PBN March 19-April 1, 2021

PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS

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CELEBRATING

5Q

35 YEARS: 1986-2021

Carol Hagan McEntee | 4

MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021

SOMETHING NEW

Chibi’s Choice Pet Grooming & Supply | 6

YOUR SOURCE FOR BUSINESS NEWS IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND | VOL. 35, NO. 46 | $5

CORONAVIRUS CRISIS Homebuilders discover tech can be handy tool

TIED IN KNOTS

BY CASSIUS SHUMAN | Shuman@PBN.com

BEFORE THE COVID-19 pandemic, when custom homebuilder Jeff Sweenor reviewed blueprints and spending plans with his clients, it was sometimes a haphazard task.

First, clients – many of whom live out of state – would need to travel to Sweenor’s South Kingstown office.

Then meetings were conducted with the builders and the clients huddled around a table, scrutinizing budgets and complex plans for homes often valued at more than $1 million.

The pandemic has changed that.

FOCUS:

CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN

SEE HOMEBUILDERS PAGE 19

They do? They don’t? Struggling wedding industry awaits bridal party decisions

BY MARY MACDONALD | MacDonald@PBN.com

PLANNING ONE LAST THING

Anthony J. Mangiarelli Let optimism be your guide | 30

a destination wedding can be stressful, but what Michele Armento has been through for the last year goes far beyond that.

The New Jersey resident’s dream of having a wedding in ritzy Newport seemed within reach when she secured a May 2020 date for a glamorous reception overlooking Newport Harbor at Regatta Place on Goat Island.

Then the pandemic arrived.

First, Armento and her fiancé postponed the nuptials for seven months, thinking their outdoor venue would be safe for a large gathering by then. But soon Rhode Island appeared on New Jersey’s travel ban list, making the state off-limits to Armento and her guests. They rescheduled again, this time to May 23 of this year.

SEE WEDDINGS

PLAYING IT SAFE: A wedding industry group, in collaboration with R.I. Commerce Corp., held a mock wedding in January at OceanCliff in Newport, to demonstrate how to hold a ceremony and reception that follows COVID-19 protocols.

COURTESY SARA ZARRELLA PHOTOGRAPHY

PAGE 12

APPLICATION DEADLINE APPROACHING: MARCH 24 For more information turn to page 23

CONTENTS

PBN

COVER STORY TIED IN KNOTS They do? They don’t? Struggling wedding industry awaits bridal party decisions..................................1

400 Westminster St. Providence, RI 02903

FOR STARTERS Business Bestsellers............................................................. 3 5Q: Carol Hagan McEntee..................................................... 4 Dining Out: ‘Ghost kitchen’ sightings................................... 5 Spotlight: APAC Tool Inc....................................................... 6 Something New: Chibi’s Choice Pet Grooming & Supply................................ 6 Hot Topic: Cities join forces to combat ATVs......................................... 7 Health Matters: Helping those in recovery find a safe place to go............... 8 Nonprofit in Action: Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island........................................ 9 What’s Happening................................................................ 10 Who Owns the Block?

Smith Street, North Kingstown............................................16

Main Phone: 401-273-2201 Subscription Services: 855-813-5805

SPOTLIGHT | 6

President & Publisher: Roger C. Bergenheim 680-4848 | Publisher@PBN.com

ADVERTISING Advertising@PBN.com Fax: 401-274-0270

Director of Sales and Marketing: Annemarie Brisson, 680-4800 Marketing and Events Manager: Donna Rofino, 680-4832 Marketing, Events & Social Media Coordinator: Tracy Hoyt, 680-4818

ANOTHER LOOK R.I. solar firms poised for rebound......................................17 Are states of emergency still needed?................................17

Senior Account Managers: Linda Foster, 680-4812 Jim Hanrahan, 680-4816

IT’S PERSONAL People in the News.............................................................. 24 Mackay’s Moral.................................................................... 26 To Savor: Jessica Norris Granatiero.................................. 27 Editorials and Opinion......................................................... 28 One Last Thing: Anthony J. Mangiarelli.............................30

Advertising Coordinator: Joyce Rylander, 680-4810

NONPROFIT IN ACTION | 9

EDITORIAL Editor@PBN.com Fax: 401-274-0670

FOCUS: CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN

Editor: Michael Mello, 680-4820

Homebuilders discover tech can be handy tool

Managing Editor: William Hamilton, 680-4826

Homebuilding companies are taking advantage of technology such as 3D cameras and Zoom videoconferencing to not only survive but thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic.............................................1

Web Editor: Chris Bergenheim, 680-4886 Copy Editor: Matt Bower, 680-4824

R.I.’s Gilbane reaches 150-year milestone Gilbane Inc. is celebrating 150 years in business, and with about 1,000 potential contracts across the U.S., the commercial builder is optimistic about the post-COVID-19 future...........................................18

Lists General Contractors..............................................................21 Commercial & Industrial Services Companies.................. 22

Special Projects Editor/Researcher: James Bessette, 680-4838 Bessette@PBN.com (EDUCATION, NONPROFITS)

Staff Writers: Nancy Lavin, 680-4822 Lavin@PBN.com

FOCUS: CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | 18

(ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, FINANCIAL SERVICES)

Mary MacDonald, 680-4830 MacDonald@PBN.com (HEALTH CARE, MANUFACTURING, REAL ESTATE/DEVELOPMENT)

THIS WEEK’S FEATURED COMPANIES Amos House

8

Newport Restaurant Group

5

Angelic Affairs LLC

14

Newport Solar

17

Animal Rescue Rhode Island

24

OceanCliff

12

APAC Tool Inc.

6

Piper Brown Photography Inc.

