Providence Business News articles from June 2001, page 3

Providence Business News archives from June 2001

Drug shortage could prove dangerous.
June 11, 2001... Many therapeutic drugs are in short supply -- both nationally and in Rhode Island - and some say the problem has forced hospitals to switch to medications that are less safe and less effective. "In the past 12 to 18 months, I've dealt...

Assisted living facilities thrive as population grows.
June 11, 2001... Evidence of a health care system in disarray abounds. Hospitals are running multi-million-dollar deficits. Nursing homes are filing for bankruptcy. Soaring insurance premiums are crippling small businesses. But perseverance, hard work and...

Hospice care a puzzle to some yet fills a vital, growing need.
June 11, 2001... Misconceptions about the work they do are not uncommon, but increasingly, hospice workers are there to help patients and their families through the final phase of life. A public opinion survey conducted for the National Hospice...

State's Health Insurers and HMOs.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 11, 2001... (ranked by premium income) 1. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island 444 Westminster St. Providence, R.I. 02903 Tel.: 401-459-1000 Incorporated: 1939 Commenced business: 1939 President: Ronald A. Battista ...

Rhode Island's life insurers.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... Rhode Island's life insurers (ranked by 2000 assets) 2001 2000 rank rank Company 1 1 Keyport Life Insurance Company 695 George Washington Highway Lincoln, R.I. 02865 (401) 334-0364...

Path to long-term care can be tricky, confusing.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... Consumers seeking to buy long-term care insurance face inexplicably large variations and a multitude of complexities regarding when and how payments are made, according to a study by the Florida-based Weiss. Ratings, Inc. Weiss gathered...

Survival of treatment centers seen threatened by red tape.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... A cost-effective alternative to a traditional emergency room visit today, the stand-alone emergency rooms are being threatened by the insurance companies that have saved money as a result of their services. For more than two decades these...

You can fool some of your customers some of the time...(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... People ask me where I get so much material for a weekly column. I tell them that my biggest problem is not finding material, but culling it down to 750 words every week. Here are just a few unbelievable instances of bad business that you...

Business Notes.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... MALKEN ARCHITECTURE Kimberly A. Romaldini has joined The Robinson Green Beretta Corporation of Providence as interior designer. As a member of the interior design department at the company, she will serve on the design team for a...

Panera Bread donates to Children's Friend & Service.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... Cranston's Panera Bread restaurant and bakery has donated $1,352 to Children's Friend & Service, a Providence-based youth support program. The gift is a result of Panera's Extra Dough program, in which the bakery collects donations from...

Amica Insurance promotes two.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... Patricia H. Stadnick has been promoted to communications officer at Amica's corporate communications department. She has been with the company since 1988, when she joined as marketing coordinator. She has also previously served as managing...

Moving forward with the master plan: An Update of the Study Resource Committee.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... Dear Friend, We are pleased to introduce the first of a series of regular updates on the future of T.F. Green Airport. As you may know, the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) has begun the process of preparing a 20-year Master Plan...

MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... Greetings, On behalf of the citizens and business people of the City of Warwick, I would like to welcome you to this 2001 Economic Development Report. Warwick has long been known as a place on the move, and the past year has been no...

City Spearheads Business Growth in Rhode Island.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... Rhode Island is one of the most industrialized states in the country. And while manufacturing provides for only about 78,000 jobs, it still accounts for anywhere from 30 percent to 40 percent of Rhode Island's gross domestic product. With so...

Central Rhode Island Development Corporation.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... The Central Rhode Island Development Corporation (CRIDCO) is helping Rhode Island business executives and policymakers debunk the idea that manufacturing is not a growth industry. Tracing its roots to the Warwick Economic Development...

FastBreak-Services for the Breakaway Entrepreneur.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... Rhode Island entrepreneurs looking for assistance in growing their businesses, need look no further than the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce to find a set of tools to assist them. The second largest, chamber of commerce in the state,...

Rhode Island Export Assistance Center.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... Venturing into the world marketplace can be intimidating. Even those businesses selling, in foreign marketplace may be missing emerging opportunities for growth because they lack the resources needed to penetrate foreign markets. The...

Notes From The Director.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... I would like to welcome you to the City of Warwick's Economic Development Report for 2001. I encourage you to take the time to read about all the exciting new developments that are currently occurring in the City. Of course the most...

