SMITHFIELD — Bryant University named Donna Ng its new vice president for business affairs and chief financial officer after a national search.
Ng will begin her term Oct. 3, 2022 after working as the vice president for finance and administration at Skidmore College. She will serve on the university’s leadership team and have a vital role in advancing initiatives of Bryant’s Vision 2030 Strategic Plan.
Paul Salem, a senior managing director emeritus at Providence Equity Partners, has been named chair of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s board of trustees.
Salem, a Rhode Island resident, will transition into the role officially on Jan. 1, taking over for David Scully, who has served as the board chair for the past seven years.
“I am humbled by the opportunity to serve with the leadership of WHOI and the Board of Trustees,” Salem said. “This role will combine my passion for the ocean with the opportunity to work with the amazing scientists and engineers at WHOI to remain a world leader in protecting and saving our oceans.”
Salem served for 28 years as a senior managing director at Providence Equity Partners, a global private equity firm specializing in the media and communication industries. While at Providence, he helped grow Providence’s assets under management from $171 million to over $50 billion. He also serves as chairman of MGM Resorts International.
Salem is the former chairman of the board of Year Up, a nonprofit focusing on closing the opportunity divide for low-income young adults. And he is a board member of Edesia Global Nutrition, a social enterprise that treats acute nutrition around the globe.
Salem is a graduate of Brown University and received a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. He is now enrolled in the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative, focusing on climate change and the oceans.
“Trustee leadership speaks to a special connection to the institution and its mission,” WHOI President and Director Peter de Menocal said. “It is an honor and privilege to have Paul join our community, filling the shoes of David Scully. Paul is a remarkable leader with a deep commitment to making a difference. I am certain he will help WHOI achieve new levels of leadership.”
Woonsocket-based CVS Health may acquire Signify Health Inc. in order to expand into the home-health services market, according to the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
Signify Health is also looking to strategic alternatives, including a sale.
“Initial bids are due this coming week and CVS is planning to enter one, some of the people said. Others also are in the mix, they said, and CVS could face competition from other managed-care providers and private-equity firms,” the report by the Wall Street Journal said.
Signify’s shares rose more than 18 percent in premarket trading Monday after reports of CVS’s potential acquisition.
Wall Street has largely focused on CVS’s efforts to add primary-care practices and doctors to its payroll, though executives have also discussed their ambitions to expand its in-home health presence,” reported the Wall Street Journal.
Gannett Co., the parent company that owns and operates the Providence Journal, Newport Daily News, and several other local newspapers, reported a $53.7 million loss in the second quarter on Thursday, a decrease from a $14.7 million profit in 2021.
The company, which operates publications in 45 states and has some operations in the United Kingdom, also sent a solemn email to staff that showed layoffs were on the way.
Media division head Maribel Perez Wadsworth warned of these layoffs in the “coming days” and wrote in an email “we will … be making necessary but painful reductions to staffing, eliminating some open positions and roles that will impact valued colleagues.”
Gannett’s stock fell another 28.5 percent after already being down by 45 percent this year.
Mike Reed, Gannett’s CEO and chairman who earned $7.74 million in 2021, told analysts on a call that digital advertising fell below expectations as companies reduced their schedule, both print circulation and print advertising were “off more than expected,”labor shortages and expenses are rising, the cost of newsprint is up by 31 percent, and inflation and “economy uncertainty” is not expected to improve.
“We are not satisfied with our overall performance in the second quarter,” Reed said in a release. Later on Thursday during a company earnings call he said, “Like many companies across many industries, we experienced a very challenging second quarter resulting from the difficult economic environment and rising pressures on the consumer.”
“Our weakening consumer demand led to larger-than-expected decline in print subscription revenues, effectively pulling forward expected print revenue losses,” he continued.
However, Reed claimed that Gannett has grown its number of paid digital-only subscribers and the revenue they generate by 35 percent over the last year.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Bally’s Corporation on Thursday reported second-quarter net income of $59.5 million.
On a per-share basis, the Providence, Rhode Island-based company said it had net income of 98 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to 32 cents per share.
The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 25 cents per share.
The hotel casino operator posted revenue of $552.5 million in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $601.9 million.