12

Bar ’Cino

5

Pranzi Inc.

14

Bertucci’s Italian Restaurant

5

Providence Marriott Downtown

29

Chibi’s Choice Pet Grooming & Supply

6

Regatta Place

1

Discover Newport

14

Rhode Island Builders Association

19

Gilbane Inc.

18

Rhode Island Building & Construction Trades Council

18

Rhode Island Coalition of Wedding and Event Professionals

12

Rhode Island Hospitality Association

29

Green Dragon Chinese Horizon Healthcare Partners

5 8

IDC Inc.

12

Rhodes on the Pawtuxet

ISM Solar Development LLC

17

R.I. Commerce Corp.

La Vecina McEntee & McEntee Law Offices Meadow Brook Inn Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island Midtown Oyster Bar National Grid Rhode Island

5 4 14 9 5 17

WHAT’S HAPPENING? SUBMIT YOUR NEWS AT PBN.COM/PBNCONNECT/

12 14, 17, 18

R.I. Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals R.I. Department of Health

8 8

R.I. Office of Energy Resources

17

Stone House

12

Sweenor Builders Inc.

19

www.facebook.com/providencebusinessnews @provbusnews www.linkedin.com/company/providence-business-news

2 | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com

Cassius Shuman, 680-4884 Shuman@PBN.com (GOVERNMENT, HOSPITALITY/TOURISM, WORKFORCE)

PRODUCTION Production Director: Anne Ewing, 680-4860 Art Director: Lisa Lagreca, 680-4868

CIRCULATION PBN@cambeywest.com 1-855-813-5805

ADMINISTRATION Fax: 401-274-6580 Business Manager: Tammy D’Antuono, 680-4840

©2021 Providence Business News Inc.

Providence Business News is published every two weeks by Providence Business News, 400 Westminster Street, Providence, RI 02903 (USPS 002-254) (ISSN 0887-8226) Periodical postage paid at Providence, R.I. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to 400 Westminster Street, Providence, RI 02903.

FOR STARTERS

BUSINESS BESTSELLERS Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last Wright Thompson Thompson tells the story of how Julian Van Winkle III, caretaker of a Kentucky Bourbon whiskey, fought to protect his family’s heritage and preserve the taste of his forebears.

Penguin Press ISBN: 9780735221253 | $17.49

If Then: How the Simulmatics Corporation Invented the Future Jill Lepore Lepore recounts the history of the Simulmatics Corp., which mined data of consumers decades before Facebook, Google and Cambridge Analytica.

Liveright; Illustrated edition ISBN: 9781631496103 | $21.53

Boom and Bust: A Global History of Financial Bubbles William Quinn and John D. Turner The authors chronicle the history of financial bubbles and provide information about why bubbles happen, and why some have consequences, while others have benefited society.

Money for Nothing:

The Scientists, Fraudsters, and Corrupt Politicians Who Reinvented Money, Panicked a Nation, and Made the World Rich Thomas Levenson Levenson chronicles when the scientific revolution became intertwined with finance.

Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9781108421256 | $24.95

Random House ISBN: 9780812998467 | $21.99

Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity Scott Galloway

Empowered: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Products

Galloway, a New York University business professor, provides a narrative based on his analysis of who he thinks stands to win and who is at risk to lose in the postpandemic economic climate.

Marty Cagan and Chris Jones The authors draw on lessons learned from leaders of the top technology companies to provide a guide for navigating the product development landscape.

Portfolio ISBN: 9780593332214 | $22.50

Wiley; 1st edition ISBN: 9781119691297 | $28.50

www.pbn.com | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | 3

FOR STARTERS

5Q: Carol Hagan McEntee D-South Kingstown, R.I. House of Representatives

BY CASSIUS SHUMAN | Shuman@PBN.com

1

What are the most pressing issues you face as chairwoman of the House Small Business Committee?

Obviously, it is the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that have been absolutely devastating for our small businesses. Whether we are talking about a public health standpoint or the massive loss of income or the numerous business doors that have been shut for good, our small businesses are desperately in need of help and support right now.

2

What can lawmakers do to aid the state’s business community, which has been hard-hit during the pandemic?

The Small Business Committee will be presented with many different legislative proposals throughout the course of the legislative session, and it is our duty … to look at each and every bill with the sole purpose of determining how this will best help our small businesses.

3

Gov. Daniel J. McKee said he was interested in reducing and/ or eliminating business fees. Will your committee explore the business fee structure?

If any legislation is introduced, or if …

Gov. Daniel J. McKee includes eliminating business fees in his fiscal year 2022 budget proposal, the committee will look into it and determine if it’s

PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

4

How will your legal background inform you in shaping policy to benefit the small-business ­ ommunity? c I am an attorney and small-business owner operating a local law firm, McEntee & McEntee Law Offices in Warwick and [South Kingstown].

My legal experience and background [help] me in every aspect as a legislator, from writing new legislation to reviewing the legislation that comes before me in the various committees.

My legal background helps in determining if a policy idea is feasible and whether or not it has legal ramifications.

5

What do you see as opportunities for the small-business community, and how will your committee help bridge a path to those opportunities?

We want to give the small businesses all the information they need to apply for payroll protection programs, grants and loans to help them survive.

We also will be looking at streamlining some of the thousands of business regulations that we currently have in Rhode Island. The goal is to make the state more business friendly and to help our business community to thrive and grow. n

The goal is to make the state more business friendly and to help our business community to thrive and grow.

NAVIGATE THE GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING WORLD WITH

CONFIDENCE See how RI PTAC can help your business R I P TA C . O R G The Procurement Technical Assistance Center is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the Defense Logistics Agency

4 | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com

in the best interest of the state and our small businesses.

