Tuesday, October 3, 2023

TOPICS

Home Subscriber Only Cover Story

Cover Story

SHELF DISPLAY: Kelley McShane, right, co-owner of beverage manufacturer The Granny Squibb Co. LLC, with Tony Melo, who approves brands to put on the shelf, at Eastside Marketplace in Providence.
PBN PHOTO/MIKE SKORSKI

FADING FEARS: Despite lingering concerns, businesses regaining swagger

After weathering a year largely overcast by fears of a looming recession, business owners are feeling more buoyant as they look ahead despite lingering...
HOMEGROWN: Amelia Lopez, left, Southside Community Land Trust food access associate, and Appoline Alphonsine, a college intern, sort through vegetables harvested by the Providence nonprofit. SCLT recently received an $80,000 grant from the city that was not part of the $10 million racial reparation initiative. Some have complained that the city is moving too slow on deploying the $10 million equities program.
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

What happened to Providence’s reparations initiative?

Jim Vincent threw himself into the work when he was appointed to the Providence Municipal Reparations Commission in early 2022 because he saw an...
Michaele Whelan
PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

Meet the new guard: Whelan’s presidency brings Wheaton ‘full circle’

When Michaele Whelan became Wheaton College president in January 2022, it brought the Norton-based liberal arts college back to its roots in a way. The...

The A.I. angst: Businesses, workers grapple with navigating uncharted tech territory

For most of the 10 years she has operated TIB Creative Studio LLC in Providence, graphic designer Theresa Barzyk has relied on a low-tech...
ON GUARD: Becky and Tim Clark, owners of The Beachead restaurant on Block Island, say business hasn’t been quite as robust so far this summer. 
PBN PHOTO/ K. CURTIS

R.I. tourism stays local: Regional campaigns lead the way this summer

Just days before the start of the high season in Newport in early July, local tourism officials gathered to talk status and strategy. At the...
FOR GOOD MEASURE: Machinist Dennis Sullivan checks his calculation on an order of spur gears Tracey Gear has just made for a food processing company. 
PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

THE DAILY GRIND: Family-owned Tracey Gear machines parts for clients ranging...

Doug Tracey’s company churns out thousands of meticulously crafted gears, shafts, splines and sprockets each year, but don’t ask him where all those parts...
STILL STANDING: 
There is vacant office space in downtown Providence, but people in the local commercial real estate sector say landlords and banks haven’t reached a crisis level as others have nationwide. 
PBN PHOTO/­MICHAEL SALERNO

SHAKY GROUND: Distressed office real estate could undermine banks, wider economy

The former mayor of Providence is distressed. When Joseph R. Paolino Jr. walks through the city’s financial district, he’s anxious about what he sees. He...
STEADY PACE: Toye Onikoyi has founded two tech-related businesses in Rhode Island, including a virtual reality arcade called Bubbler VR. Unlike in bigger hubs, Onikoyi says, Rhode Island’s tech sector seems to move at a more deliberate speed, which sometimes can be an advantage. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

TOO SMALL TO FAIL? R.I.’s low-profile tech sector avoiding carnage felt...

After John MacKrell launched an app-based laundry pickup and delivery service more than three years ago, a question sometimes came up during his search...
JUMPED THE BORDER: ­Edward Dow, CEO of Massachusetts-based Solar Cannabis Co., has opened a dispensary in Warwick. He’s seen sales in Rhode Island growing steadily while business in Massachusetts has declined. 
PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Cannabis complications: Promising marijuana industry falling short of expectations

Dr. Jason Iannuccilli has invested a lot in his lab in the past year. Like many entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry, the co-founder of Pure­Vita...
NAVIGATING SHORTAGES: 
R.I. environmental police officer Jacob Malone, left, checks the size of striped bass caught by two unidentified fishermen in Narragansett Bay. The R.I. Department of Environmental Management says staff shortages have made it difficult to schedule such law enforcement ­operations. 
PBN PHOTO/
DAVID HANSEN

HELP WANTED: There are 1,700 unfilled state jobs, but has anyone...

Stacy Smith says the job for “front-line” workers at the R.I. Department of Human Services isn’t easy in normal times, but the labor market...
- Featured Event -

Latest News

Enjoying unlimited access to PBN's award winning articles?

CLOSE

Don't stop reading after October 8th when the wall goes back up. Get 50% off today!

Register to read all articles free - This week only!

CLOSE

One week only, get full access to all articles on PBN.com when you create a complimentary account.

One week only, get full access to all articles on PBN.com when you create a complimentary account.

 

Register today >>

Open House