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TAKING OVER: The Res American Bistro at Washington and Empire streets in downtown Providence closed in 2025, one of numerous restaurants that closed its doors in recent years, but 10 Prime Seafood quickly remodeled and moved in soon after.  COURTESY CHOW FUN FOOD GROUP

For small businesses, the uphill climb was never-ending

Subscriber Only 08/14/2026

For Rhode Island’s small businesses, the last five years have demanded constant adjustment. Pandemic shutdowns in early 2020, rising wages, labor shortages and new infrastructure...

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Michelle Wilcox, CEO and president of Crossroads Rhode Island, stands in front of the Summer Street Apartments project in Providence in 2024. It’s Crossroads’ five-story building featuring 176 single-bed residences for those who were previously homeless.  PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

For homebuyers, landscape grows more discouraging

Subscriber Only 08/14/2026

One word has echoed around the residential real estate sector in Rhode Island for a while now and will continue to do so: affordability. It’s...

GIVING GOALS: David N. Cicilline, who became Rhode Island Foundation CEO and president in 2023, unveiled a five-year strategy for the state’s largest funder of nonprofits in 2024. The new plan identified six community priorities that will guide the foundation’s grantmaking. PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Federal funding cuts put nonprofits to the test

Subscriber Only 08/14/2026

It took years for Rhode Island’s nonprofits to put the COVID-19 pandemic in the rearview mirror, but the sector found it had a new...

STRING SKILLS: Machine operator Maria Dacruz works on the production floor of Neocorp Inc., a standard and technical rope and bungee cord maker in Pawtucket. Neocorp was among the local manufacturers that dealt with inflated tariffs in 2025.  PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

It hasn’t been easy for R.I. factories

Subscriber Only 08/14/2026

Manufacturers throughout the U.S. have largely spent the past year-plus reeling from rapidly shifting tariffs implemented under President Donald Trump, and Rhode Island companies...

Looking back at 40 years of Providence dining

Subscriber Only 08/14/2026

Providence Business News is marking its 40th anniversary, so I thought I’d look back at the dining scene in the capital city over the...

HANGING HANDS: Roger Williams Medical Center was one of two troubled Rhode Island hospitals – the other was Our Lady of Fatima – purchased by the nonprofit Centurion Foundation in 2026 after taking several years trying to line up financing and obtain approvals.  PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

R.I. healthcare system struggles to make recovery

Subscriber Only 08/14/2026

Massive cuts to insurance, persistent staffing shortages and widespread financial woes continue to vex Rhode Island’s healthcare system in 2026, though the Ocean State...

PAINFUL PINCH POINT: The Washington Bridge debacle has dogged state officials since half of the bridge was shut down in December 2023 because it was in danger of collapse.  PBN FILE PHOTO/WILLIAM HAMILTON

For the state officials, it’s been one drama after another

Subscriber Only 08/14/2026

Gov. Daniel J. McKee, a former lieutenant governor who became the state’s chief executive when two-term Gov. Gina M. Raimondo was tapped as U.S....

Baldomar created Rhody apparel company to honor her late husband

Subscriber Only 08/14/2026

In 2022, Paola Baldomar found herself a young widow and single mother to a 2-month-old infant daughter. In October of that year, her husband,...

MOVING IN:  Construction worker Fabiola Roman installs drywall at a new Bank Rhode Island branch in Newport in 2023. The bank is now called Beacon Bank. Several smaller banks expanded their branch networks in Rhode Island over the last five years, while bigger financial institutions shuttered some of their branches.  PBN FILE PHOTO/DAVID HANSEN

Banks adjust as borrowing costs climb

Subscriber Only 08/14/2026

In early 2022, Rhode Island’s banks were still operating in an environment defined by abundant liquidity and historically low interest rates. COVID-19 pandemic-era stimulus programs...