FOR STARTERS DINING OUT | BRUCE NEWBURY

‘Ghost kitchen’ sightings “GHOST KITCHEN” COULD BE the title of a Stephen King cookbook. It is, however, a phenomenon that was muted by the pandemic but appears to be showing signs of life.

A so-called “ghost kitchen,” which incidentally is not a term of endearment when an industry insider uses it, is a restaurant kitchen without a restaurant attached. Before COVID-19, food writers and industry analysts predicted the future of dining out would be relegated to only such facilities linked to third-party delivery services. Food would be ordered online from a well-known restaurant’s website, then delivered by an online service such as Grubhub Inc. or DoorDash Inc. An illusion would be created that the meal had come from a favorite restaurant, carried from the steamy kitchen past tables of happy diners and a lively bar. In reality, the delivery driver would have picked up the takeout package at the window of a drafty cinderblock building in a suburban industrial park. Then the pandemic hit and the concept was shelved.

Recently, some savvy operators saw an opportunity to appeal to their chefs’ creativity and excess capacity. In Rhode Island, there are three such operations. La Vecina, a Mexican street-food concept by chef Mariana Gonzalez-Trasvina, which operated as a two-week pop-up at Bar ’Cino in Newport in January, will be continuing as a ghost kitchen for the foreseeable future. The menu features a variety of tacos, snacks and desserts, all inspired by Mariana’s family’s recipes.

“The La Vecina pop-up was a really

TAKE IT AWAY: Pan-seared redfish tacos, right, and short rib tacos are available through a “ghost kitchen” called La Vecina in Newport, which offers Mexican street food by takeout or delivery only.

COURTESY ERIN MCGINN

fun experiment for our staff and our guests, and we were thrilled with the response,” said Shawn Westhoven, corporate beverage director for Newport Restaurant Group and general manager at Bar ’Cino. “We’re excited to be able to offer chef Mariana’s hand-crafted Mexican street food as a ghost kitchen concept, something that is gaining traction locally, allowing our team to flex their culinary creativity muscles during these unique times.”

Chef Gonzalez-Trasvina, originally from Mexico City, crafted an authentic menu that honors her family’s generational recipes.

Tacos are served in handmade blue corn tortillas. The menu also offers various tamales and desserts. The menu is offered for takeout and delivery only from the restaurant.

Celebrity chef Guy Fieri has jumped into the game, opening a Flavortown Kitchen operation out of the Bertucci’s Italian Restaurant in Warwick. He is not there and fans cannot dine there even if he were.

Fieri’s Flavortown menu includes cheesesteak eggrolls, buffalo wings, burgers, Cuban sandwiches, Cajun chicken alfredo, macaroni and cheese, and fried pickles.

Green Dragon Chinese is a ghost

kitchen operating on the second floor of Midtown Oyster Bar in Newport.

Proprietor Charlie Holder, whose family owns and operates several restaurants in Newport, quietly launched Green Dragon late last fall. It was a way to stretch his chefs’ culinary chops and to expand a shrunken universe, as under state mandates he was only allowed to seat a fraction of his dining room’s capacity, and he was selling all the takeout seafood he could.

Business was OK, enough to sustain the operation. Its skeleton staff was making enough of a living.

Holder, like most restaurateurs in the state, did not waste valuable time handwringing over the situation. He pivoted, developing a mass-appeal Asian menu with popular items his staff could execute such as crab rangoon, fried rice, lo mein, and what someone with a sense of humor called General Thames chicken, named after the street on which Green Dragon is located. The Green Dragon has become a hit. Many online reviewers don’t seem to notice that the Green Dragon is a virtual restaurant. They report in their reviews that they are directed to the address of the Midtown Oyster Bar to pick up Chinese food and accept it without question.

There does not appear to be any sign the trend will let up after we emerge from the pandemic. n Bruce Newbury’s radio show and podcast, “Dining Out with Bruce Newbury,” is broadcast on WADK 1540 AM and several radio stations throughout New England. Email him at Bruce@BruceNewbury.com.

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FOR STARTERS SOMETHING NEW

POOCH PASSION: Former graphic designer Aldo Abreu, left, now uses his expertise to groom pets after opening Chibi’s Choice Pet Grooming & Supply in East Providence with his wife, Megan, right.

PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

Crafting canine coats

BY NANCY LAVIN | Lavin@PBN.com

ALDO ABREU LOVES all things design and dogs.

So, when the former graphic designer moved from his native Dominican Republic to Rhode Island seven years ago, his wife, Megan, a Rhode Island native, encouraged him to pursue a career that married his artistic eye with pooch passion. After five years honing his skills as a groomer for a local Petco, Abreu struck out on his own.

Chibi’s Choice Pet Grooming & Supply opened in East Providence in October – the opening was delayed a few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The name pays homage to Abreu’s Dominican roots; “chibi chibi” is a colloquial Spanish call for a dog to come, much like “here, kitty kitty” is used in the U.S. Thanks to Abreu’s multilingual background, the business serves both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking customers, with dog grooming the primary service for now, though he hopes to add a day care and training facility. Supplies, including beds and bows made by Megan’s mom and bandannas crafted by a local teacher, are also sold.

Prices vary based on the services and dog size and type of coat. n

SPOTLIGHT

DYNAMIC DUO: Anthony Squillacci Jr., left, president of APAC Tool Inc., took over the family business, which was started as a jewelry manufacturer by his father, Anthony Squillacci Sr., right. APAC now also does product design.

PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Right tools for jewelers Toolmaker also creates branded promo materials ANTHONY SQUILLACCI SR. learned toolmaking as a teenager, watching over his uncle’s shoulder as they sat side by side at a workbench.

