Mall training
We applaud the state agencies, community groups and developers of Providence Place for ensuring that the “Providence Place Training Initiative” is becoming a reality. Last December Joe Newsome, executive director of the South Providence Development Corporation, was concerned that an ambitious plan to train workers for jobs at Providence Place would fall under the weight of inadequate financing. A former state legislator, Newsome was considering a trip to the State House, weary, he said, of “begging for money.”
At the time, there was much talk of training programs and the opportunities Providence Place would provide for the unemployed or displaced workers. But the SPDC, a lead agency in the training effort, could find only about $50,000, far short of what Newsome knew he needed to train close to 250 people.
It took some time for the pieces to fall in place. But as of today that ambitious training program is alive, and most importantly, financed.
Over the next few weeks, classes will begin at the New England Institute of Technology, the Genesis Center in Providence and the Community College of Rhode Island’s Providence campus. Prospective workers will train in food service, retail/customer service and building maintenance.
The turning point, said Newsome, came in February, at a meeting of the state Human Resources Investment Council. The HRIC, he said, voted to find the money for the training program. That move got the ball rolling.
Besides the SPDC, funding partners for the training program include: the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation; state Department of Human Services; Workforce Partnership of Rhode Island; the Rhode Island Human Resources Investment Council; Providence/Cranston Job Training Partnership and the developers of Providence Place, Commonwealth Development Group.
A pool of roughly $636,000 is now in place, with reserves for additional training if all goes well. The training program will run nine months.
The developers of Providence Place – and its proponents – have long trumpeted the $450 million project as a boom for economic development in the capital city and a major piece of the city’s ongoing renaissance. We agree it may be a boom for economic development, but if it is to be a true piece of the city’s renaissance, it must better the lives of the people who live in the city’s urban neighborhoods. It must provide jobs. It must provide opportunities.
The “Providence Place Training Initiative” is a step in the right direction.
Warwick Tent
The September line-up at the Warwick Musical Theater (Tent) ranges from the music of Ann Murray, Roger Whittaker and Vince Gill to the raucous antics of the World Wrestling Federation. It is the kind of variety that the Tent has offered for decades. And it is a fitting conclusion to the final season for what has been a Rhode Island institution.
A year from now, the lights, sound board and stage will be gone, replaced by another home improvement warehouse.
There are few Rhode Islanders who do not hold special memories from a night at the Tent, whether it is the WWF, a musical comedy, graduation, a children’s performance, or a concert. The entertainment always seemed varied and during any season always seemed to offer virtually every Rhode Islander a reason to pay at least one visit there.
The Tent fell victim, at least in part, to the growing competition from the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun Casinos, which seem to present may of the same entertainers as a lure to gaming tables and slot machines.
So in this final season for the Warwick Musical Theater (Tent), in its final month, we salute the Bonoff family for so many years of quality productions, so many memories.
