rd installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the...
ARTISTIC PIECES: Lead designer Marci Szurley holds a mahjong tile that she hand-painted for board game manufacturer Crisloid Inc. in Providence.
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Meet the Makers: Despite changing how it operates, local board game...

(Editor’s note: This is the 22nd installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the...
HOT ITEM: José Nunez Pichardo pours a bucket of salsa into a container at the Plants to Food LLC manufacturing facility in Lincoln, one of the company’s most popular products.
PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

Meet the Makers: Manufacturer helps companies turn plants into food

(Editor’s note: This is the 21st installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the...
SUSTAINABLE SHIFT: Dane Sheldon is the director of business development for AquasGroup in East Providence, which began by designing wastewater management systems for use by other manufacturers, and while it still makes these systems, the company has become more focused on developing water purification, recycling, recovery and storage systems.
PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Meet the Makers: AquasGroup helps other manufacturers clean up their acts

(Editor’s note: This is the 20th installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the...
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