Several decades later, Squillacci Sr. was in the teacher’s seat, showing his son, Anthony Squillacci Jr., the same technique using a jeweler’s saw and sheet of metal.

Advances in technology have changed much of that rudimentary process, which is now done through computer-controlled machinery.

What has not changed is the fatherson duo’s close relationship, and their shared passion for their craft through their business, APAC Tool Inc. Squillacci Sr. founded the toolmaking and jewelry manufacturing company in 1966, striking out on his own after working for his uncle, who owned a similar company.

It was a natural path, given his family history – two other uncles also worked in the industry – and his love for the combination of mechanics and artistry required.

“I never went to trade school,” Squillacci Sr., now 80, recalled.

“Back then, you just learned from the people you knew.”

His son, Squillacci Jr., also felt called to the family business, though he emphasized that he was never pressured by his father. After

graduating Hope High School, the Providence native considered going to college to study computer programming, or maybe graphic art.

However, he chose to try out a stint at his father’s company, and he never left.

“By being involved in this business, I get to the graphic arts and computer programming bits, so it worked out really well,” said Squillacci Jr., who now serves as company president. His dad is chief operating officer because, as Squillacci Jr. joked, “he refuses to retire.”

Together, the two guided their business through a host of evolutions and challenges, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As a manufacturer, the company was never forced to shut down, but business suffered as a result of supplychain shortages and decreased demand from some clients.

Fortunately, previous efforts to grow and diversify their business helped them survive. While Squillacci Sr. started the company originally manufacturing tools for jewelry companies, he realized he had to change directions after the

BY NANCY LAVIN | Lavin@PBN.com

boom of the early 1980s dropped off. Increased imports created new competition, and Rhode Island’s once hallmark jewelry industry no longer reigned supreme.

Squillacci Jr., who joined the company during this time, helped his father with the “soul searching” that led to a new strategy. The company still manufactures jewelry production tools, which comprise half of its business, but now sells them to manufacturing companies rather than jewelers. They also make industrial and consumer products, some medical goods and even branded promotional materials for companies to use at trade shows, corporate events and social gatherings, sold through a separate division known as APAC Promo.

An e-commerce business started in 2007 caters to recreational jewelry makers and craft hobbyists, selling clips, catches and other “findings” used to make jewelry.

Technological advancements have been critical too; 3D modeling software, laser-engraving and computer numerical control machines are all key services. But craftsmanship is still a part of the trade; and finding workers with the skill and training to fill those positions can be challenging.

“You need that mechanical mind,” Squillacci Jr. said. n

OWNER: Anthony Squillacci Jr.

TYPE OF BUSINESS: Tool manufacturing

YEAR FOUNDED: 1966

LOCATION: 49 Hurdis St., North Providence

EMPLOYEES: 12

ANNUAL SALES: WND

6 | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com

FOR STARTERS HOT TOPIC

Cities join forces to combat ATVs

BY NANCY LAVIN | Lavin@PBN.com

MANY LAWMAKERS, BUSINESS OWNERS and residents are upset about the increasing appearance of loud, illegal allterrain vehicles on streets around Greater Providence, but authorities have struggled to stop them despite the nuisance and the hazards to the public.

Cranston Mayor Kenneth Hopkins earlier this month announced an executive order allowing local law enforcement to arrest riders on unregistered ATVs and seize their vehicles, similar to a policy Providence has had on its books since 2017.

While Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza continues to emphasize this strategy as a way to get illegal vehicles off the streets – more than 200 have been destroyed since the City Council passed the ordinance – he acknowledges something still needs to be done about the seemingly ”endless supply” of ATVs zooming along the streets.

In a March 16 news conference, Providence and Cranston officials announced that the police from both cities are joining forces to crack down on the problem by sharing information, financial resources and personnel. They said they would continue to

focus attention on gasoline stations where riders fuel up, sellers of ATVs, and organizers and participants of “rideouts,” large gatherings of ATV riders that sometimes overwhelm other motorists on city streets.

But the collaboration may expand to other municipalities, Elorza said.

And a system to require registration of new ATVs was among Elorza’s list of 2021 legislative priorities.

“We need creative solutions,” Elorza said.

Sen. Frank S. Lombardi, D-Crans-

ton, has introduced his own measure that would allow municipalities to designate certain trails or open spaces where ATVs, dirt bikes and other recreational vehicles could be ridden, subject to registration and rules about mufflers.

Lombardi acknowledged that the timing of his bill, introduced on March 4 and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, was “not perfect” amid recent arrests and crimes committed by ATV riders. But he hoped fellow lawmakers would see his proposal as an opportunity to capitalize on a growing recreational pastime.

And the community could benefit from the registration fees and other requirements, Lombardi said.

“Right now, there are thousands of people from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut going to New Hampshire to ride their bikes,” he

‘We need creative solutions.’

JORGE O. ELORZA, Providence mayor

said. “This is our way to get some of that back.”

Lombardi said his bill might face pushback from business owners, but he hoped the proposal would at least raise awareness about alternative solutions to a problem that doesn’t seem to be going away.

He also supported police efforts to get illegal ATVs off the streets, saying the thoroughfares of Cranston have become “inundated.” Earlier this year, a group of riders hit and injured a Cranston police officer on Atwood Avenue.

Cranston Street has also become a hot spot, raising concerns from area businesses.

Cranston manufacturer Taco Inc., located on Cranston Street, has been less affected than its retail and restaurant neighbors since few customers visit the office, said company spokesman Ken Watson. But the company supported efforts to crack down on ATVs, particularly for the safety of its employees who often share the roadways with those riders during their commute.

