Home Subscriber Only Cover Story THE CAMPAIGN ECONOMY: Election season provides stimulus for many businesses

THE CAMPAIGN ECONOMY: Election season provides stimulus for many businesses

Updated at 10:40 a.m. on Sept. 16.

By

Claudia Chiappa

-

09/16/2022

SIGN OF THE TIMES: Gary Wallace is the owner of Hall of GraFX, a printing shop in Providence that has produced campaign materials for candidates, such as this banner for Gonzalo Cuervo, who finished second in the Providence mayoral primary on Sept. 13. PBN PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO

Forget summer vacation, Gary Wallace hasn’t even had a day off in the last six weeks. That’s what happens when you own a print shop and are in the middle of an election campaign season. One moment, Wallace could be printing out a roll of 1,000 lapel stickers for a Providence City Council candidate. The

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Forget summer vacation, Gary Wallace hasn’t even had a day off in the last six weeks. That’s what happens when you own a print shop and are in the middle of an election campaign season. One moment, Wallace could be printing out a roll of 1,000 lapel stickers for a Providence City Council candidate. The next, he could be creating 20-foot banners featuring the smiling face of a mayoral candidate. It’s a hectic time, but Wallace isn’t complaining. “It’s crazy sometimes how overwhelmed we get here,” said Wallace, owner of Hall of GraFX, a shop in the Valley section of Providence. “But I appreciate it because it helps us.” With the help of his wife, daughter and student interns, Wallace’s regular business includes working with party planners and printing signs for graduations, birthdays and galas. At the height of the pandemic, Wallace stayed afloat by printing COVID-19 signs. Now he’s as busy as ever. Some of his clients include Providence mayoral candidate Gonzalo Cuervo, who has spent $11,220 on yard signs, stickers and banners in his losing primary bid; state Rep. Grace Diaz, who spent $1,600 at his shop in July for campaign materials; and unsuccessful Providence City Council Ward 9 challenger Gerard Catala, who bought more stickers than almost anyone else, according to Wallace. Hall of GraFX is one of the countless businesses across the region that are capitalizing on a campaign economy, a cyclical stream of millions of dollars that pours into companies every two years from political candidates looking to raise their profiles and raise campaign funds, and from other groups and organizations holding related events such as forums and debates. It’s unclear exactly how much money is flowing from donors in state and out of state through campaigns, political action committees and special interest groups and into the coffers of businesses, large and small. For the highest-profile races, the bulk of the cash is spent in large chunks on mass-media advertising such as on TV. And large portions of the money stream to out-of-state consultants and agencies that specialize in hard-fought political races nationwide. Still, with hundreds of candidates running for offices ranging from the Little Compton School Committee to a Rhode Island congressional seat, a lot of local businesses are still getting a piece of the action – everything from print shops and caterers to audio-visual companies and banquet halls to political consultants and newspapers. “You’re probably looking at a $10 million range total expenditure into the local economy,” said Guy Dufault, a political consultant with over 40 years of experience and former chairman of the state Democratic Party. CIGARS AND LEMONADE Take, for instance, the three-way Democratic primary race for Senate District 4 in North Providence. Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio spent $21,820 in a three-week stretch leading to primary election day on Sept. 13, according to campaign finance reports filed with the R.I. Board of Elections. That included $953 for a “campaign gathering” on Aug. 20 at Mr. Cigar, a Mineral Spring Avenue smoke shop; $750 paid to Providence-based New England Lemonade for a “lemonade truck for seniors” on Aug. 30; and $1,098 for ads in the weekly newspaper The Valley Breeze. The Ruggerio campaign also footed the bill at 11 local eateries in that period – a total of $4,464 for “food, beverages and meals” at places ranging from the Sandwich Hut in Providence and Johna’s Italian Restaurant in Johnston to Massimo Ristorante and The Capital Grille, both in Providence. A “legislative meeting” on Aug. 26 at Bally’s Twin River Lincoln Casino alone cost the campaign $1,502. Some nonprofits benefited, too. Ruggerio used his war chest to issue a check for $125 to the DaVinci Center Community Progress for a golf fundraiser sponsorship and dished out $1,250 in fundraising donations to the Italo American Club of Rhode Island. Meanwhile, Ruggerio’s two opponents who failed to unseat him in the Sept. 13 primary had fewer financial resources and were more targeted in the same period. Stephen G. Tocco’s biggest expenditures were $1,722 for ads in The Valley Breeze and $5,040 for radio ads at Cumulus Media Inc. in East Providence, the owner of several stations, including talk show-filled WPRO-AM 630. And Leonardo A. “Lenny” Cioe Jr. doled out $11,963 to Express Printing in Fall River for campaign mailers. Such a large outlay of cash for a print shop doesn’t surprise Dufault. That’s the type of business that stands to gain the most during the election cycle, he says. “At the local level, which would be the reps and senators and mayors and city councils and school committees, they spend primarily through direct mail and social media,” Dufault said. “That’s where you see a tremendous amount of expenditures occur and that assists the local print shops, the local graphic artists.” Election years are certainly a favorite for Gary Paplauskas. Paplauskas, owner of the family-owned graphic design and printing shop BORI Graphix in Warwick, says his company sees a 35% jump in business in years with local campaigns and the revenue has climbed higher in the three or four months leading up to this year’s primaries. The biggest job for BORI and its six employees this election cycle: $3,157 worth of advertising materials paid for by the Cranston Republican City Committee on July 25, according to campaign finance reports. “It’s definitely a boost,” Paplauskas said recently. Regine Printing Co. in Providence has reaped some of the biggest benefits, according to an analysis of campaign finance reports. A Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, union shop, Regine has attracted the attention of many Democratic candidates. For them, choosing union shops is part of their political strategy, a way to signal “solidarity with organized labor,” said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island. As of Sept. 13, the print shop had accumulated more than $209,843 in election billings in 2022, including $46,984 from Nirva LaFortune, the Providence city councilwoman who made an unsuccessful bid for mayor in the primaries, and nearly $10,000 from Gov. Daniel J. McKee, who came out on top in a six-way primary race. When PBN called Regine for comment recently, the person who answered the phone said they were too busy to talk. The LaFortune campaign says the expenditures on printing campaign materials was money well spent. “The two largest expenses on our campaign have both been related to how we talk to voters: our robust fellows program that paid $15 an hour and our direct mail program,” said Matt Rauschenbach, LaFortune’s campaign manager. [caption id="attachment_417398" align="alignleft" width="374"]