Business Is Booming For LDI Casting.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... When Anne Mulhall saw a chance to open her own business and do something she loved, she seized the opportunity. Anne is director of LDI Casting, which provides local actors for film, television, voice-overs, and live performances. Founded in...

Warwick Ice Cream - The Tradition Continues.(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... Knowing Rhode Islanders and their passion for food, it's no surprise that ice cream is one of their favorite treats. It's also no surprise that Warwick Ice Cream, a state-of-the-art ice cream manufacturer and distributor, has been a New...

Warwick Home Meets Specialized Needs of Maley Laser.(Massachusetts)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
June 11, 2001... When Kurt Maley, president of Maley Laser, decided to move his firm from its East Providence home three years ago, he realized he needed just the right space to accommodate the company's unique needs. He found the ideal location on...

Total Passengers by Airline at Warwick's T. F. Green Airport.(Brief Article)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
June 11, 2001... Total Passengers by Airline at Warwick's T. F. Green Airport Airline Yr to Date '01 Yr to Date '00 Air Ontario 10,091 8,874 Allegheny (US Air Express) ...

Commitment To Quality And Service Shape Firm's Growth.(Custom Built Window and Door Systems)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
June 11, 2001... Custom Built Window and Door Systems was a small firm that manufactured only one product--the standard, triple-track aluminum storm window-when it was founded in 1961. Today, this Warwick-based firm is one of the largest manufacturers of...

Dome Publishing: Providing Support For Over 60 Years.(Dome Publishing Company Inc.)(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
June 11, 2001... Dome Publishing, the number one manufacturer of record keeping books for home and office, has flourished over the years because it's kept up with the times. It's not only met the demand of a growing client base, it's also created a separate...

Accurate Molded Products Expands Operations, Adds New Tool Shop to Production Facility.(Brief Article)(Company Profile)
June 11, 2001... Accurate Molded Products (AMP), one of New England's leading precision injection molding companies, has expanded production operations. The company has added a machine tool shop to its existing manufacturing facilities. The shop houses the...

Interplex Metal Moves Corporate Headquarters to Warwick.(Massachusetts)(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... Interplex Metals, which specializes in reel to reel electroplating and precision metal skiving, moved its corporate headquarters to Warwick in April. Its new headquarters are located on Jefferson Boulevard, near the Greenwood Inn. Two Cookson...

Hospitality Industry Continues To Boom in Warwick.(Massachusetts)(Statistical Data Included)
June 11, 2001... It's no secret that the hospitality industry in Warwick is booming. Rhode Island seems to have enough hotel space to serve all the travelers seeking temporary lodging in the state. That's why national chains see Warwick as a prime site for...

Kearflex To Expand Operations in the Next Five Years.(Kearflex Engineering Co.)(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... Companies who become successful world-class manufacturers sometimes tend to rest on their laurels, but not Kearflex Engineering, the Warwick manufacturer of precision ins trumentation and metallic diaphragm assemblies. This ISO 9001-approved...

RIEAC Receives Trade Development's Highest Award.(Rhode Island Export Assistance Center)(Brief Article)
June 11, 2001... The Rhode Island Export Assistance Center (RIEAC) at Bryant College recently received he country's highest award for International trade development-he President's "E" award for Excellence in Export Service. The "E" Award was created in...

EXECUTIVE POLL.(survey on insurance rates)(Brief Article)(Polling Data)(Statistical Data Included)
June 11, 2001... QUESTION: Last week we ran a news story quoting a Boston consultant who completed his insurance outlook survey, suggesting that insurance rates -- including health care, workers' compensation, property, and directors and officers -- will rise...

Cost of business insurance going up?
June 4, 2001... As if rising fuel and related energy costs were not enough of a burden, it appears that small businesses in New En gland are facing sharp in creases in commercial insurance rates. A report by Marsh, Inc., of Boston, has found rates for...

Sewage overflow tunnel work has begun.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... Construction on the Narragansett Bay Commission's $550 million combined sewer overflow project, among the largest construction projects in Rhode Island's history, has begun. Only weeks after receiving approval for phase one of the project...

French firm shifts focus.(Neurotech USA)(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... Neurotech targets eye disease When the former CytoTherapeutics Inc. fled Rhode Island for California in 1999, it left behind what many thought was a dead idea: encapsulated-cell technology. But an announcement last week by Neurotech...

Bacou USA to merge with French company.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 4, 2001... Workplace safety equipment maker Bacou USA, of Smithfield, and its majority owner, Bacou SA, have agreed to merge with the trench protective eyewear company Christian Dalloz SA. The merger, according to Bacou, will be achieved through a...