Asked whether he supported proposals to designate alternative places for riders to go, Watson said he was not familiar enough to comment. n

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FOR STARTERS | HEALTH MATTERS

Helping those in recovery find a safe place to go

BY MARY MACDONALD | MacDonald@PBN.com

DONNA

“Dee Dee” Williams works with people trying to stay off drugs and maintain a sober life. Her work revolves around coordinating services, including finding them available spots in recovery houses, where they can break away from old patterns and give themselves time to get healthy and back on their feet.

Although Williams gets her information on bed availability directly from organizations that provide them, the public and other health professionals can now see updated openings by using a new website.

Called Open Beds, the state website launched in late 2020 and reveals on many days the reality of mental health and drug treatment across Rhode Island: finding an available bed can be difficult.

On a recent afternoon, 520 beds were already filled at recovery houses across the state for that night, with only 50 open beds remaining. Including inpatient beds for mental and behavioral health treatment – which are also listed on the website – 723 of 791 total beds in the state were filled for the night.

The website provides regularly updated information on where treatment beds can be found for adolescents and children, elderly adults, and men and women. The nonprofits and hospitals that provide treatment programs each have a listing, with the number of filled beds and the number available.

Before Open Beds – www.ribhopenbeds.org – health care providers and families, or individuals, would have to place calls frantically trying to find an opening.

People trying to access substance use treatment need time – as much as a year – to have a structured setting, said Williams, director of the call center at Horizon Healthcare Partners, a nonprofit that operates Behavioral Health Link, the state’s only 24-hour call center that connects people seeking services to available programs.

“There are people who are out there who go into treatment, and then because they’ve burned so many bridges, they don’t have any place else to go,” said Williams. “They also don’t want to go back into the same cycle they just left. They want to go into a recovery living situation.”

­ ONNECTING C CALLERS: ­Marissa Rodriguez, left, and Matt Latondresse volunteer at Behavioral Health Link, a 24-hour call center in East Providence that connects people seeking substance use treatment programs.

PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

‘You can see small pockets of availability where we have it.’

RYAN ERICKSON, R.I. Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals director of strategy and public affairs 8 | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com

While a person is in that recovery setting, Williams and her staff work to find them additional resources, including getting them on lists for subsidized housing or connecting them with job resources.

Open Beds, launched by the R.I. Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, is intended to help users identify who provides services, and what kinds of availability exists for inpatient services, such as detox beds, crisis stabilization units and substance use residential programs.

Recovery houses, located in residential neighborhoods across the state, feature an on-site house manager. The homes are typically run by nonprofits and are licensed by the state but look like any other apartment or home.

In Rhode Island, 10 programs offer housing for men, while five homes are for women. Two are focused on veterans. Some people stay in recovery homes for a few months, others for as long as a year.

The recovery homes often have waitlists. This is particularly true for women seeking treatment, said Williams. She observed that for women, seeking residential treatment is particularly hard because they often have children or are caring for parents. Only Amos House, a Providencebased nonprofit, runs a program for women that allows them to bring their children.

For many, the COVID-19 pandemic has made recovery even more difficult, Williams said, isolating people from the social support they may need to stay sober and drug-free.

“Substance use can be a very social disease,” Williams said. “It’s about who you know, who you are around.

If you are living a sober life, your friends and your support system is very important to you. Isolation is our enemy.”

With social isolation and job loss and the other fallout from the pandemic, more people appear to be struggling with substance use.

Rhode Island documented 356 fatal overdoses for the first 11 months of 2020, according to the data provided by the R.I. Department of Health. That represents nearly a 16% increase in deaths for the entirety of 2019, and the highest number reported since the state started publishing its overdose statistics seven years ago.

Whether the spike last year is directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet clear, said Ryan Erickson, director of strategy and public affairs for BHDDH. But the overdose epidemic has accelerated after several years of decline.

The state’s new Open Beds website, Erickson said, adds a lot of transparency for people who need support.

If the Open Beds website shows a lot of filled beds, it also reveals where the openings exist.

Families, patients and other health care professionals can then call the providers directly. “Even when the website tells us we are often at our capacity … you can see small pockets of availability where we have it,” Erickson said. n

NONPROFIT IN ACTION | FOR STARTERS

welcomes PRESENTING SPONSOR

LOADING UP: Meg Grady, executive director for Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island, and volunteer Ted Fischer, CEO of Ageless Innovation, help load food into vehicles for some deliveries. Grady said the organization’s home-delivery program saw a 7% increase in seniors served and a 9% increase in meals served in 2020 compared with 2019.

PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Driven to feed a growing need

BY JAMES BESSETTE | Bessette@PBN.com

IT IS A MISSION that literally drives people to help the community, complete with a hot meal to give to those in need. Over the past year, Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island’s importance and need reached significant levels.

Not long after the Providencebased organization kicked off its March for Meals campaign, the COVID-19 pandemic took hold and altered life for everyone. Among those impacted are homebound senior residents, who are at high risk of infection, or worse.

Meals on Wheels put the call out for volunteer drivers and more than 500 responded willing to help, according to Meg Grady, the organization’s executive director. From there, the volunteers went to work across the state to feed a fast-growing need.

“These volunteers report to us saying they get just as much satisfaction out of the program as the program gets the benefit of our services,” Grady said.

Grady said Meals on Wheels’ traditional home-delivery program saw a 7% increase for seniors served and served 9% more meals compared with 2019.

Additionally, from April through December 2020, the organization, partnering with local municipalities, served an additional 290,000 COVID-19 response meals.

