KMC gets loan, plans expansion
WEST GREENWICH — KMC Manufacturing has obtained a federally underwritten loan that will permit the company to buy the building it leases and hire more workers. KMC makes bearings and seals for compressors, turbine engines and pumps in its plant located in the town’s industrial park. The building is owned by Cookson America, which owned the company until last December. The loan of $950,000, obtained by KMC from First National Bank of New England, is guaranteed by the federal government under a U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program. According to Fouad Zeidan, KMC president, the company will use some of the loan to buy and expand the building, and the rest will be used to add five more workers to the 30 the company already employs.
Textron chairman stepping down early
PROVIDENCE — James F. Hardymon resigned last week from Textron Inc., effective Jan. 31. He had been chairman of the company and will be succeeded in that position by Lewis B. Campbell, who also succeeded Hardymon as chief executive in July. At that time, the company announced there would be an 18-month transition period, but last week the company said the shift had gone so smoothly the decision was made to accelerate the process. Hardymon, 64, had been chief executive from 1992 until July of this year. He had been chairman since 1993. Campbell joined Textron in 1992 and was named president in 1994.
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Pawtucket ferry to Providence to start July 1
PAWTUCKET — Pawtucket will begin ferry service between downtown Pawtucket and downtown Providence on a demonstration basis starting July 1 of next year. The service which will be operated by the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council in cooperation with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation will cost $2 each way, or $4 round-trip. The 49-passenger boats are being built by SkipperLiner Industries of La Crosse, Wis., with money obtained by low-interest loans obtained through nine banking institutions by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, the RI Small Business Development Center at Bryant College and the city of Pawtucket. RIDOT is planning trolley-bus service links from downtown in both cities to the Pawtucket and Providence landings. The project is expected to cost about $1.2 million. The demonstration contract calls for the service to run from July 1, 1999 to Dec. 31, 2000, with operation at both peak commuter hours and off-peak hours.
Heritage Harbor gets $625,000 grant
PROVIDENCE — Heritage Harbor Corp., developing a multicultural museum at the old South Street plant of the Narragansett Electric Co. has been awarded a $625,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant is to be used for the development of the infrastructure at the former electric plant for the museum. The corporation has already raised $9 million of the $32 million it has set as a goal for the development of the museum. Of that $4.5 million has come in a grant from the state for a 13,500 foot gallery within the museum to house exhibits by the Smithsonian Institution. The Smithsonian has made the Heritage Museum an affiliate, it was announced earlier this year. The museum which has a target opening date for mid 2001 is a collaborative between the Rhode Island Historical Society and more than15 small museums, historical and cultural groups. The objective is to display the legacies of all the people who have contributed to what has become the state of Rhode Island.
CPA firms merge
PROVIDENCE — Kahn, Litwin & Co. Ltd. located at 321 Hope St. and John F. Renza Jr., CPA, Inc. of Cranston have announced their merger, effective Jan. 1, 1999 to create the firm Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd. Renza will close his offices in Cranston and he and his staff will join Kahn Litwin at the Hope Street location, according to a Kahn, Litwin spokeswoman. Kahn, Litwin was ranked as the eighth largest accounting firm in Rhode Island in 1997, according to the Book of Lists published by the Providence Business News. Renza was not ranked in that list of the top 25 CPA firms in Rhode Island based on the number of CPAs employed.
State, three communities get housing grants
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Newport, Cumberland, East Providence and the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation have been awarded $2,326,096 in federal funds to provide rental assistance for low income people with disabilities. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded a total of 362 rental assistance vouchers to Rhode Island Housing and the three community housing agencies for use by the disabled.
Two-hundred of the vouchers, valued at $1,386,960 were awarded to the state Housing and Mortgage Finance Corp.; 100 vouchers valued at $565,668 went to the Newport Housing Authority; 52 vouchers valued at $310,889 went to the Cumberland Housing Authority, and 10 vouchers valued at $62,579 were granted to the East Providence Housing Authority. To qualify for the vouchers applicants must have an income less than half the area median.
The vouchers are used to supplement rental income in the private market for the qualified disabled so that they are able to pay only 30 percent of their private income for rent. The grants are part of the $130 million program announced by President Clinton and designed to help 17,000 disabled people throughout the country. Announcement of the Rhode Island awards was made through the office of Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy.