FOCUSED WORKER: Alisha A. Pina, standing, photographs a recent news conference involving James A. Diossa, a general treasurer candidate. Pina’s business, Inner Wingspan, has been hired by Diossa’s campaign to handle the press secretary duties.  PBN PHOTO/CLAUDIA CHIAPPA

FOCUSED WORKER: Alisha A. Pina, standing, photographs a recent news conference involving James A. Diossa, a general treasurer candidate. Pina’s business, Inner Wingspan, has been hired by Diossa’s campaign to handle the press secretary duties.  PBN PHOTO/CLAUDIA CHIAPPA[/caption] BUSINESS BOOSTER For Alisha A. Pina, the campaign season came along at a perfect time. A former Providence Journal reporter and public affairs officer at the R.I. Department of Human Services, Pina decided to strike out on her own in February. She opened Inner Wingspan, a marketing and communications agency. While she quickly picked up some nonpolitical clients, the election cycle provided a nice launching pad for the fledgling business. Candidates such as April Brown, running for the Providence City Council seat in Ward 9, and incumbent Ward 1 Councilman John Goncalves have paid her for services such as writing speeches, creating online content, taking photos and planning campaign strategies. James A. Diossa, the former Central Falls mayor running for general treasurer, paid Inner Wingspan $7,200 for Pina’s press secretary services in July and August. Pina was on the job during a campaign event on Aug. 31 outside East Providence High School in which a half dozen Rhode Island mayors publicly threw their support behind Diossa, who beat Stefan I. Pryor in the Sept. 13 primary. Pina never stopped moving at the event, greeting dignitaries and members of the press, taking photos and repositioning campaign signs for maximum exposure for the TV cameras. Right now, Pina says, about one-third of her clients are in politics. “With campaigns, it was good for me because it was not just a one-and-done type of client,” said Pina, who said campaign work guarantees a steadier income around elections. “As an entrepreneur, that’s what you’re looking for.” During election season, the exchange of money goes beyond what the candidates themselves spend. Debates and forums set up by organizations, for example, also bring income opportunities for audio-visual companies, caterers, venues and the organizations themselves. Case in point: On Sept. 8, the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce hosted a gubernatorial forum featuring six of the candidates, charging members $50 each to attend, or $250 for a table. The event at the Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick sold out, and most of the money went to pay the hotel rental costs and staff. The Chamber says it broke even on the event. TV TIME To be sure, large portions of the campaign-related money flow to big businesses with interests outside Rhode Island, particularly in a gubernatorial race that was crowded before the primary election and forced campaign expenditures to reach seven figures. “The bulk of it though goes to TV stations, which are owned by out-of-state entities,” Marion said. “So it’s not local businesses that are getting most of the money.” While the Federal Communications Commission maintains records on political advertising purchases on radio and TV airwaves, calculating local spending is difficult. But it’s clear the sums are massive. McKee’s campaign, for instance, paid $30,000 to WPRI-TV CBS 12 – which is owned by Texas-based Nexstar Media Group – for a 30-second spot during the New England Patriots season opener on Sept. 11, just days before the primary election, FCC files show. And expenditures ramped up as the gubernatorial candidates made the final push to sway voters. An analysis of spending between Aug. 16 and Sept. 5 shows that of the $2.1 million spent by the six main candidates, only 12% – or $259,500 – went to local businesses and agencies. [caption id="attachment_417400" align="alignnone" width="635"]