Bally’s expects full-year revenue in the range of $2.2 billion to $2.3 billion.
Bally’s shares have dropped 40% since the beginning of the year. The stock has dropped 52% in the last 12 months.
WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health Corporation on Wednesday reported second-quarter net income of $2.95 billion.
“Despite a challenging economic environment, our differentiated business model helped drive strong results this quarter, with significant revenue growth across all of our business segments,” said Karen S. Lynch, Woonsocket-based CVS Health president and CEO, in a statement.
The company paid down $1.5 billion of long-term debt, while returning $740 million to shareholders through dividends during the three months ended June 30.
The Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based company said it had net income of $2.23 per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $2.40 per share.
The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.16 per share.
The drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager posted revenue of $80.64 billion in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $76.57 billion.
CVS Health expects full-year earnings in the range of $8.40 to $8.60 per share.
CVS Health Corporation announced Wednesday that the company saw total revenues increases to $80.6 billion for the three months that ended on June 30, which is an increase of 11 percent compared to 2021. Total revenues increased to $157.5 billion for the year.
CVS also enrolled six million active users on the company’s individualized “Health Dashboard” since its launch earlier this year. CVS has also expanded free health screenings in support of community health partners as part of the company’s “commitment to advancing health equity.”
This report also included content from the Associated Press.
The Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corporation’s board members voted to name Channavy Chhay as their next Chair effective immediately, the organization announced Wednesday.
Chhay has served as the executive director of the Center for Southeast Asians in Providence since 2011. She is the first woman of color to serve as RIHEBC board chair.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Textron Inc. (TXT) on Thursday reported second-quarter profit of $217 million.
On a per-share basis, the Providence, Rhode Island-based company said it had net income of $1.
The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 88 cents per share.
The maker of Cessna small planes and Bell helicopters posted revenue of $3.15 billion in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $3.23 billion.
Textron expects full-year earnings to be $3.80 to $4 per share.
For the third year in a row, The Miriam Hospital was recognized as the top hospital in Rhode Island in U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-23 Best Hospitals report that was released Tuesday. The Miriam, which is owned and operated by Lifespan Corp., has been a teaching hospital for The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
The Miriam earned this same honor in 2020 and 2021.
U.S. News also ranked The Miriam as the top hospital in the Providence metro area, which includes Providence, Pawtucket, Fall River, and New Bedford. It also gave the hospital a ““high performing” ranking or distinction for its care and treatment in nine conditions and adult specialty areas, which includes hip and knee replacements, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (typically known as COPD), colon cancer surgery, heart failure, heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and diabetes.
The Miriam Hospital in Providence appointed Dr. Vanzetta James as its new senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer. James comes to The Miriam with over 20 years nursing leadership experience in magnet, teaching, and academic medical centers, spokeswoman Kathleen Hart announced Monday.
James most recently served as the senior vice president and chief nursing officer at University of Maryland Capital Region Health. There, she was responsible for the overall nursing practice in the inpatient, emergency, perioperative, procedural, and ambulatory settings. She also helped put together a quarterly nursing publication.
James earned her doctor of nursing practice degree from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT. She is also a member of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, Sigma Theta Tau, and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership.
Blount Boats Inc., a Warren-based shipyard, will receive a $937,933 federal grant to buy equipment that will improve its material-handling efficiency, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration said Friday.
The grant is part of $19.6 million in grant awards to 24 small shipyards in 19 states that the department said would help awardees “modernize, increase productivity, and expand local employment opportunities while competing in the global marketplace.” With its own slice of funding, Blount Boats will be able to buy a telehandler, two three-ton overhead cranes, a forklift and four scissor lifts.
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the American economy, and small shipyards play a critical role in America’s maritime industry, helping us get the goods we depend on every day,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a news release.
Blount Boats, founded in 1949, is a full-service shipyard that designs, constructs and repairs steel and aluminum vessels up to 220 feet, according to its website. Its work includes building vessels used in the offshore wind industry.
US Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo announced Tuesday that the department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $3.2 million grant to the city of Woonsocket to support business expansion, workforce development, and entrepreneurship efforts designed to boost the retail food sector.