State's college savings plan benefits from tax revisions.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... General Treasurer Paul J. Tavares and the Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Authority have announced that CollegeBoundfund, Rhode Island's 529 college savings plan, now has added incentives for families saving for their children's...

Visions are clear; applications awaited.(the future for business in Providence)(Panel Discussion)
June 4, 2001... Is there a vision in place - a blueprint, so to speak - for long-term prosperity in Rhode Is land? The answer from a mix of leaders from Rhode Island's business, education and arts communities brought together by the Providence Business...

Low pay draining libraries of skilled professionals.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 4, 2001... America needs librarians. Low salaries and the fact that experienced librarians are retiring is creating job vacancies that many public libraries are having difficulty filling, both nationally and locally. "Librarianship is impacted...

Heritage Harbor on schedule, gaining speed.(Interview)
June 4, 2001... Heritage Harbor now represents a consortium of 19 organizations renovating the former South Street power plant of the Narragansett Electric Company. Expected to open in late 2003, the new museum will be the latest and largest of new...

VNA sees profit by 2003 with reorganization plan.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... Agency to focus on Medicare, Medicaid patients The Visiting Nurse Association of Rhode Island plans to climb out of debt and turn a profit within 18 months as a result of its major restructuring announced last week. Rhode Island's...

McNamara of Warwick urges new look at alternative fuels.(Joseph M. McNamara)
June 4, 2001... A Warwick legislator is looking to clean up the air around T.F. Green Airport. The good news, according to Rep. Joseph M. McNamara, a Democrat, is that gasoline supplies are up and prices are creeping back down. The bad news, he...

Development banks mixed.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... Local bankers can't seem to agree about the short-term potential of the Rhode Island development market. Some institutions, like Fleet Financial, say they fear the area may be approaching an overheated state, with too many vacant offices...

Free market rattles health care.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... With two Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) already competing with Blue Cross/Blue Shield here and five more awaiting state approval to begin business, the fight for health insurance dollars in Rhode Island is about to heat up. ...

Bracing for summer's tourism boom.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... If the number of people inquiring about travel this summer in Rhode Is land is any indication, this could be the big year for tourism many have been predicting. "We're ahead, way ahead of last year," said Ted Metcalf, of the state...

Affordable housing is Fannie Mae's goal.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... Fannie Mae thinks globally and acts locally. An example of this is the organization's recent $3 billion investment plan to finance affordable housing for 24,000 Rhode Island families. Deborah Holmes, vice president of housing and...

Advertisers find money, business in the banks.(Arnold Worldwide, Citizens Bank)(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... Bank advertising has picked up this spring. Nearly four months after announcing that Boston advertising agency Arnold Worldwide was awarded its advertising account, Providence-based Citizens Bank is airing the products of that...

R.I. business seeks improved efficiency with 'turn around' idea.(Rhode Island)(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... Getting products from the shop floor to the hands of customers in the shortest amount of time, and with the lowest price tag is a recipe many of the state's manufacturers are trying to perfect And one local organization is aiming to help. ...

Built on stone, his business is never dull.(A-Stone)(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... Company: A-Stone Location: 230 Morgan Avenue, Johnston Owner: Paula AbatecolaCorsi Employees: 10 Type of business: Natural stone retailer and supplier Annual revenues: WND Walk the Johnston yard of A-Stone with...

Process Construction to renovate East Greenwich building.(Process Construction Management Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... Process Construction Management Inc. has been selected to be the construction management firm on a renovation project located on Main Street in its home town of East Greenwich. The project includes the renovation of the building, owned by...

South Coast Properties opens New Bedford office.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... SouthCoast Properties, Inc. a real investment and management company announced the opening of South Coast Office Share in the Cherry Building in New Bedford's Historic District. "We started South Coast Office Share in the Cherry Building...

Farmers, small business owners benefit from tax reductions.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... U.S. Sen. Christopher S. Bond cheered the Senate's passage of the "Relief Act of 2001," calling the broad-based rate reductions it contains a "a lifeline for the nation's small businesses and farmers" and the death tax repeal "an antidote...

New rules Closing doors to phone service slammers.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... If your phone service -- local or long distance -- has been switched to a different carrier without your consent, you've been "slammed." The good news is that new, more stringent rules are in place to protect consumers. And nationally,...

