Tiffany to build plant in Cumberland
CUMBERLAND – Tiffany & Co. announced it would build a 100,000 square foot manufacturing plant in this town. When the plant opens in 2001, the company announced, it would employ about 100 workers. The company also said it hoped to expand that workforce eventually to 450. Tiffany’s pilot operation in Warwick, which it opened last year, will be absorbed in the Cumberland development. The plant is Tiffany’s response to increasing demand for jewelry made of silver and other metals, a spokesperson said. The choice of Rhode Island for the plant was based on its proximity to Tiffany’s New York headquarters and the availability of skilled workers. Tiffany & Co., a jeweler and specialty retailer, markets and distributes its products internationally.
CVS revises 1997, 1998 earnings statements
WOONSOCKET – In response to Securities and Exchange Commission findings, CVS Corp. has revised and restated its earnings statements for the last two years. The SEC in reviewing the earnings statements reported that it had found improper accounting. CVS revisions reportedly involve the movement of merger-related expenses to later periods and resulted in an increase of $11.9 million or 3 cents a share in the company’s 1997 earnings and a reduction of that amount in the company’s 1998 earnings. Acquisition by CVS of Revco D.S. Inc. in 1997 for $3.7 billion and Arbor Drugs Inc. for $1.4 billion in 1998 were the mergers from which the expenses in question arose.
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GTECH reports two-year contract addition
WEST GREENWICH – GTECH announced that it has gained a two-year contract extension for its agreement with an Argentinean firm to provide products and services for the Argentine National Lottery. The agreement is with a joint venture partnership of Boldt S.A. and Impresara Internacional de Valores S.A.(Ivisa) formed to provide the services to the national lottery of Argentina. Extended, the contract will now terminate April 12, 2003. GTECH has been providing products and services since 1993 to the Boldt-Ivisa. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Fleet announces cutbacks of drive-up windows
BOSTON – Citing what it says is an observed customer preference for the automated teller machine, FleetBoston has eliminated more than six of its drive-up teller-access windows in Rhode Island in the last month and is considering closing more. A FleetBoston spokesman said the company isn’t eliminating the manned drive-up altogether, but only in those locations where the traffic has shifted to ATMs or other services.
Employees buying Block Island Times
JAMESTOWN – Employees of the Block Island Times have reached agreement to buy the paper from Jeff McDonough, the paper’s publisher and owner of the Jamestown Press which will continue to publish the Times weekly as well the Press. The buyers would not say what the purchase price was, but the owner of the controlling interest in the Times, Bruce Montgomery, said it was “more than $200,000.” Montgomery, a retired advertising executive, who has owned a house on Block Island since 1975, has been contributing to the Block Island Times for several years, most recently as an editorial cartoonist. He recently became a full-time resident of Block Island, moving into his house there. About a half dozen staff members, including the editor, Kevin Weaver, are among the purchasers, along with Montgomery, The Providence Journal reported.
Heritage Harbor Museum gets deed for building
PROVIDENCE – Heritage Harbor Museum finally has the deed to the building it will occupy as the state’s first statewide history museum and cultural center. Five years ago, the discussions and planning began to turn the former electric power generating plant at 342 Eddy Street into a museum that would represent the state’s cultural and ethnic diversity. Last week Narragansett Electric Co. turned over the deed to the building to the Heritage Harbor Museum. Moreover, the Steamship Historical Society will present a $48,000 donation to the Heritage Harbor Museum. Heritage Harbor is a project of 16 partner museums and historical associations gathered under the leadership of the Rhode Island Historical Society. Groundbreaking and construction is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2000.
East Providence man sentenced to year in prison
PROVIDENCE – Jose V. Matafome, 61, of East Providence was sentenced to one year in federal prison for preparing fraudulent tax returns by overstating refunds due his clients by the Internal Revenue Service. In July Matafome pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraudulent tax preparation for the 1993 and 1994 tax years. On Nov. 9, Judge Ernest C. Torres imposed sentence in U.S.District Court, Providence. U.S. Assistant Attorney Edwin J. Gale said that in eight of the many returns prepared by Matafome the refunds ranged from $1,622 to $2,626.
Hammersmith Farm purchased for $8 million
NEWPORT — An unnamed New Englander has become the newowner of the Hammersmith Farm — the former summer White House of President John F. Kennedy. The purchase price for the mansion and its 48-acre property was over $8 million — a new record for residential property in Newport, The ProvidenceJournal reported. Fruit of the Loom executive William F. Farley, who purchased the farm two years ago, said the new owner plans to make it a family home. The Camelot relic will remain closed to the public.
