NORTH KINGSTOWN – Employment at Quonset Business Park rose by 5.5 percent in 2017, to 11,458, according to a newly released annual report.
The business park and Port of Davisville, home to 206 companies, added 600 positions in the calendar year, according to the document. The site covers 3,212 acres, which is leased to business tenants.
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In all, the business park reported that it leased 97 acres in 2017. Private investment in the site was reported at $16.4 million, including by tenants General Dynamics Electric Boat, Goodison Shipyard Co. and Shoreline Business Solutions Inc.
The annual report published on the business park website Friday identified three major tenants who established locations at the site in the last fiscal year:
- Pinnacle Logistics LLC, a logistics provider for Amazon.com, already employs 200 people at the park. It also has operations near T.F. Green Airport.
- Finlay Extracts and Ingredients USA Inc., a research and development facility, develops extracts and concentrates for the beverage industry. The hiring of 25 initial employees has been completed. Equipment has been installed in the facility and testing is underway.
- T. Miozzi Inc., an asphalt company has expanded and relocated from Coventry. It employs 36 people.
Several existing tenants have expanded operations and employment at Quonset. They include General Dynamics Electric Boat, Toray Plastics (America) Inc., North Atlantic Distribution Inc., Ocean State Job Lot, FujiFilm Corp., R.I. Air National Guard, Shoreline Business Solutions, Goodison Shipyard and Rhode Island Fast Ferry.
In port activities, auto imports continued to grow through the year, with 265,580 vehicles imported by ship, rail and truck. About 1,600 tons of project cargo were handled.
In building projects, construction of a flexible industrial building has begun. A third Gateway Office Building was completed and leased. And the former Lowe’s building has been repurposed and leased to Pinnacle Logistics.
At the request of the Quonset Development Corp., the state approved legislation to allow the Providence Water Supply Board to sell its water to customers in southern Rhode Island. Quonset is planning to connect to this secondary source through the Kent County Water Authority’s distribution system, which should provide long-term water security for its tenants.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