TRICKLING DOWN Six candidates for Rhode Island governor spent a combined $2.1 million between Aug. 16 and Sept. 5, ahead of the primary election. Twelve percent – or $259,500 – was spent locally. Here’s where that money went. / SOURCE: R.I. BOARD OF ELECTIONS

TRICKLING DOWN Six candidates for Rhode Island governor spent a combined $2.1 million between Aug. 16 and Sept. 5, ahead of the primary election. Twelve percent – or $259,500 – was spent locally. Here’s where that money went. / SOURCE: R.I. BOARD OF ELECTIONS[/caption] ‘ABOVE AND BEYOND’ Still, what campaign dollars remain local can be significant for some businesses, according to Liam C. Malloy, an economics professor at the University of Rhode Island. “It’s not that different than summer businesses that do really well in June, July and August,” he said. The Nuñez Co., a digital marketing agency in Providence with three full-time employees and more than a dozen contractors, has worked closely with multiple candidates over the years, according to co-founder Ray Nuñez. A recurring client has been Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea, who spent $9,500 at The Nuñez Co. in 2022 as part of her unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in the Democratic primary. The company built her website, offering some technical and fundraising support as well. For Nuñez, it’s about helping a cause he believes in, as well as the profit. About 25% of the company’s business in the past year has been related to political or social campaigns. “For us, it gets very easy to see each other enough where you start building personal relationships,” said Nuñez, who recently started a new role at a Providence technology services firm and handed the reins of The Nuñez Co. to his wife, Taryn. “We’re one of the only minority-owned businesses in the marketing space, so we knew that we added a unique value for a lot of these candidates who wanted to both support local and support minority and women-owned businesses.” [caption id="attachment_417399" align="alignleft" width="768"]

CAMPAIGN CATERERS: Kevin Millonzi, center, is the owner of Millonzi Fine Catering in West Warwick, which has worked with political candidates for fundraisers and other catering events. Millonzi caters an event with Kimberly Bellavance, left, and Millie Rosario. PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

CAMPAIGN CATERERS: Kevin Millonzi, center, is the owner of Millonzi Fine Catering in West Warwick, which has worked with political candidates for fundraisers and other catering events. Millonzi caters an event with Kimberly Bellavance, left, and Millie Rosario. PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption] Kevin Millonzi isn’t getting rich from the campaign economy – campaign finance reports show that in this election year his West Warwick company Millonzi Fine Catering has been paid $1,970 by Gorbea’s campaign and $400 by state Rep. Deborah Ruggiero, D-Jamestown, who unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor. But he says the business benefits extend beyond those checks from the campaign coffers. Over the years, Millonzi has catered luncheons and spaghetti dinners, and he’s ready for the usual last-minute calls from campaigns on Election Day from candidates looking for boxed lunches or sandwich platters for their team and volunteers. But political fundraisers can be particularly lucrative for his 30 employees, many of whom are bartenders and waitstaff. These events often mean “above and beyond” tips, Millonzi said. “[Political fundraisers] are usually well attended, there’s usually good crowds at them and, typically, the people that come to those that are making donations, tip very appropriately, which is nice for the staff,” he said. “There’s a certain excitement to this type of work.” And there is the networking opportunity, too. An event with 50 people can end with Millonzi handing out over a dozen business cards. That’s what happened a few months ago when a business card handed out at a political event turned into a $25,000 customized company picnic in June, Millonzi said. At Hall of GraFX, owner Gary Wallace is already thinking about life after this election cycle. He’s starting to catch his breath from the primary campaign rush. And he’s turning his attention to his normal jobs, such as design work for events and businesses. He’s also taking on three local high school students for a job training program in which students will learn about art design and print work. “We had to put some things on hold a little bit because of the campaigns,” Wallace said. “So we had to first make sure we get all of that stuff done and then we can proceed now to do all the other stuff.” Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Alisha A. Pina's previous position with the state of Rhode Island. She was a public affairs officer at the R.I. Department of Human Services.