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February 2009 Archives
3:58 PM Fri, Feb 27, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Lisa Vernon-Sparks  Email
PROVIDENCE -- Mijanielle Achille says the Genesis Center, an adult education program, is like a second home to her. The 40-year-old Haitian immigrant received job training, touched up her English skills and got help landing an internship at Rhode Island......
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11:25 AM Fri, Feb 27, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Former employees of The Colibri Group, the famed East Providence jewelry maker that abruptly shut down in January, crowded into a Providence courtroom today to demand pay and medical insurance. Superior Court Judge Michael A. Silverstein is......
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10:29 AM Fri, Feb 27, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Bruce Landis Email
With $137 million to fix roads and bridges coming to the state under the federal economic stimulus plan, some local officials are wondering why they aren't getting money to fix local roads that they can't afford to fix themselves. There......
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8:12 AM Fri, Feb 27, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Pawtucket-based Hasbro and Performance Designed Products have signed a multi-year, international license agreement to create a new line of video gaming accessories and products for gaming devices, iPods and cell phones. The new agreement broadens the existing collaboration between Performance......
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1:40 PM Thu, Feb 26, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
The financially struggling parent of Citizens Financial Group sees a future in the Providence-based bank, though Royal Bank of Scotland expects Citizens will have to pull out of some communities in the U.S. and rebalance its portfolio of debt and......
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12:24 PM Thu, Feb 26, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Barbara Polichetti Email
WARWICK, RI -- If William D. McCaffrey, director of the Warwick Area Career and Technical Center, gets his wish, there will be a little white pick-up truck that is anything but ordinary cruising along in this year's Gaspee Day parade......
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7:27 AM Thu, Feb 26, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
By Peter B. Lord Journal staff writer PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Legislation to mandate that all beverages sold in Rhode Island must be in biodegradable plastic containers was described as well-intentioned at a State House hearing last night, but probably unworkable......
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6:21 PM Wed, Feb 25, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Alan Rosenberg Email
PROVIDENCE - Hospital care costs may be increasing rapidly, but the growth in Rhode Island is lower than most of New England, according to a just-released study of annual Medicare expenditures. From 1992 to 2006, per-person costs increased by 3.1......
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2:48 PM Wed, Feb 25, 2009 | Permalink |
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By C. Eugene Emery Jr. Email
PROVIDENCE - A group of small business professionals will hold a free public panel discussion to discuss the state's renewable energy businesses Wednesday, March 4, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Wolcott Eco-office, 28 Wolcott Ave. Robert Chew, president of......
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11:40 AM Wed, Feb 25, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
A razor-thin majority of Massachusetts residents support locating a resort casino in New Bedford, according to a new poll by the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth Center for Policy Analysis. The poll of 411 Massachusetts residents showed 51 percent support New Bedford......
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9:05 AM Wed, Feb 25, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
Today's the day Rhode Island is due to receive $93.5 million from the Obama administration, the state's first share of the $787-billion federal economic stimulus package that became law last week. Although described as an increase in Medicaid funding, the......
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8:18 AM Wed, Feb 25, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
A majority of Massachusetts residents support plans for locating a destination casino on the waterfront in New Bedford, according to a statewide survey by the Center for Policy Analysis at UMass Dartmouth. The survey of 411 residents, conducted Feb. 18......
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4:15 PM Tue, Feb 24, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Bruce Landis Email
The state's plan to extend commuter rail service south from Providence to Warwick and Wickford means that the state must buy $200 million in liability insurance, transportation officials told the state House Finance Committee. The news raised some eyebrows on......
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3:04 PM Tue, Feb 24, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Bliss Bros. Dairy has recalled two of its ice cream products because of possible salmonella contamination, the company announced today. Both flavors -- Witch's Brew and Snikkers -- apparently contain peanuts sold by the Peanut Corporation of America, the Georgia......
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1:42 PM Tue, Feb 24, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Andy Smith Email
Albion Court, at 425 Albion Road in Lincoln, an assisted living facility for patients with Alzheimer's Disease and related memory loss, is scheduled to open this weekend. When fully occupied, Albion Court will have 64 residents and employ between 75......
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1:39 PM Tue, Feb 24, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
One of the leaders of the nation's financial system this morning said the country's economic system is suffering from a crisis of confidence that will take time, cooperation and much work to alleviate. "I can see a couple of years......
