Thursday, March 28, 2024

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GA wants to jump-start investment in small businesses but new fund...

A messy debate has been unfolding in the halls of political power in Rhode Island over how the state should help small businesses with...

How the GA-backed investment fund works

This is how the Small Business Development Fund, as approved by the General Assembly, would work: The state would issue up to $42 million in...
PROACTIVE APPROACH: ­Warwick Mayor Joseph J. Solomon stands on New England Way at the intersection of Gilbane Street. Both roads are on the schedule to be repaved. Solomon said roadwork has been a priority since he took office in spring 2018. He says last year was the first time in 20 years the city has implemented a proactive program.
 / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Fighting back vs. bad roads

Evidence of Rhode Island’s rough roads turns up regularly at Harold Crook’s Garage in Cranston. Bent wheel rims, flat tires and alignment problems can...
TARIFF IMPACTS: Rhode Island Manufacturers Association Executive Director David Chenevert said the impact of tariffs and the slowing of the world economy has affected businesses differently in Rhode Island. Manufacturers focused on the aerospace or medical-industry markets are doing fine, he said, because defense spending has increased and the medical industry is growing. Companies producing products for the automotive industry, however, are seeing an impact because auto sales are down nationally.
 / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

U.S. trade war with China has brought pain, uncertainty

The initial tariffs imposed in 2018 on imports from China didn’t affect Cooley Group, a Pawtucket-based company that manufactures an array of engineered materials,...
OPEN HOUSE: Sebastian Sheng, left, a first-year graduate student in PRIME, or program in innovation management and entrepreneurship at Brown University, speaks with, from left, Brown sophomores Isamella Espinosa, international relations major; Olivia Tulkoff, public policy major; and Jack Schaeffer, applied math and economics major, at the university’s Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship during an open house to kick off the fall semester.
 / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

R.I. has a robust entrepreneurial community, but can it do more...

For a small state, Rhode Island punches above its weight when it comes to producing promising startups and organizations that help nurture and fund...
FINISHED ORDER: Machine operator Claudia Herrera completes an order at ParsonsKellogg in East Providence. The company prints and embroiders company logos on products for promotional purposes.
 / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

R.I. bizs much more confident in themselves than state economy

Rhode Island businesspeople can be an insecure bunch. Even when the economy appears to be humming along, many have difficulty shaking a nagging feeling that...
BUSY CARETAKER: Victoria Mitchell, a certified nursing assistant at Hopkins Manor in North Providence, says she and her co-workers care for up to 11 patients per shift, bathing, dressing and feeding each one in turn. It is an increase from the eight patients Mitchell used to care for during her morning shift when she began working as a CNA 22 years ago.
 / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Nursing homes care more with less

When she started working as a certified nursing assistant 22 years ago, Victoria Mitchell was assigned about eight patients during her morning shifts. Now, Mitchell...
LOCAL EMPLOYEES: Robert K. Vincent, right, chairman, IGT Global Solutions Corp., speaks with Jay Gendron, chief operations officer, lottery, at the company’s Providence offices. IGT currently holds a contract for the state’s lottery, which requires the company to have 1,000 Rhode Island-based employees. IGT is attempting to renew the contract with the state for a 20-year term through 2043. Of the 1,000 IGT employees now required in Rhode Island, only 60 or so are needed to serve the state’s lottery contract, Vincent said.  
 / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

IGT vs. Twin River: Can both win?

Two of Rhode Island’s largest public companies are involved in a bitter dispute that has the potential to upend the state’s budget. The source...
INCREASED WORKFORCE: From left, Justin Monte, Suzanne Violet and Kate Arsenault walk along the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport campus. The workforce at the 180-acre, 76-building complex mainly consists of highly paid professionals such as engineers and scientists, administrators and technicians. The workforce has grown by more than 200 employees to between 6,100 and 6,200 since last fall, 4,500 of whom live in Rhode Island.
 / COURTESY NAVAL UNDERSEA WARFARE CENTER DIVISION NEWPORT

Newport’s Naval Undersea Warfare Center a hub for defense-based research and...

There’s no denying the boost Rhode Island’s economy gets from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport. Like so many other parts of the...
INTERNAL FOCUS: After Massachusetts-based Partners HealthCare pulled its application to acquire Care New England and CNE withdrew from talks with Lifespan and Brown University to develop a unified, statewide health care system, Dr. James E. Fanale, CEO and president of CNE, says the company will now focus on internal priorities, including renovations at Kent Hospital and Women & Infants Hospital, over the next couple of years.
 / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

CNE plots solo course (for now)

Care New England Health System’s proposed acquisition by Massachusetts health care giant Partners HealthCare ended abruptly in June when Partners pulled its application, after...
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