Hope Global - Providence Business News

IMPACTFUL LEADER: Since Cheryl Merchant joined Taco Comfort Solutions in 2019 as CEO, the heating, cooling, plumbing and irrigation systems manufacturer in Cranston has seen a 20% jump in revenue. / PBN PHOTO/DAVE HANSEN

Merchant plays integral role in moving manufacturing forward in R.I.

Business Women 05/27/2022

Business Women Awards 2022 Career Achiever Cheryl Merchant, Taco Comfort Solutions While growing up on her family’s Michigan farm, Cheryl Merchant learned firsthand the value of...

5Q: Leslie Taito Chief of staff, Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Five Questions With: Leslie Taito

5Q 10/09/2020

Leslie Taito | Chief of Staff, Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island 1. Why did you leave your role as CEO of the manufacturer Hope...

MEASURED ACTIONS: VIBCO mechanical engineering employees Greg Pickering, left, and Claudia Brown place tape on the factory floor to ensure proper social distancing around the time clock. When this photo was taken, face masks were not yet required. / COURTESY VIBCO INC.

R.I. factories have learned lessons in fighting to keep COVID-19 out

Coronavirus 06/12/2020

Through his involvement in an international organization, Karl Wadensten knew what global manufacturers were doing to try to keep COVID-19 out of their workplaces. Before...

Hope Global reopens; Taito leaves company

Coronavirus 04/27/2020

CUMBERLAND – Manufacturer Hope Global has reopened after a temporary closure brought on by reduced demand for its products from the automotive industry, as...

Masks at work step toward recovery

Coronavirus 04/17/2020

The news that manufacturer Hope Global had to temporarily shut down its Cumberland facility after several workers tested positive for COVID-19 is a reminder...

HOPING FOR A TURNAROUND: With some suppliers and customers having gone out of business recently, CEO Cheryl Merchant says sales are down at Hope Global, which employs more than 300 in Cumberland. /

Hope Global shuts plant after workers fall ill with COVID-19

Coronavirus 04/14/2020

CUMBERLAND — Manufacturer Hope Global has temporarily shut down its operations here after several workers fell ill and were later found to have had...

TARIFF IMPACTS: Rhode Island Manufacturers Association Executive Director David Chenevert said the impact of tariffs and the slowing of the world economy has affected businesses differently in Rhode Island. Manufacturers focused on the aerospace or medical-industry markets are doing fine, he said, because defense spending has increased and the medical industry is growing. Companies producing products for the automotive industry, however, are seeing an impact because auto sales are down nationally.  / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

U.S. trade war with China has brought pain, uncertainty

Cover Story 10/04/2019

The initial tariffs imposed in 2018 on imports from China didn’t affect Cooley Group, a Pawtucket-based company that manufactures an array of engineered materials,...

Hope Global Braided Shoe and Boot Laces

Manufacturing 10/02/2019

THE STORY: Hope Global has been making shoe and boot laces for 136 years, and today it produces approximately 12 million pairs, or 108...

Leslie Taito Hope Global CEO Leslie Taito has worn many executive hats in Rhode Island: chief of staff at Hope Global; director of regulatory reform at the R.I. Office of Management and Budget; and CEO of R.I. Manufacturing Extension Services, among others. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Allowing failure can lead to innovation

One Last Thing 07/05/2019

Leslie Taito | Hope Global CEO Recently, a bright, young employee came to me with an idea to improve a long-standing manufacturing process. He described...