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9:59 AM Tue, Feb 24, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
WARWICK, R.I. (AP) -- The median price of single-family homes in Rhode Island last month dropped sharply with a glut of short sales compared to the same month last year. The price for a single-family home fell to $175,000 from......
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7:41 AM Tue, Feb 24, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Richard W. Fisher, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, will be the keynote speaker today at the Archway Investment Fund Financial Services Forum at Bryant University. Fisher speaks frequently about monetary policy, the world economy and......
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6:22 PM Mon, Feb 23, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
More than 400,000 Rhode Island workers will soon receive what amounts to a pay raise. Employers by April 1 must begin withholding less in federal income tax from employees' paychecks. Thus, workers will soon be taking home more than they......
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5:16 PM Mon, Feb 23, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
The state Economic Development Corporation and Brown University are opening a center to help entrepreneurs build businesses, an effort to slow the state's spiking unemployment rate. Today, the EDC board approved a $200,000 public contribution to help create the Center......
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3:09 PM Mon, Feb 23, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Lisa Vernon-Sparks Email
LINCOLN - Amica Mutual Insurance Company has been named by BusinessWeek magazine as one of the top 25 customer service companies in the county, company officials said. Amica ranked number 15 in the magazine's third-annual special report of "Customer Service......
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1:22 PM Mon, Feb 23, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Alan Rosenberg Email
PROVIDENCE, RI -- The Rhode Island Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board will accept major credit cards for payment of registration fees, publications and fines, the state Department of Administration announced today. Customers will continue to have the option of paying......
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11:08 AM Mon, Feb 23, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Lisa Vernon-Sparks Email
PROVIDENCE - Benefit Strategies LLC, has acquired Altus Benefits Administrators, the employee-benefits administrators for Altus Systems, Inc., company officers announced today. Benefit Strategies, a third-party administration company headquartered in Manchester N.H., will hire 27 employees from Altus' benefits division and......
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10:38 AM Mon, Feb 23, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Gasoline prices in Rhode Island slipped two cents today to average $1.99 a gallon, the first decline in eight weeks. Prices for unleaded regular ranged from a high of $2 a gallon to a low of $1.87, according to a......
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10:36 AM Mon, Feb 23, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
PROVIDENCE -- With Twin River's fate hanging in the air, the General Assembly's Lottery oversight commission meets today for the first time in close to a month to find out how the state's gambling operations are faring in the recession.......
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10:36 AM Mon, Feb 23, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl EpiVax CEO Annie De Groot, at left, is leading a new research institute at URI where her father, seated at right, will research Graves' disease. The University of Rhode Island has hired the founder......
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8:50 AM Mon, Feb 23, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Royal Bank of Scotland Group plans to withdraw from 60 of the countries it operates in and refocus in areas such as its insurance business and its U.S banking operation through Providence-based Citizens Financial Group, the Wall Street Journal reported......
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7:45 AM Mon, Feb 23, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
The Journal Register Co., the media company that once owned several newspapers in Rhode Island, filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors, blaming a slump in advertising. The Yardley, Pennsylvania-based company listed debt of as much as $1 billion and......
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5:03 PM Fri, Feb 20, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Troubled financial giant Bank of America moved forward today with plans to cut between 30,000 and 35,000 employees over the next three years, spokeswoman Anne Pace told The Providence Journal. The bank, which has received millions of dollars in tax......
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2:29 PM Fri, Feb 20, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
By C. Eugene Emery Jr. Journal staff writer PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The executive director of the Rhode Island Broadcasters Association today declared that this week's transition to digital television "was extremely successful." Lori Needham said broadcasters will continue to offer......
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12:21 PM Fri, Feb 20, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
State lawmakers next Wednesday will debate whether to increase the minimum wage to $7.75 and adjust it annually based on inflation. The lowest legal salary has been fixed at $7.40 per hour since Jan. 1, 2007. The federal minimum wage......
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8:24 AM Fri, Feb 20, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Royal Bank of Scotland Group, the owner of Providence-based Citizens Financial Group, has hired Morgan Stanley to help sell some of its overseas assets. The Royal Bank, the biggest government-controlled bank in the United Kingdom, is considering plans to sell......