Communication seen as key to education reform.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... Communication between communities, businesspeople and educators may be the key to true educational reform in the Ocean State. Two recent events -- Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Peter McWalters' address to the...

Online a bizarre bazaar, can also be intrusive, dangerous.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... From the merely irritating to the truly dangerous, there are tons of annoyances online: letters promoting "gas outs," mailings promising gift certificates to your favorite stores or offering the famous Neiman-Marcus Cookie recipe - and the...

Czech Republic.(Statistical Data Included)
June 4, 2001... Tariffs, Trade, Taxes, Trademarks Economic Data 1999, in $US] Total GDP: Purchasing power parity = $120.8 billion GDP Growth:-0.5% Per Capita GDP: $11,700 purchasing power parity Inflation Rate: 2.5% Trade Balance:...

Ibis Consulting featured at conference.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... PROVIDENCE -- David Baldwin, director of technology at Ibis Consulting, which provides data-to-image packaging of electronic discovery, will serve as part of an expert panel on cost-burden issues in electronic discovery next Monday (June 11)...

FiberCore receives $55 million in contracts.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... CHARLTON, Mass. (Bloomberg) -- FiberCore Inc., the maker of optical fiber for telecommunications cables whose shares have risen 51 percent this year, said it received contracts from North American customers valued at a minimum of $55 million....

EMC Corp. to eliminate 1,100 jobs, or 4% of workforce.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... HOPKINTON, Mass. (Bloomberg) -- EMC Corp.; the largest maker of corporate computer-data storage systems, will fire about 1,100 employees, or 4 percent of its workforce, to pare costs as corporations slow purchases. EMC, whose staff has...

Healthcare Automation completes first assessment.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... WARWICK -- Healthcare Automation (HAI) has hired the Beacon Partners consulting firm to provide the company's first audit, reviewing its software and business processes. The result of the audit provided HAI with feedback as it develops...

Heartlab program installed in California.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... WESTERLY -- Heartlab, Inc. reports that Valley Children's Hospital in Madera, California has installed the company's new Encompass cardiac network technology. The Encompass system's ability store and retrieve image data and related findings...

availability.com launches site.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... PROVIDENCE -- availability.com, an online digest providing information related to running a business, officially launched last week. The site, funded by the West Kingston-based American Power Conversion, is a clearinghouse of information...

Cisco instructors honored.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... WARWICK -- On May 3, Atrion Networking Corporation and the Information Technology Academy (ITA) hosted a Teacher Appreciation Day to honor Cisco Academy instructors from high schools from around the state. The host for the event was Dr. Peter...

Inverness selling glucose monitoring to Johnson & Johnson.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... WALTHAM -- In a stock switch that will result in the creation of a new, debt-free company, Inverness Medical Technology is selling its glucose monitoring business to Johnson & Johnson for a reported $1.33 billion in stock. According to the...

Ex-chief executive of Lernout & Hauspie arrested.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... WINCHESTER -- Gaston Bastiens, 54, former chief executive officer of Lernout & Bastiens Speech Products NV was at his home here in Winchester when he was arrested on a Belgian warrant alleging fraud and other charges. He was held in a Boston...

Democratic U.S. Congressman Joe Moakley dies at 74.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
June 4, 2001... WASHINGTON (Bloomberg) -- Joe Moakley, who represented parts of Boston and its southern suburbs in the U.S. House of Representatives for 30 years, died last week of complications from leukemia, U.S. Representative Jim McGovern announced....

Realtors urge restoration of rent escrow law.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... WALTHAM - The Massachusetts Association of Realtors is urging support for a bill filed in the state House of Representatives that would restore the mandatory rent escrow process. The bill filed on behalf of the association would require...

Raytheon's business jet certified by FAA.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... LEXINGTON -- Raytheon Co. announced its Premier I business jet has been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration. The six-passenger jet that would be flown by a single pilot has a range of 1,430 nautical miles. It would compete with...

Anika Therapeutics reaches agreement to settle law suit.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... WOBURN (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Anika Therapeutics Inc. last week reached an agreement to settle the consolidated putative securities class action law-suit pending in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts against Anika...

Tiffany opens Cumberland facility.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... CUMBERLAND -- Tiffany & Co., headquartered in New York City and among the nation's leading jewelry manufacturers, last week officially, opened a 100,000 square foot manufacturing center here, on a 22 acre site in Highland Corporate Park....

APC shareholders to debate diversity.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- When American Power Conversion shareholders gather later this week June 7) in APC's offices here for the company's annual meeting it will again debate a shareholder proposal that seeks more diversity on the APC Board of...

