Covid-19 Pandemic - Providence Business News

GIVING GUIDANCE: Long-time basketball coach Ramel “Mel” Moore says he realized during the COVID-19 pandemic that his skills with leading athletes on the court serve him well as a life coach.  PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Everybody’s business; Moore found his coaching applied beyond the court

Entrepreneurship 06/06/2025

(Editor’s note: This is the 58th installment in a monthly series speaking with minority business owners and leaders. Each will be asked their views...

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: John Faella is the owner of Sterling Cleaners Inc., which is located across the street from the Cranston Street Armory in the West End of Providence. Faella says his business benefits from the armory being used as a sound stage for TV and film productions because crews seek his services when they need costumes cleaned or repaired, which can bring in an additional $5,000 to $7,000 of business per production. PBN PHOTO/ELIZABETH GRAHAM

For some local businesses, film productions are lights, camera… extra money

Economy 05/09/2025

Sterling Cleaners Inc. in the working-class West End of Providence might feel like a world away from the glitz of Hollywood, but it’s closer...

LEARNING EXPERIENCE: Britt Riley says it took her two years to develop her business plans for The Haven Collection Inc., a combination day care, shared workspace and fitness center.  PBN PHOTO/ DAVID HANSEN

Riley built ‘Haven’ where parents could flourish

Business Women 05/09/2025

Of all the talents working parents have to master, juggling tops the list. Then again, that necessity can be the mother of creative life...

DEVELOPING SITUATION: About 7 acres of land in the I-195 Redevelopment District remain available for build-out. The 195 District Park on the west side of the Providence River, seen above, will remain open space – except for a 3,500-square-foot food and beverage pavilion under construction near the center of the park.  PBN PHOTO/ARTISTIC IMAGES

CAUTION ZONE? As I-195 district projects proceed, economic factors have some...

Cover Story 04/25/2025

Developer D+P Real Estate Inc. toiled for years on plans for a six-story, 240,000-square-foot, mixed-use building along Interstate 195 in Providence that would have...

INPATIENT REHAB: Daniel Parkinson is the CEO of Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Johnston, a rehab facility that opened last year. PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Foes of Johnston rehab hospital now say it’s a success

Focus 04/25/2025

At first, Encompass Health Corp.’s pitch to build an inpatient rehabilitation hospital was met with objections from local health care leaders who argued that...

MAKER SPACE: Instructor Adaliz Rivera, above right, teaches Jasper Bliss, of Providence, how to operate a heat press and vinyl cutting machine in the first-floor workshop at Providence Public Library.  PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Beyond book learning: Training programs soaring at expanded Providence Public Library

Cover Story 04/11/2025

Eric Khiev is looking to make a career change, and that’s why he was at the Providence Public Library last fall. Khiev holds a bachelor’s...

EARLY LESSON: Rebecca Johnson, owner of Sylvan Learning Center in Cumberland and Coventry, says she knew at a young age that she wanted to be a teacher.  PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Johnson’s made it her business to be a classroom ‘coach’

Business Women 04/11/2025

It’s a weekday afternoon at Sylvan Learning Center, and students large and small hover on cushioned chairs around little tables. One group of high school...

TAKING A TALLY:  Of the first 50 minority  business owners featured  in the Everybody’s Business  monthly series since August 2020, 30 were men and 20  were women. Two of those businesses have closed, and  another is in receivership – all three of them operated by men. PBN ILLUSTRATION/ANNE EWING

Everybody’s Business: Minority owners resilient in face of uncertainty

Cover Story 03/28/2025

Providence Business News’ Everybody’s Business monthly series began with the intention of providing a voice to minority business owners in the tumultuous summer of...