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12:38 PM Thu, Feb 19, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Andy Smith Email
Media General, the company that owns WJAR-TV, Channel 10, is mandating employees to take 10 days of unpaid leave as part of the company's cost-saving measures. Lisa Churchville, general manager of Channel 10, said the measure would apply to about......
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11:39 AM Thu, Feb 19, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
By Business staff Southwest Airlines, the biggest passenger carrier from T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, plans to begin flying out of Logan International Airport in Boston this fall. Southwest plans to start with 8 to 12 daily departures from Logan......
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11:07 AM Thu, Feb 19, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Alex Kuffner Email
PROVIDENCE -- A survey of office space in Providence last year has found a dramatic increase in vacancy rates over 2007. The survey conducted by Hayes & Sherry Real Estate Services, of Providence, showed that vacancy rates increased from 9.23......
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10:39 AM Thu, Feb 19, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
Small business owners beware: Someone's out looking for your bank account information. The U.S. Small Business Administration issued a scam alert today warning small businesses not to respond to letters falsely claiming to have been sent by the business administration.......
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9:24 AM Thu, Feb 19, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
PROVIDENCE -- Twenty-four people this morning were marching in front of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, which was hosting a breakfast and providing employers with information about the Employee Free Choice Act, a piece of national legislation that would......
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7:48 AM Thu, Feb 19, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Woonsocket-based CVS Caremark Corp. this morning reported that fourth-quarter profits rose 17 percent, helped by sales in its retail network. Net income rose to $952.8 million, or 65 cents a share, from $815 million, or 55 cents, a year earlier,......
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5:29 PM Wed, Feb 18, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
By Lynn Arditi Journal staff writer Congressman Jim Langevin has asked Rhode Island lenders to "temporarily suspend" new foreclosure proceedings in the state while President Obama's administration and Congress finalize their plan to stem the foreclosure crisis. Rep. Langevin said......
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5:19 PM Wed, Feb 18, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
Leaders who deal daily with the Rhode Island housing industry reacted this afternoon -- mostly with approval -- to President Obama's plan to address the foreclosure crisis nation wide. Those who commented, generally favored the plan, though not everyone agreed......
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2:18 PM Wed, Feb 18, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Citizens Bank is temporarily halting most foreclosures, the Providence-based company said in a statement today. "Citizens Financial Group has placed a temporary moratorium on Citizens-owned mortgages on owner-occupied residences of the customer and on mortgage loans serviced by CFG for......
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10:10 AM Wed, Feb 18, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
By C. Eugene Emery Jr. Journal staff writer PROVIDENCE -- The phones weren't exactly ringing off the hook this morning as the Rhode Island Broadcasters Association opened its call center to help people left without over-the-air television programming as a......
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8:12 AM Wed, Feb 18, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Fitch Ratings has maintained below-average ratings on debt issued by local governments in Rhode Island, reflecting historically challenging economic conditions in the state. Fitch said that while the operating reserves in the cities and towns have mitigated some of the......
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8:06 AM Wed, Feb 18, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
Journal photo / Ruben Perez William Hague, director of engineering for Channels 12 and 64, makes some last minute adjustments on the copper tubing carrying the new digital broadcast signal for Channel 64. By C. Eugene Emery Jr. Journal......
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6:11 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Jerry Pagnozzi says he knows just what to do with the $250 federal rebate that will be coming his way soon. With fuel prices rising once again, he plans to use the money to help buy gas for his car.......
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2:35 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
By Journal staff writer A.H. Belo Corp., the Dallas-based company that owns the Providence Journal, today reported a fourth quarter loss of $33.1 million, or $1.62 per share, and a full-year 2008 loss of $62.3 million, or $3.04 a share.......
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12:34 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has delayed the release of state jobless data from last month. State labor departments, including the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, had expected to release the information next Friday. But spokeswoman Laura Hart......
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12:02 PM Tue, Feb 17, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics released data today showing that the fourth quarter of last year saw the most "mass layoffs" in at least 14 years. A "mass layoff" occurs when a business lays off at least 50 people......
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11:43 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Joe Martin, who became chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Association this year during a profound crisis for the country's hospitality industry, will speak tomorrow at Johnson & Wales University. The struggling economy has crippled the hotel business, as......