The project will facilitate the acquisition and conversion of an existing facility for use as a public market by retail food businesses and will support workforce development and technical assistance that will “drive the growth of the retail food sector,” according to a press release.
This grant is funded by the American Rescue Plan’s Economic Adjustment Assistance program, which makes $500 million in economic assistance grants available to various communities.
“This project will strengthen Woonsocket’s local food system while simultaneously supporting the diversification of the local economy,” said Raimondo, the former governor of Rhode Island, in a statement.
The $3 billion program funding will be awarded on a rolling basis through September 30, 2022.
PAWTUCKET (AP) — Hasbro Inc. (HAS) on Tuesday reported second-quarter net income of $142 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.
The Pawtucket-based company said it had net income of $1.02 per share. Earnings, adjusted for amortization costs and costs related to mergers and acquisitions, were $1.15 per share.
The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 88 cents per share.
The toy maker posted revenue of $1.34 billion in the period, missing Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.38 billion.
The Warren Alpert Foundation announced Monday a $1 million pledge over five years to help Crossroads Rhode Island create an innovative health and housing facility for medically vulnerable adults experiencing homelessness.
When complete, this new facility is expected to provide 36 permanent supportive apartments, laundry, common areas, a healing garden and parking for medically vulnerable adults who are experiencing homelessness.
Pre-development work for this project is currently underway. It will be funded through a mix of public and private money. According to Karen Santilli, Crossroads’ CEO, the provider’s new health and housing facility will be located on Pine Street in Providence, close to the non-profit’s headquarters.
“Study after study shows that access to stable and affordable housing leads to better health outcomes,” said Santilli. “Ultimately, this innovative facility will allow us to create healthier communities by giving people the stable housing and support they need to heal, address chronic health conditions and lead more independent lives.”
Arthur S. Robbins was appointed chair emeritus of the HopeHealth Board of Directors after more than four decades as a board member, the company announced Monday.
Robbins helped launch the Rhode Island Holocaust Museum, the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the first charter school in Rhode Island. He has served on more than 20 civic and nonprofit boards, including HopeHealth’s.
At HopeHealth, Robbins led fundraising campaigns that helped build the facility’s first inpatient unit, the Hulitar Hospice Center, which opened in 1993.
“Arthur Robbins has been an absolute champion for end-of-life care in this community,” said HopeHealth president and CEO Diana Franchitto. “Through our inpatient hospice center alone, he has helped bring compassion and dignity to thousands of patients in their final days, and to their loved ones. That legacy will only grow.”
The board of directors, led by Keith Kelly as chair, named Robbins chair emeritus at a special ceremony at the end of June.
The University of Rhode Island’s ocean engineering program has been accepted into the U.S. Department of Energy’s Testing Expertise and Access for Marine Energy Research program, which is also known as TEAMER. The acceptance will allow companies to take advantage of the university’s research facilities and expertise — without a fee.
TEAMER will reimburse URI for research that costs up to $150,000 per project.
The program is focused on marine energy, which is a renewable power that is harnessed from the natural movement of water, like ocean waves, tides, rivers, and ocean currents.
“Companies can test a device at URI that is designed to extract these types of energy,” said URI professor Reza Hashemi in a statement. “For instance, a company can build a scaled model of a tidal energy device in URI’s wave-current flume to study how much energy can be extracted or how wave loads affect the performance of the device.
“There is great potential to employ graduate students, along with the technicians at URI, to operate and perform the required experiments and analyze the data,” said Hashemi. “This will provide a great opportunity for students to work directly on research and development with marine renewable energy companies.”
Dr. Jared Anderson, an emergency medicine physician at Rhode Island and The Miriam hospitals, was elected to the emergency medicine specialty steering board for Epic this week.
Epic is an electronic health record software used by academic medical centers, community hospitals, and other health care providers across the U.S. and world.
The steering board advises on clinician needs in “retrieval and storage of electronic health records, and provides user experience feedback on Epic software,” which are all designed to improve patient care and outcomes.
More than 250 million patients have a current electronic record in Epic.
Mark Orris of North Providence, R.I. has been appointed the new executive director of inpatient services by Spectrum Health Systems, a Worcester, Mass.-based addiction treatment provider.