State to get $2.7 million from justice program.(Office of Justice Programs award for Rhode Island)(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs has awarded Rhode Island $2.78 million to improve criminal justice systems in the state and help community safety programs. The award comes from the Edward Byrne...

Sovereign Bank opens office at University Heights.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... PROVIDENCE - Sovereign Bank has opened its University Heights office, the first bank it has built in the state. Sovereign, based in Pennsylvania, acquired several BankBoston branch offices after the Fleet-BankBoston merger last year. The bank...

Eye surgeon honored by national society.(American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons honors Paul S. Koch, M.D.)(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons honored Paul S. Koch, M.D. recently by selecting his paper from more than a thousand submitted as the Best Paper of Session at the society's annual convention here....

Trinity Rep endowment under R.I. Foundation's care.(Rhode Island Foundation to manage Trinity Repertory Company fund)(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... PROVIDENCE - The Trinity Repertory Company has established a new endowment fund and placed it under the management of the Rhode Island Foundation. The fund is called the Foundation for Trinity Repertory Company. With the elimination of its...

Sheehan announces TV campaign against port.(Sen. James C. Sheehan opposes construction of mega-container port)(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... PROVIDENCE -- Sen. James C. Sheehan, D-North Kingstown, has announced he is opening a TV advertising campaign against the construction of a "mega-container port" on Narragansett Bay. Senator Sheehan and the Ocean State Defense League, an...

Astronics Unit agrees to sell cockpit parts to Textron.(Cessna Aircraft Co.)(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... BUFFALO, N.Y. (Bloomberg) -- Astronics Corp., which has a contract to make night-vision lighting for the U.S. Air Force's F-16 jet, agreed to sell cockpit-lighting components to Textron Inc.'s Cessna Aircraft Co. The value of the four-year...

Rhode Island Stock Watch.(Statistical Data Included)
June 4, 2001... Stockwatch Index May 29, 2001 1126.29 DOWN 33.55 (-2.89%) DOWN Dow Jones: 1139.14 218.10 (-1.94%) S&P 500: 1267.93 41.45 (-3.17%) NASDAQ: 2175.54 138.31 (-5.98%) Russell 2000:...

Greenspan's head-in-sand approach to inflation.
June 4, 2001... NEW YORK -- One of the issues the markets and central bankers are wrestling with right now is inflation, or the lack thereof. Some market-based indicators suggest that inflation future is going to be more of a threat than inflation past...

Corporate Profile.(Brief Article)(Company Profile)(Statistical Data Included)
June 4, 2001... APC[TM] AMERICAN POWER CONVERSION 132 Fairgrounds Road West Kingston, RI 02892 401-789-5735; fax 401-788-2712 e-mail: investorrelations@apcc.com Employees: 7,350 American Power Conversion, which designs, develops,...

Jobs exist, but some nurses might not want them.(nurses laid off following Visiting Nurse Association of Rhode Island restructure)(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... With the severe shortage of nurses plaguing Rhode Island's health-care providers, logic would follow that the 70-plus nurses recently laid off by the state's largest home-care agency wouldn't have much trouble finding jobs. But the...

Editorials.(living wage)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
June 4, 2001... Training not handouts There is no one who has argued in opposition to the living wage proposal that has denied that it is difficult, if not impossible, for a family to live comfortably on the wages of someone working in a menial job,...

Nature may not replenish the work of mankind.(conserving forests)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 4, 2001... The smell of the fires seemed to be everywhere, a haze in the night air, a burning in our eyes. We were not used to what Floridians are becoming accustomed to, brush fires that have been fueled by the lack of rain that now involve some...

You can't do it all, so get (or train) help.(Brief Article)
June 4, 2001... "There is nothing I enjoy so much as a good fight," Franklin Roosevelt liked to say. His presidency gave him more than his share of good fights to enjoy. Yet, the man who faced down the Great Depression and the Axis powers - the man who told...

A plea to make earned income tax credit refundable.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
June 4, 2001... Rhode Island's current state and local tax system is unfair to our poorest working families, at a time when the number of children in poverty is increasing. One remedy for this situation would be for the General Assembly to enact pending...

Correspondence.
June 4, 2001... To the editor: It is disheartening to read that some people, as well as the Providence Business News, are adamantly against a living wage. Why is it that we have come to expect some people to work full time - and sometimes two and three...