The organization also partnered with senior centers in Warren, Newport, Woonsocket, Johnston and North Providence to deliver meals there, Grady said. At the Edward King House in Newport, Meals on Wheels did approximately 300 to 400 more meals per day to feed those in need, Grady said, and an additional 500 meals per day were delivered across Providence.

Delivering meals isn’t the only task Meals on Wheels volunteers perform.

Considering 62% of Rhode Island’s senior residents that the organization served lived alone, volunteers also did a life-safety check to make sure senior residents were safe and well.

Grady said that a lot of seniors said the Meals on Wheels volunteer was the only person they saw during the pandemic, and they were relieved to see “that friendly face at the door.”

“Our program has absolutely saved lives,” Grady said. n

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FOR STARTERS | WHAT’S HAPPENING LADIES FIRST: Clockwise from top left: Katje Afonseca, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island; Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera; Kristen Adamo, CEO and president of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau; and Sandra J. Pattie, CEO and president of BankNewport, will be panelists during the virtual one-year anniversary celebration of the Women’s Business Council, hosted by the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, on March 25.

COURTESY LORI VINER AND MARIA RIVERA/PBN FILE PHOTOS/MICHAEL SALERNO AND KATE WHITNEY LUCEY

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Northern R.I. Chamber celebrates year of Women’s Business Council THE NORTHERN RHODE ISLAND Chamber of Commerce is hosting a virtual one-year anniversary celebration of the Women’s Business Council. A panel discussion will take place, featuring Kristen Adamo, Katje Afonseca, Sandra J. Pattie and Maria Rivera.

THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 4-5 P.M. $25/members; $35/nonmembers Online.

INFO AND REGISTRATION: https://bit.ly/3cfjEDk

Energy efficiency

Connect and collaborate THE GREATER PROVIDENCE Chamber of Commerce will hold its monthly peer-to-peer connections event.

Attendees will spend an hour connecting and collaborating with people they might not otherwise have had the chance to get to know in a casual and fun way.

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 8:30 A.M. Free Online.

INFO AND REGISTRATION: providencechamber.com/events/ details/virtual-peer-to-peer60-chat-connect-collaborate956?calendarMonth=2021-03-01

THE GREATER NEWPORT Chamber of Commerce will hold a workshop titled “National Grid Energy Saving Solutions for Businesses” as part of the Chamber’s Ask the Expert Series.

Attendees will learn about National Grid’s energy efficiency programs and how they can help businesses manage and lower electricity and gas bills. Vin Graziano, president of RISE Engineering, and Andrea Moshier, program manager of community solutions with National Grid, will lead the ­discussion.

THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 9-10 A.M. Free Online.

Growing with Google THE CENTER FOR WOMEN & Enterprise will hold a workshop on how businesses can learn best practices for how to market their operations on Google. Attendees will learn how to analyze trends about how customers engage with their business online, then turn these insights into wellinformed, actionable decisions.

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, NOON TO 1 P.M. Free Online.

INFO AND REGISTRATION: cwewbc. ecenterdirect.com/events/976662

INFO AND REGISTRATION: newportchamber.com/events/details/ ask-the-expert-series-national-gridenergy-saving-solutions-for-businesses5836?calendarMonth=2021-03-01

Meeting the mayor ONE SOUTHCOAST CHAMBER of Commerce will hold a virtual town hall event featuring Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan as the keynote speaker.

Attendees will have an opportunity to ask Coogan questions.

THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 10-11 A.M. Free

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WHAT’S HAPPENING | FOR STARTERS Online.

INFO AND REGISTRATION: members. onesouthcoast.com/events/details/ one-southcoast-chamber-virtual-townhall-498212

Instagram marketing

Rethinking your strategy

of Diversity, Equity and Opportunity; the Rhode Island Procurement Technical Assistance Center; and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council will be part of the discussion. A Q&A session will follow.

FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 11 A.M. Free

THE CENTRAL RHODE ISLAND Chamber of Commerce will hold a workshop, titled “Converting the Normal Into Remarkable,” as part of the Chamber’s TuneUp Tuesday series.

Attendees will learn about how to rethink their marketing strategies for their businesses. The moderated session includes a series of proprietary videos and a Q&A session.

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 8-9 A.M. Free

Online.

INFO AND REGISTRATION: cwewbc. ecenterdirect.com/events/976649

THE RHODE ISLAND Small Business Development Center will hold a workshop for business owners and marketing personnel on how to better connect with the public through Instagram. Attendees will learn how to use Instagram to reach new customers, grow their audience and engage with existing customers.

THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 11 A.M. TO NOON. Free Online.

INFO AND REGISTRATION: http://www.risbdc.org/workshop. aspx?ekey=70410019

Getting certified

Pitch your business

Online.

RHODE ISLAND BUSINESS Networking will hold a virtual LEADS lunch event, hosted by the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce. Attendees will present their 60-second pitch to help others learn what they do, what they have to offer and who they wish to meet. The event will also help connect attendees with potential customers and referral sources.

FRIDAY, MARCH 26, NOON TO 1 P.M. $5

INFO AND REGISTRATION: centralrichamber.com/events/17068/ tuneup-tuesday---converting-thenormal-into-remarkable--plus-bonusvideo-on-aligning-your-sales-withmarketing

NETWORKNITE WILL HOST a virtual speed networking event, in which attendees can meet accomplished businesspeople one person at a time.

Attendees will have a host to assist them with anything or anyone, be able to privately chat with a new guest every seven to eight minutes and select those whom you would like to connect with.

TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 7 P.M. $21

THE CENTER FOR WOMEN & Enterprise will hold a panel discussion about the potential benefits, eligibility criteria and ways to obtain certifications for various small businesses.