Orris will join Spectrum with more than 20 years of experience and will be in charge of the development, implementation, and control of Spectrum’s budgeting and plans, according to a company spokeswoman.
US Senator Jack Reed announced Friday a new $12 million federal grant for Rhode Island Housing to finance the development, construction, and preservation of affordable housing. These funds will help attract additional private and public investment to develop and finance affordable housing projects, according to Reed’s office.
Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, helped create the Capital Magnet Fund in 2008, which was designed to support community development financial institutions and non-profit housing developers that increase investment in affordable housing and economic development activities or community service facilities, like daycare centers or other workforce development centers.
This new grant through the Capital Magnet Fund from the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund build on the $16.6 million that Rhode Island Housing received in years prior through the Fund.
“Rhode Islanders need homes they can afford, and every dollar of financing received goes a long way to ensuring families have a roof over their heads, individuals working in the construction and allied fields remain employed, neighborhoods are revitalized, and our state is made stronger,” said Carol Ventura, executive director of RIHousing. “We are very grateful to Senator Reed for his leadership and commitment to providing solutions to the challenges we are facing.”
Rhode Island Housing was one of 59 organizations across the country to be selected by the Treasury. A total of $336.4 million through the program was administered.
“We must continue working together to expand affordable and sustainable housing opportunities,” said Reed in a statement. “In this challenging housing market, it is essential that we build more affordable housing and this federal funding will help attract essential housing investments.”
The Capital Magnet Fund requires recipients, such as Rhode Island Housing, to leverage at least $10 of housing and economic development investments for every $1 of federal funds.
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Gov. Dan McKee on Wednesday signed legislation into law that requires the state’s dominant electric utility to get 600 to 1,000 megawatts of offshore wind power for the state’s electric grid.Rhode Island Energy will have to issue the procurement by Oct. 15 this year under the legislation, which was sponsored by state Sen. Dawn Euer, D-Newport and Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Cranston.
”Adding offshore wind clean energy capacity is essential for meeting our new 100 percent renewable energy by 2033 goal and our Act on Climate emissions reductions target,” McKee said in a news release touting the new law, which he signed at Quonset Point.
The electricity from this procurement could power about 340,000 homes a year, McKee’s office said. It would meet about 30 percent of the state’s 2030 energy demand.
There are several offshore wind power projects in the development pipeline off Rhode Island, which was the home to the nation’s first demonstration project, the Block Island wind farm.
The legislation would allow the Public Utilities Commission to decide whether Rhode Island Energy will receive a payment of up to 1 percent of the contract amount under the deal. — BRIAN AMARAL
SMITHFIELD, R.I. — More than 92 percent of workers at Bally’s Twin River Casino voted in favor of authorizing a strike late Tuesday6/28 night. If the union and the casino do not reach an agreement when they meet Wednesday, 6/29 the workers could go on strike as soon as their contract expires on Friday, the union said in a press release.7/1
The workers, who began bargaining with the casino on June 24, are demanding that the company increase staffing, offer more full-time schedules, and increase wages to match the rising costs of living.
Mike Ritz, the executive director of Leadership Rhode Island (or LRI), has accepted a new position at Gallup, a global analytics firm in Washington, DC. There, he will lead the company’s strategic effort as the executive director of a new government leadership institute.
Michelle Carr, LRI’s deputy director, will take over as Ritz’s place.
“I can confidently depart knowing Michelle Carr, our Deputy Director, is more than ready to take over. We have worked in tandem for almost eight years, growing and evolving LRI. She is the perfect person to lift this organization to new heights,” said Ritz.
Congressman David N. Cicilline announced a $350,000 federal investment that will support a new workforce and professional development program for approximately 530 low-to-moderate income East Providence adults.
Program participants will enroll in certification coursework through Roger Williams University, which will be geared towards improving employment opportunities by “cultivating industry-specific, computer, and leadership skills.”
Cicilline’s office said he secured this funding in the omnibus spending bill for Fiscal Year 2022. The program is one of 10 community project funding requests that he made to the Appropriations Committee. All ten of the Congressman’s recommended projects were funded.
More Rhode Island business news.
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.
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