Friday, September 25, 2026

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Lists: Rhode Island Distilleries, Breweries and Vineyards

Ranked by newest: 1 (tie). South County Distillers | Year founded: 2020 1 (tie). The Industrious Spirit Co. | Year founded: 2020 3. Rhode Island Spirits Rhodium Distillery & Tasting...
LANE CHANGES: Motorists on Interstate 195 face reconfigured travel lanes as they approach the Washington Bridge. State transportation officials have been trying different traffic patterns to alleviate congestion. 
PBN PHOTO

Washington Bridge crisis has nearly bisected region’s economy, but how to...

As the owner of one of the state’s few psychology practices that provides neuropsychological testing and evaluation, Karen Gieseke and her services have been...
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...
HELPING HAND: Karen Emmes, left, a community outreach specialist for the East Providence Health Equity Zone, passes out supplies during the Touch-a-Truck event in 2022. Funding questions have put the Rhode Island HEZ initiative in doubt. 
COURTESY EAST BAY COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM

Future of R.I.’s health equity zones unclear amid funding gap

In 2015, Rhode Island pioneered the Health Equity Zone Initiative, a community-focused program meant to help fill gaps in health care. But now the...
CONCERNED PARENT: Public school teacher Maddalena Cirignotta, center, pushed back against her children being required to wear masks in school during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cirignotta has been closely monitoring the drafting of a new policy by the R.I. Department of Health. Pictured with Cirignotta are her children, Paul Daley, left, 10, and Anwen Daley, 11. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

State poised to release new school masking policy

When Maddalena Cirignotta’s youngest son looks back on his experience as a kindergartener during the COVID-19 pandemic, he can share one particular experience that...
Hilda Vargas founded Providence-based brokerage company Ocean Blue Realty LLC in 2023. She’s also president of Cranston-based HVG Property Management LLC. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Determined to succeed

Hilda Vargas Ocean Blue Realty LLC broker/owner HVG Property Management LLC president Determination is not just a motto for me; it’s the driving force behind...
Mary Meixell / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Five Questions With: Mary Meixell

Mary Meixell | Dean, Johnson & Wales University College of Business 1. Can you describe the legacy of JWU’s female founders and how women’s...
Bruce Newbury

Rhode Island did Krispy Kreme doughnut rollout first

Krispy Kreme Inc. seems to be having a ­moment. A month ago, the food service world was reporting with breathless excitement about a collaboration that...
CLOSE TO HOME: Brother and sister Kiffin and Kelly Ward launched Ward’s Manufacturing LLC in Warren in January to provide a domestic option for metal fabrication services. 
PBN PHOTO/DAVID HANSEN

Brother-sister duo answers call for domestic metal fabrication

From basketball hoops to picture frames and all kinds of boats, custom metal parts are part of nearly every industry. Yet in the past few...
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: Peter Evangelista spent his summers assembling trophies with his brothers in their father’s World Trophies Co. shop but never envisioned himself taking over the business until his father was eyeing retirement in 1987 and he realized he could own his own business, so he bought it. 
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Trophy maker has helped people celebrate moments, honor loved ones for...

Stepping into World Trophies Co.’s shop on Silver Spring Street in Providence, you’ll likely be greeted by a 6-foot-tall bronze figure proudly perched atop...
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