Panelists representing the U.S. Small Business Administration; the R.I. Department of Administration Office

INFO AND REGISTRATION: rinetworking.com/event/virtual-leadslunch-fri-mar-26 Interested in having your businessrelated event included in What’s Happening? Contact PBN Researcher James Bessette at (401) 680-4838 or Research@PBN.com.

Building up your business ONE SOUTHCOAST CHAMBER of Commerce will hold a business builders breakfast, hosted by Scottie’s Pub. This event will provide an earlymorning opportunity to increase your access to leads, build your book of business and encourage meaningful professional relationships. Breakfast will be served. A 100-person maximum capacity and all health guidelines will be strictly enforced.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 8:30-9:30 A.M. $15 Scottie’s Pub, 202 Pleasant St., Fall River.

Expanding your network

Online.

INFO AND REGISTRATION: eventbrite. com/e/providence-virtual-speednetworking-networknite-businessconnections-tickets-141572983605?aff= ebdssbdestsearch

Online.

INFO AND REGISTRATION: members. onesouthcoast.com/events/details/ one-southcoast-chamber-southcoastbusiness-builders-breakfastnetworking-event-498214 UPCOMING PBN EVENT: The 2021 Manufacturing Awards Program will be held virtually at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 31.

For more information, visit PBN.com.

For sponsorship opportunities, contact Advertising@PBN.com.

Reach our region’s most influential business and philanthropic leaders. Share your message with key placement in the 2021 edition.

2021

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MISSION STATEMEN

SKILLS FOR’S RHODE ISLAND

FUT UR E S

BOARD OF DIRECTOR Ronald Arigo Amanda Bailey Timothy Byrne Cindy Erickson Jenifer Giroux Susan Hannon

REGIONAL PHILANTHROPIC OPPORTUNITIES

David Himsey Jeffrey Lackey Rajani Mahadevan Amy T.M. Oakley Nina Pande Marie Trzupek Lynch John Sinnott Patricia A. Thompson Vera Tyagi Laurie White Jason Witham

INDUSTRIES SKILLSRI SUPPORT

CALLING ALL N O N - P RO F I T S I N RHODE ISLAND

Don’t miss out on the chance to have over 24,000 readers learn more about your mission.

MATERIALS DUE:

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• Administrative/Professional Services • Customer Service/Call Center • Financial Services • Food Service & Hospitality • Information Technology • Healthcare • Human Services • Maintenance/Custodial • Manufacturing • Retail • Sales • Transportation

for Rhode The mission of Skills is Island’s Future (SkillsRI) n to create demand-drive to solutions for employers and get the unemployed to work. underemployed back Through various workforce we development initiatives, of strive to meet our vision through transforming lives and meaningful employment economic mobility.

30 Exchange Terrace Providence, RI 02903 com 401-680-5960 ❤ skillsforri.

ABOUT SKILLS FOR (SKILLSRI) RHODE ISLAND’S FUTURE

nonprofit Future (SkillsRI) is a unemployed and Skills for Rhode Island’s opportunity by connecting down barriers to economic civic-minded employers. organization that breaks socially responsible, Islanders to jobs with underemployed Rhode the workforce skills gap SkillsRI works to close n workforce intermediary, Islanders into open A statewide, demand-drive underemployed Rhode nt, contributing growth, and move unemployed/ in RI, drive business of economic empowerme SkillsRI is a key driver of wage. sustainable that meet the demands positions that pay a of workforce services mobility. vitality through the provision Islanders achieve upward to the state’s economic and helping Rhode talent development local employers, fostering

BREAKING DOWN

IC MOBILITY

BARRIERS TO ECONOM

opportunity by connecting barriers to economic Future, we break down responsible, civic-minded At Skills for Rhode Island’s to jobs with socially ed Rhode Islanders their skills, resume and unemployed and underemploy each candidate to assess work one-on-one with team from initial employers. SkillsRI recruiters member of the recruitment partners. are paired with a dedicated than 100 employer career goals. Candidates with one of our more through to a job offer RI initiatives, a phone call all the way for multiple Real Jobs and placement services meet recruitment provides workers designed to SkillsRI also and skills training for provides targeted education statewide initiative that employers. the hiring needs of local t services and offers provides career enhancemen SkillsRI talent, of work a pipeline individuals to real-world And to further foster designed to expose internship programs network. SkillsRI services professional high school and college a develop and soft and technical skills, experiences, build both residents. to eligible Rhode Island are offered at no cost

SUPPORTING SKILLSRI

donations no cost. We rely on and hiring partners at offered to job candidates support of our public SkillsRI services are grateful for the generous and sponsors and are two options: organization, you have from our amazing supporters support our non-profit If you would like to and private donors.

Donate by Mail Future Skills for Rhode Island’s 30 Exchange Terrace Providence, RI 02903

Donate Online donate http://www.skillsforri.com/

l through meaningfu Transforming lives omic mobility employment and econ Oricel M.

Accelerated CNA Training

Program

every guided me through “The SkillsRI staff and they truly cared step of the process, With the help of the about seeing me succeed. on a path to a better SkillsRI team, I’m now and I path of my dreams, future in the career state.” home my in get to make a difference Marie Ghazal CEO

Joshua B. Honeywell

ANNUAL REVENUE of its The Clinic raises 100% budget $1.3 million operating patients from donations. Our With receive care at no cost.

Clinic this $1.3 million, the leverages over $6 million of goods more in donations and services each year.

changed.”

AAA Northeast

contacting SkillsRI, “If you’re hesitant about them to start by calling my suggestion is about your concerns. and asking questions and they aren’t selling They aren’t pushy, your focus is on turning you anything. Their into a reality.” dreams and hopes

Dana L.