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11:09 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
Rhode Island's hotel and food service industries had a surprisingly strong December, according to data released this morning by tax authorities. Hotels paid $120,064 in local hotel taxes in December, according to the state Department of Revenue and Newport, which......
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9:12 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
House Speaker William J. Murphy's public endorsement last week of plans to expand T.F. Green Airport did not go unnoticed. Or unassailed. Warwick Rep. Robert E. Flaherty, in a strongly-worded letter to Murphy Monday, blasts the speaker for supporting the......
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8:23 AM Tue, Feb 17, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Pawtucket-based Hasbro Inc. and Marvel Entertainment Inc. said that Hasbro will continue through 2017 to have the rights to make toys and games based on new Marvel and Columbia Pictures movies and Marvel characters such as Spider-Man. The license extension......
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6:01 PM Mon, Feb 16, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Gasoline prices are up. And it's not just a one-time deal. Pump prices have been rising for seven straight weeks, according to survey results issued today by the auto club AAA Southern New England. The average price of a gallon......
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12:49 PM Mon, Feb 16, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Every Company Counts, a program run by the state Economic Development Corporation to assist small businesses, has launched a new Web site. "Making sure that our small businesses have access to the tools and resources they need to succeed through......
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12:30 PM Mon, Feb 16, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Jan L. Jones, senior vice president for Harrah's Entertainment and a well-known figure in Rhode Island for her advocacy of the failed 2006 casino referendum, is back in the news. This time, Jones is lamenting a slowdown in activity in......
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8:21 AM Mon, Feb 16, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
The developers of the Cape Wind project off Cape Cod said they will work with the Federal Aviation Administration to resolve problems with the wind turbine project. The FAA on Friday said the 130 turbines planned for the project could......
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8:16 AM Mon, Feb 16, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Shareholders of Independent Bank Corp. (INDB:Nasdaq) said stockholders have approved the acquisition of Benjamin Franklin Bancorp (BFBC:Nasdaq), based in Franklin, Mass. More than 80% of the common stock voted to approve the merger, the company said. The merger is expected......
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2:51 PM Fri, Feb 13, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
By C. Eugene Emery Jr. Journal staff writer PROVIDENCE -- Two of the four stations still broadcasting an analog signal in the Providence/New Bedford market will keep those signals operational after Tuesday night's conversion to digital, but all of their......
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2:31 PM Fri, Feb 13, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Andy Smith Email
Johnson & Wales University did not sugarcoat the economy in a series of job seminars for students today. In a session called Navigating Your Job Search in A Recession, students were told that a succesful job hunt could take at......
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9:51 AM Fri, Feb 13, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
Executives at Hasbro Inc. said this morning the company is abandoning its "tween" electronics category as children prefer "the real thing" to the toy-style counterparts the company has marketed for most of the decade. That's a change from 2005, when......
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9:02 AM Fri, Feb 13, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
The head of Hasbro told investment analysts today the company has frozen salaries and travel expenses as it deals with the worsening economy. Brian Goldner, Hasbro's president and chief executive officer, made the announcement at the end of a presentation......
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8:08 AM Fri, Feb 13, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and MinuteClinic, the retail health centers set up by CVS Caremark Corp., are collaborating to operate the clinics at several locations in CVS/pharmacy stores in Northeast Ohio. David Bronson, chairman of the Medicine Institute at Cleveland......
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5:14 PM Thu, Feb 12, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
More than 35,000 out-of-work Rhode Islanders could soon start receiving an extra $25 in their weekly unemployment benefit as a result of the federal economic stimulus bill that is close to approval. In addition, more than 16,000 Rhode Islanders who......
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4:07 PM Thu, Feb 12, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Bruce Landis Email
DOT Director Michael P. Lewis says he is ready to start spending the roughly $140 million he expects to get under the economic stimulus package now before Congress. The DOT has a list of 51 projects ready to go, and......
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12:28 PM Thu, Feb 12, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Employees of Garrity Industries' flashlight plant in Ashaway will be eligible for extra help through the Trade Adjustment Assistance program. The federal program helps laid-off workers whose jobs were lost due to global trade. Eligible employees get federal help with......
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11:27 AM Thu, Feb 12, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
Passenger traffic at T.F. Green Airport declined 10 percent last month compared to the same period a year ago, according to data out this morning from the state's airport agency. In all, 310,211 passengers used the airport last month,......
