Focus - Page 21 of 26 - Providence Business News

DATA CENTER: Ocean State Job Lot Chief Information Officer Hisham Aharon, left, and Chief Financial Officer John Conforti inspect the computer servers that power the retailer’s technology, including the artificial intelligence software it uses.  PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

From design to contracts, companies embrace AI tools

Focus 04/28/2023

Even if you haven’t tried artificial intelligence tools that can write essays and poems or conjure new images on command, chances are the companies...

SAFETY FIRST: Dennis Bailer, left, overdose prevention program director at Project Weber/RENEW, and Izzie Irizarry, lead case manager, assemble safe injection kits at the agency’s South Providence drop-in center. Project Weber/RENEW and CODAC Inc. are scheduled to open a harm reduction site in early 2024. PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

‘Overdose hot spot’ to get R.I.’s 1st safe injection center

Focus 04/28/2023

In Providence’s West End, behavioral health care agency CODAC Inc. serves one of the city’s hardest-hit neighborhoods in the opioid crisis. From 2016 to...

MONEY MOVES: Brett Berard, a junior forward for Providence College this past hockey season, made some cash under new rules on student-athletes profiting from their names, images and likenesses. By season’s end, Berard had signed a pro hockey contract and left school.  COURTESY PROVIDENCE COLLEGE

A piece of the action: Local college athletes trying to make...

Economy 04/14/2023

During the hockey season, Providence College player Brett Berard was a busy man. Not only did he power through a grueling 36-game Division I schedule,...

ROUGH ROAD: State Rep. David Morales has introduced one of the bills that would prohibit car insurers from using criteria such as ZIP codes, income, education levels and occupations to set premiums for policyholders. The measure has faced stiff opposition from the insurance industry.  PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Measures on car premiums struggle to gain traction

Financial Services 03/31/2023

When state Rep. David Morales submitted legislation in February that would prohibit auto insurance companies from using any information other than driving records when...

DRAWING A CROWD: James Davids, co-owner and vintner at Anchor & Hope Wine in East Providence, is aiming to expand the business using an investment-based crowdfunding. The company is looking to open a tasting room.  PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

For small business, a new way of getting funding from a...

Entrepreneurship 03/31/2023

As small-business owners, Marissa Stashenko and James Davids of Anchor & Hope Wine and Enotap LLC faced the lofty task of converting their property...

PREPPING FOR CHANGE: Lindsay Lang, director of HealthSource RI, says the organization is taking steps to ease the change in health care coverage for the hundreds of people who will no longer be eligible for Medicare.  PBN PHOTO/CLAUDIA CHIAPPA

Medicaid renewals put state leaders on alert

Coronavirus 03/31/2023

Lindsay Lang feels a certain amount of pride that the rate of Rhode Islanders with health insurance coverage is among the highest in the...

DIVERSION: Walkers heading south on the Newport Cliff Walk are stopped at Narragansett Avenue by fencing because part of the historic walk collapsed about a year ago. Visitors are required to detour through a nearby neighborhood to reconnect with the path farther south.  PBN PHOTO/DAVID HANSEN

Is fixing Newport’s Cliff Walk a wise investment?

Focus 03/17/2023

Just over a year ago, the collapse of an approximately 20-foot portion of the Newport Cliff Walk raised alarm throughout the state. Damage to Newport’s...

IMPROVED FORMULA? Joseph Baptista, president of Anchor Financial Mortgage Inc. in Pawtucket, says the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s plan to change the way risk-based fees are applied to home loans seems logical. PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Changes in mortgage fee structure may shake up industry

Financial Services 03/03/2023

Charging higher fees to a borrower who makes less money and has more debt has historically been the best way for mortgage lenders to...

SKEPTICAL: Attorney Joshua Hawks-Ladds says he believes the Federal Trade Commission may modify its proposal to prohibit noncompete agreements so it doesn’t have such a sweeping effect. PBN PHOTO/ELIZABETH GRAHAM

A lost clause? FTC may ban noncompete pacts

Focus 02/17/2023

Thirty million people. That’s how many workers federal regulators say could find new jobs, increase their wages, or even start their own companies if...