Caine appointed deputy general treasurer
PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island General Treasurer Paul J. Tavaras last week appointed Joan M. Caine of East Providence to serve as deputy general treasurer for finance. Caine will oversee the treasury functions of cash management, investments in the $6.6 billion pension and general funds, and management of state debt, Tavaras said. Caine has been serving as manager of credit research for ICMA Retirement Corp., responsible for the “financial soundness” of the corporation’s $3 billion Stable Value Fund and form managing the due diligence process of the Fund’s investment contract issuers. She began her career as a credit analyst at Fleet Bank, worked as a lending representative for Fleet, a senior analyst for the National Association of Securities and Dealers, supervising and training financial analysts in NASDQ’s Listing Department. She has a bachelor’s degree in finance from Boston College (1985), an MBA from Loyola College (1990), and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
First Financial reports earnings up 20.9 percent
PROVIDENCE – First Financial Corp., parent of First Bank and Trust Co., reported third quarter net income of $443,255, a 20.9 percent increase over the same period a year ago. Net income for the first nine months of the year was $1,339,326, a 26.7 percent increase over the same period a year ago. The bank’s total assets were reported at $147.8 million, a 7.6 percent increase from last year.
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CVS allies with Merck-Medco
WOONSOCKET – CVS, Inc. has announced an alliance with Merck-Medco, the largest pharmacy benefits manager in the country, linking their Internet sites. CVS, which bought Soma.com then changed its name to CVS.com last August. The company has said that pharmacy benefit managers were unwilling to cover CVS online prescription medication sales, but CVS executives said the connection with Merck-Medco overcomes that obstacle by making CVS.com the first online pharmacy to accept prescription refill orders from Merck-Medco’s 51 million health plan members. New prescription orders will not be accepted at this time, Merck-Medco said, pending installation of new security systems. Merck-Medco members will be able to pick up their prescriptions from CVS stores or have them mailed by Merck-Medco mail-service pharmacies. CVS.com also will also offer its line of 7,000 over-the counter products through merck-medco.com. Financial terms of the alliance were not disclosed. Both companies will retain their own Internet sites under the terms of the five-year agreement.
Rhode Island contractor sues Quincy shipyard
QUINCY — The lead contractor on the Fore River shipyard project has filed a lawsuit, claiming it is owed more than $3 million by Massachusetts Heavy Industries Inc., which operates the Quincy facility. The complaint was filed in Norfolk Superior Court Sept. 16 by Rhode Island-based O. Ahlborg & Sons, Inc. It charges MHI with unfair trade practices. The two sides started a steady escalation of disputes almost immediately after O. Ahlborg began renovation work on the shipyard in March 1998, The Wall Street Journal’s New England section reported. The fundamental problem, O. Ahlborg alleges, is the shipyard didn’t have enough money. MHI, the suit claims, “intentionally and deceptively (failed) to inform Ahlborg that MHI was constrained to fixed budgets that were simply not adequate to finance” the work. O. Ahlborg walked off of the project in August to protest a $3 million pay dispute with MHI.
Association to investigate Brown professor
PROVIDENCE — The American Psychiatric Association plans to investigate a report that a Brown University professor did not fully disclose money he received from pharmaceutical companies before lecturing about the health benefits of their drugs. Dr. Martin Keller could be banned from APA-sponsored conferences if it is found that he did not follow the group’s policies for financial disclosures, an APA spokeswoman Lynn Writsel said. The Boston Globe reported that Keller, head of Brown’s psychiatric department, failed to disclose that he was paid more than $500,000 in consulting fees in 1998. Most of the money came from pharmaceutical companies whose drugs he praised in medical journals and at the APA’s annual meeting this year and last, the newspaper reported.
Providence Planner leaves for RIHMFC job
PROVIDENCE – A key planner in the city’s planning department is leaving to become a deputy director at the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation. Thomas E. Deller, deputy director of planning and development in Providence, will become one of two top deputies to Richard Godfrey, RIHMFC executive director. In Providence, Deller was paid $77,419. At RIHMFC he will earn $98,000 annually. He came to work in the city of Providence in 1989.
License board rejects plan for gay club
PROVIDENCE – The City of Board of Licenses has rejected a proposal to open an establishment on Allens Avenue that would cater to the gay and lesbian community. The application by Alan Bogossian of Cumberland to obtain an adult entertainment, food and Sunday Sales license had won written support from the gay community, but not the board, which rejected it 4 to 1. Bogossian has the right to appeal the decision. Allens Avenue already is the location of a number of adult oriented businesses.