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9:15 AM Thu, Feb 12, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Providence-based Textron Inc.'s Bell helicopter division won orders for 3 new units in January, compared with 40 in the comparable month a year earlier as the credit crunch damped demand, Bell's Senior Vice President Robert Fitzpatrick said today. "Helicopter demand......
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7:22 AM Thu, Feb 12, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), is scheduled this morning to call for stronger regulatory oversight of hedge funds in a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington. Reed, chairman of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment, will......
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2:56 PM Wed, Feb 11, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
Stop & Shop, Rite Aid and Kmart have added to the growing list of foods recalled because of possibly tainted peanut ingredients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration identified the source of salmonella-contaminated peanut butter and related products as a......
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2:48 PM Wed, Feb 11, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Rhode Island House Speaker William J. Murphy says he does not want to see increases in broad-based taxes, but cannot issue a blanket guarantee. "Our goal is not to raise taxes," Murphy told more than 650 business leaders and others......
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2:43 PM Wed, Feb 11, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Edward J. Cooney, chairman of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, said today that Rhode Island's tax policy needs changing. "Dramatic steps need to be taken . . . What we have now simply doesn't work," Cooney told more than......
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1:35 PM Wed, Feb 11, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
Fast-food chain KFC this week joined restaurant competitors trying to keep recession-wary Americans from starving their bottom lines. The Louisville, Ky., chain, famous for serving up buckets of chicken legs on the cheap, wants to drum up business with a......
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8:20 AM Wed, Feb 11, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
State Transportation Director Michael P. Lewis is traveling to Washington today to meet with White House leaders at a transportation forum on the economic stimulus package now before Congress, the DOT said. The tentative agenda includes remarks by U.S. Secretary......
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8:17 AM Wed, Feb 11, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Public officials will gather today to celebrate the opening of the new corporate headquarters of InQuest Technologies, a developer of web-based business applications, at 300 West Exchange St., Providence. The company's expansion was supported by a $750,000 loan from the......
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5:36 PM Tue, Feb 10, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Andy Smith Email
Citadel Broadcasting, which owns five radio stations in the Rhode Island market, has laid off three of its on-air personalities, including Charlie Jefferds, a long-time DJ on WWLI-FM (Lite 105) and a member of the Rhode Island Radio Hall of......
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5:29 PM Tue, Feb 10, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Bruce Landis Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- State Transportation Director Michael P. Lewis will go to Washington Wednesday to meet with White House leadership at a transportation forum on the economic stimulus package now before Congress, the DOT said. The tentative agenda includes......
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4:02 PM Tue, Feb 10, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
Central Falls had the highest rate of property foreclosures in Southern New England last year and Providence had the third highest, according to a Providence Journal analysis of data from the Warren Group, a Boston-based real estate consulting firm.......
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3:59 PM Tue, Feb 10, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
More than 1,200 people have applied to fill 40 new jobs at the state Department of Labor and Training to process claims for unemployment benefits, agency director Sandra M. Powell said today. There are so many candidates, the agency will......
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3:01 PM Tue, Feb 10, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) - Sensata Technologies Inc. is laying off 100 workers in Massachusetts after another 50 accepted voluntary buyout offers. Linda Megathlin, spokeswoman for the manufacturer of sensors and controls, said Tuesday the job cuts at its Attleboro headquarters......
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1:11 PM Tue, Feb 10, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
Providence Journal video / Bill Murphy Outside the offices of Allan Shine, the court-appointed receiver for The Colibri Group, former workers -- who lost their jobs when an East Providence jewelry plant closed -- take to the street. Workers......
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1:05 PM Tue, Feb 10, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
BOSTON (AP) -- A federal judge has refused to reconsider his order suspending key New England fishing rules, leaving fishermen wondering which rules are in place. Last month, U.S. District Judge Edward Harrington suspended the rules, called Framework 42, saying......
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11:27 AM Tue, Feb 10, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Journal archive photo / Steve Szydlowski Senate President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed, at the time the Senate majority leader, speaks at last year's Legislative Luncheon. House Speaker William J. Murphy and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed will discuss the state's......
