Hospital Trust Franchise
Last week’s announcement by Fleet Financial and BankBoston that it will be selling all of BankBoston’s branches in Rhode Island – essentially the Hospital Trust franchise — is an intriguing possibility for some mid-size bank that could quickly step in to become the state’s third largest banking institution. In the past our suggestion that Fleet-BankBoston sell the Rhode Island branches to one bank met with vigorous opposition from community banks, some of which would like to buy some of the branches. Fleet would like nothing more than to sell the branches to a number of community banks, thus eliminating competition from possibly a larger institution.
We believe that the community banks in Rhode Island are among its treasures, strong and focused on what they do, but yet not large enough to compete for some of the multi-million dollar commercial loans for which BankBoston, Fleet and Citizens often contend.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
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We also understand that there has been some lobbying of the Justice Department by larger corporations to award the branches to a single buyer that would have the ability to compete for some of the larger loans. We agree and believe that Rhode Island would be best served if another larger institution enters the market and is able to compete for the same commercial business as Fleet and Citizens Bank.
Questions for Quonset
Back in February, we pronounced our strong support for the development of a shipping facility at Quonset Point. The former U.S. Navy base is ideally located to serve as an economic generator for Rhode Island.
While we are not wavering in our belief that the state must capitalize on Quonset Point and its unique potential as an economic generator – and that a shipping port may serve as the impetus for generating thousands of jobs – we are disturbed by the lack of details being released regarding the project.
We are not surprised to hear that Save The Bay, among others, opposes the project. Ultimately, we hope that the developers of any port at Quonset Point work closely with environmental groups to mitigate any potential impact of a port on Narragansett Bay.
But now, people like Donald Carcieri, the respected former chief executive officer of Cookson America, are raising additional concerns.
Carcieri believes the port is bad economic development and that the state would be better served by continuing to develop the Quonset Point/Davisville Industrial Park that is slowly emerging.
And Carcieri thinks the permitting process for the port would be more lengthy and more expensive than has been reported. He raises a lot of interesting questions. We’d like to hear what the governor thinks.
Protecting our children
We have known about lead hazards for more than 20 years, ever since the federal government banned lead in residential paint in 1978. And two decades later officials are still struggling to find ways to clean up older housing stock.
Last week a bill was expected to be submitted for the state Senate’s consideration. That would encourage industry to redirect some of the money spent fighting legal liability issues into a fund to help lead poisoned children.
A key component would phase out the state’s “innocent owner” provision, which protects property owners if someone is lead poisoned on their property, leaving little incentive to clean up lead before it becomes a problem.
In 1995 the state screened 34,389 children under age six for lead. One in five children had a blood lead level greater than 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, which is the point when lead starts to cause learning disabilities, antisocial behavior, hearing and speech impediments and other disorders. Rhode Island has among the country’s highest lead poisoning rates.
Existing law hasn’t worked to get people to clean up lead hazards. We need greater incentives to force owners to clean up properties where young children live.
There can be no better reason to avoid rhetoric than our children – lead poisoning is hurting them. Its effects are irreversible. It already prevents too many kids from reaching their full potential.