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8:38 AM Tue, Feb 10, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Laid-off workers from the closed Colibri jewelry plant planned to rally this morning to demand 60 days pay and 60 days benefits. "We are united...our families cannot wait 6 months to put food on the table, pay our mortgages or......
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8:20 AM Tue, Feb 10, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
The salary of Laura Sen, who took over as CEO at BJ's Wholesale Club on Feb. 4, has been boosted to $900,000, according to a federal regulatory filing. Sen, 52, also was granted 42,962 shares of restricted stock, which will......
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8:07 AM Tue, Feb 10, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Julianne Bowler, a former commissioner of the Massachusetts Division of Insurance, has joined the Narragansett Bay Insurance Co., in Pawtucket, as senior consultant for corporate and strategic initiatives. "Julie Bowler has developed an outstanding reputation in the insurance industry with......
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6:44 PM Mon, Feb 09, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Governor Carcieri's tax-reform panel last week proposed the elimination of the state's corporate income tax. But what about the thousands of small businesses that are not subject to the corporate income tax? They would get a tax break, too. A......
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4:58 PM Mon, Feb 09, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
New federal regulations that take effect tomorrow will require retailers to pull toys, clothing and other children's products from their shelves if the items don't meet new, stricter limits for lead and chemical content. "Tomorrow is our Apocalypse Now date,"......
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12:56 PM Mon, Feb 09, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Journal photo / Frieda Squires The International Yacht Restoration School is going ahead with its annual Marine Industry Career Day, despite a series of high-profile layoffs at local boat builders that have cast a shadow over the industry. The......
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12:51 PM Mon, Feb 09, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
By News Staff The Yamaha Corporation of America, citing tough economic times, has notified the Newport Music Festival that it is pulling its sponsorship of the classical-music event after 22 seasons. "It's a major blow," said Mark Malkovich, the festival's......
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10:59 AM Mon, Feb 09, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
Journal archive photo / Andrew Dickerman Former Textron CFO Ted R. French at the company's annual meeting in 2005. Textron Inc. today continued changing its management team as the Providence-based manufacturing conglomerate tries to regain its footing after a......
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10:10 AM Mon, Feb 09, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
A project to replace the Sakonnet River Bridge, studied and debated for the past 15 years, is "apparently on the move," The Providence Journal's Bruce Landis reported in The Providence Sunday Journal. "The bridge is a critical part of the......
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9:04 AM Mon, Feb 09, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Northwest Woolen Mills, a division of The Brickle Group, has won a $19 million, six- year contract to manufacture military berets for the U.S. Dept. of Defense. The contract will allow the company to add employees to the current workforce......
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7:41 AM Mon, Feb 09, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Pawtucket-based Hasbro Inc., the world's second- largest toymaker, this morning said fourth-quarter profit fell because of a slowdown in consumer spending and a strengthening dollar. Net income dropped 30 percent to $93.6 million, or 62 cents a share, from $133.7......
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3:59 PM Fri, Feb 06, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
Rhode Island reaped far less from holiday shoppers at Providence Place mall last year than in previous years. The December total was the lowest since at least 2005. Sales tax receipts in December plunged by 31.5 percent, or about $820,000,......
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2:39 PM Fri, Feb 06, 2009 | Permalink |
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By News staff Email
WARWICK - The city is facing a $5-million shortfall for the current fiscal year thanks to state aid cuts, and Mayor Scott Avedesian said he is looking at ways to cut the budget, including layoffs and furloughs. The mayor said......
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1:29 PM Fri, Feb 06, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
More than a dozen individuals and organizations with Rhode Island addresses appear on lists of clients and other potential creditors of Bernard L. Madoff that were filed this week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York City. Madoff, right, has......
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12:34 PM Fri, Feb 06, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
Thrift-store operator Savers is cutting prices 50 percent during a Presidents' Day sale. The chain, which has outlets in East Providence, Warwick and Woonsocket, will halve prices Feb. 16 on its stock of used merchandise during a holiday clearance. Savers......
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11:47 AM Fri, Feb 06, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Alan Rosenberg Email
By Paul Grimaldi Journal Staff Writer The Macy's department store chain will open a district office in Attleboro in early May to support about a dozen of its stores, including two in Rhode Island, a company spokesman said today. The......
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11:01 AM Fri, Feb 06, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
As financial services juggernaut Fidelity Investments moves ahead with plans to lay off 3,000 employees, it has explained its struggles as the product of the "unprecedented worldwide economic downturn." But in an interview today, Christopher Davis, lead Fidelity analyst for......
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7:59 AM Fri, Feb 06, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Same-store sales at BJ's Wholesale Inc. of Natick, were down .7 percent in January, reduced by lower sales of gasoline. Revenues from gasoline sales were off because the average price of gas per gallon was down 40 percent compared with......
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1:59 PM Thu, Feb 05, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
By Paul Grimaldi Journal Business writer CVS Caremark Corp. said today it wants to build a distribution center in Chemung County, N.Y., near Elmira, in the south-central part of the state. The Woonsocket company said it expects to employ 600......
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1:24 PM Thu, Feb 05, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Bruce Landis Email
Journal photo/ Steve Szydlowski Richard Graefe, right, Rhode Island Chapter chairperson for the Sierra Club, and other state transit advocates unroll 300 post cards signed by citizens that thank Governor Carcieri for his work on extending the commuter rail......
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8:58 AM Thu, Feb 05, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
KVH Industries, of Middletown, this morning reported fourth quarter financial results that showed net income of $300,000, or two cents a share, compared with profits of $1 million, or six cents a share, in the comparable period a year ago.......
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8:01 AM Thu, Feb 05, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
An economic stimulus bill will pass the U.S. Senate after changes made to the wording that will calm worries about protectionism, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, said this morning in an interview with CNBC. "The direct investment in infrastructure, targeting......
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3:48 PM Wed, Feb 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Alan Rosenberg Email
By Teresa Stepzinski MCT BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- A former insurance agent who used the mail to obtain $93,000 in auto insurance commissions from a Warwick, R.I.-based company through an elaborate fraud scheme was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a......
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2:11 PM Wed, Feb 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Edward Parker Email
The multi-unit housing market in Rhode Island during the last three months of last year looked like a department store the day after Thanksgiving: buyers poured in and snapped up bargains. The median sales price for multi-unit houses for October,......
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1:15 PM Wed, Feb 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Governor Carcieri's tax-reform panel today recommended a sharp reduction in Rhode Island's maximum individual income tax rate, to 5.5 percent from the current 9.9 percent. The panel also recommended cutting the state's lowest individual income tax rate, to 3.5 percent......
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1:09 PM Wed, Feb 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
If Rhode Island's statewide sales tax is broadened to include more goods and services than it does today, Rhode Island's 7-percent sales tax rate should be lowered That is the finding of Governor Carcieri's tax-reform panel, which met today at......
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1:03 PM Wed, Feb 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Governor Carcieri's tax-reform panel today recommended changing Rhode Island's death tax -- also known as the estate tax -- so that fewer estates would be subject to the tax. The tax generally applies if the value of a decedent's estate......
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12:57 PM Wed, Feb 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
WARWICK, R.I. (AP) -- Plummeting prices fueled a dramatic spike in the sale of multi-family properties in Rhode Island in December compared with the same time last year. The Rhode Island Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that the number of......
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12:27 PM Wed, Feb 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Governor Carcieri's tax-reform panel today recommended scrapping Rhode Island's corporate income tax. The proposal, if adopted, would save businesses more than $82 million a year. It would also send a message that "Rhode Island wants to do business," said Alfred......
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10:21 AM Wed, Feb 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
For years, local businesses have been urged to adopt "green" business practices, promised that it would help cut operating costs and attract a growing segment of the tourism market that favors low-flow faucets and compost piles. But despite severe......
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9:35 AM Wed, Feb 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Jack Perry Email
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- An advisory panel soon issues its final recommendations for changing Rhode Island's tax code in ways that are supposed to attract businesses and retain jobs. Governor Carcieri created the group in May. The panel is expected......
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9:16 AM Wed, Feb 04, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Providence-based Textron (TXT:NYSE) said this morning it has drawn the balance of the $3 billion committed bank credit lines available to the company and its commercial finance subsidiary, Textron Financial Corporation. After repayment of all commercial paper outstanding, this will......
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4:23 PM Tue, Feb 03, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Pamela Reinsel Cotter Email
By Paul Grimaldi Journal staff writer CVS Caremark Corp. said today it is voluntarily recalling four types of candy containing peanuts that were sold in its stores during the last two years. The candy was sold under the Gold Emblem......
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2:50 PM Tue, Feb 03, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
Looking for a job? The State of Rhode Island is hiring. The Department of Labor and Training is in the process of hiring 40 people to help answer the phones and perform other tasks at the agency's unemployment insurance call......
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2:41 PM Tue, Feb 03, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Moderating a panel discussion this morning about the state's economy, Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, tried to remain upbeat. As panelists painted a generally dreary picture of employment and real estate in the near future,......
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12:10 PM Tue, Feb 03, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Organizers of the Buy Local RI campaign, designed to boost locally owned businesses struggling to survive the economic downturn, are calling for submissions for a campaign logo. "The competition is open to anyone who resides, or is employed in Rhode......
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11:41 AM Tue, Feb 03, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski Jennifer Weiner, a policy analyst for the New England Public Policy Center in Boston, speaks this morning in Providence about the state's economy. Jennifer Weiner, a policy analyst for the New England Public Policy......
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9:37 AM Tue, Feb 03, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Eighty percent of Rhode Island businesses have no plans to hire new employees this year, according to a report released this morning by Sovereign Bank. The report, based on the bank's annual Economic Outlook survey, offers little reason to hope......
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8:09 AM Tue, Feb 03, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Legalized slot machines and casinos are back on the agenda in Massachusetts. House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, who replaced casino opponent Salvatore DiMasi as leader in the House, signaled yesterday that there will be debate in the House relative to......
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8:01 AM Tue, Feb 03, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
The Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce will hold its 18th annual dinner Monday at the Kirkbrae Country Club, Lincoln. The event will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. General Treasurer Frank T.......
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1:29 PM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Paul Grimaldi Email
A pair of Bancorp Rhode Island investors renewed their battle with the banking company's management, according to regulatory and other filings, this time seeking changes in the way its board of directors is constituted. Richard Lashley and John Palmer, partners......
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12:31 PM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
The cost to protect against a default by Providence-based Textron Inc. soared to a record as Standard & Poor's said it may cut the aircraft maker's ratings, according to Bloomberg News. Credit-default swaps protecting Textron bonds for five years jumped......
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12:12 PM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Journal photo / Steve Szydlowski Attendance at the Providence Boat Show grew by 10 percent this year, despite declines in consumer spending that have had devastating effects on many boat builders. In a statement released today, the producers of......
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11:55 AM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said today that Rhode Island seniors could see a one-time boost in their Social Security benefits by late spring if federal economic stimulus legislation is enacted. Under a legislative provision that Whitehouse has promoted, Social Security......
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11:43 AM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed today predicted that a final vote on proposed federal economic stimulus legislation could come by Presidents' Day, Feb. 16. The Senate will debate its own version of the measure this week, Reed said at a meeting......
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11:35 AM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Neil Downing Email
North Providence Mayor Charles A. Lombardi told U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse today that he would use money from the proposed federal economic stimulus bill to rebuild roads, prevent flooding, and make needed repairs to schools and other......
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10:59 AM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Coming off a year in which Rhode Island recorded the highest rise in unemployment in the country, Sovereign Bank is issuing a report about the prospects for recovery. The bank's annual "economic outlook" focuses on the region around Providence, and......
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10:32 AM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Gasoline prices in Rhode Island continue to creep higher The average price of self-service regular, unleaded gasoline is $1.94 a gallon, up 9 cents from a week ago, according to a survey released today by the Rhode Island Office of......
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10:21 AM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Benjamin N. Gedan Email
Displaced employees of The Colibri Group are gathering tomorrow at the company's East Providence headquarters to demand that laid off workers receive an additional two months of wages and health care coverage. The rally, reported by the Rhode Island's Future......
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9:23 AM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Raytheon Co. said this morning it has delivered the first production equipment for the U.S. Navy's DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class destroyer. "The delivery of the first production equipment for Zumwalt is a critical milestone, demonstrating that with the right processes and......
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8:24 AM Mon, Feb 02, 2009 | Permalink |
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By Business staff Email
Rite Aid Corp. and Longs Drugs, a unit of CVS Caremark Corp., have pulled from their shelves several Valentine's day stuffed-animal toys with lead that exceeded the new national standards that take effect on Feb. 10. The Center for Environmental......
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