Goetz Composites

for a month, and I love “I’ve been working here with a up every morning what I do. I wake with hope for a brighter positive outlook and I’m me that hope, and future. SkillsRI gave I to do something that thankful to be able son proud.” know will make my

William Fitzgerald Board President

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES 13 FTE 5 AmeriCorps VISTAs

very hands-on through“The recruiters were helped me find a role out the process. They the me, prepared me for that made sense for the notified throughout interview and kept me my life has completely process. Since then,

Cheri W.

Clinic’s mission The Rhode Island Free e is to provide free, comprehensiv health medical care and preventive have no services to adults who cannot afford health insurance and serve as an those services; and to site for educational training professionals. aspiring health care

You can help us provide HARDEST HIT BY COVID-19. are on the front RHODE ISLANDERS PROVIDE CARE FOR of color in urban communities You can low-income adults. People ately and need healthcare. vital care to uninsured, suffering disproportion labs and pandemic. They are care, specialist services, lines of the COVID-19 a donation. Primary time. and follow-up care with this unprecedented provide COVID-19 Tests are essential during and behavioral health tests, medicine, dental, VOLUNTEER NOW. WE NEED YOU TO E PROFESSIONAL, HEALTHCAR A ARE YOU IF today!

You can make a difference

GOALS

YEAR ESTABLISHED The Clinic was established First Lady in 1999 by former The Clinic Stephanie Chafee. anniversary celebrated its 20th in 2019.

R SKILLS FO ND’S RHO DE ISLA

TOP FUNDING SOURCES 32% Individuals 28% Corporations 40% Grants

FU TU R E 401.680.5960

www.SkillsforRI.com

FUNDRAISING / EVENTS

Test Site to make sure We are operating a COVID-19 volunteers who serve in time for the Clinic. serve and our This is a critical moment a test. The people we about how to pay for more than ever before! no one has to worry need your help now lines of this crisis. They is increasing every day. them are on the front and demand for care NEED! Founders’ Event Fundraiser, GET THE CARE THEY We canceled our annual MORE PATIENTS TO NOW WILL ALLOW DONATING RIGHT

OPPORTUNITIES

to Rhode Island adults effective health care g Clinic provides cost . We need Spanish Interpreters VOLUNTEER: Our award-winnin and dental professionals seek volunteer medical 700+ volunteers coordinate who need it most. We patients. Each year our We screen our to Spanish speaking Tests and follow-up. to help provide care and now, COVID-19 demand including medicines, COVID-19 has increased 11,000+ patient visits safety is our priority.

Sophie Silvia at If you volunteer, your to volunteer, contact patients for COVID-19. information more For your help now. for care, and we need or 401.274.6347 x203. to deliver ssilvia@rifreeclinic.org and services. Our cost of donated medicine far less $1 donated into $6 per person per year, GIVE: We leverage every Islanders is just $500 by visiting our care to vulnerable Rhode further go health ve donation comprehensi Make your 7 ext. 329. average of $11,000. freeclinic.org or 401.274.634 than the national estimated Sam Lawrence at slawrence@ri website or contacting

BOARD

President | Carrie William Fitzgerald, Board Vice President | Jeffrey Bridges Féliz, MPH, | Domenic Chase-Lubitz, Esq., Secretary | Caroline Troise, MD, Delmonico, Treasurer Gim, President Emeritus Medical Director | Mark Bjornebye, Esq. | Andrew MEMBERS: Jehanne | Jerry Fingerut, Davis, Esq. | Loree Dubois | Whitney Clarke | Michele MD | George Greer Rakatansky, MD | Philip Lederberg | Herbert Perroni Rizzuto, MD | Joseph

info@SkillsforRI.com

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Guide 2020 | www.pbn.com NEWS ■ GIVING | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS 16 | OCTOBER 2020

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MISSION STATEMEN

Providence, RI 02907 655 Broad Street ❤ .org 401.274.6347 ❤ rifreeclinic

| 17

Right on

mothers and Chapter for helping of Dimes Rhode Island better.

Here’s to the March uninsured adults feel Free Clinic for helping and to the Rhode Island 20-326155 © 2020 United HealthCare EI20324405.0 9/20

Services, Inc. All Rights

babies,

Reserved.

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TO VIEW THE 2020 EDITION VISIT PBN.COM/GIVING-GUIDE-3/

Find out more on how to include your profile in the 2021 edition.

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CORONAVIRUS CRISIS WEDDINGS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Then a new problem cropped up: Not only were Rhode Island officials limiting the number of guests allowed at weddings but they had banned dancing, too.

‘The whole ‘no dancing,’ that was a dealbreaker,” Armento said. “Like what do you do?

I’m going to pay all this money for a fancy dinner, where everyone has to sit and not dance?”

The couple was preparing for a third postponement when some good news arrived in early March. That’s when Rhode Island officials announced they planned to loosen restrictions, reinstituting dancing under certain conditions and allowing more people at outdoor events.

Suddenly, Armento’s May wedding was back on.

And now countless businesses and individual contractors who are part of the state’s vast wedding industry are hoping more brides and grooms make the same decision.

Many of those businesses – from hoteliers to wedding planners to bridal shops – have reported staggering losses since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, when rules intended to slow the spread of COVID-19 put an end to grand weddings – those with several hundred guests, a DJ or band, photographers, flowers and limousine rides.

While most expect the grand weddings to return in full in 2022 as vaccines allow for herd immunity, uncertainty has surrounded this year’s wedding season, when receptions may be more of a hybrid experience of larger crowds and dancing, but with face masks, physical distancing and test requirements, too.

There were worries that bridal couples who have already delayed events from 2020 will push them back further or move them to other states with more-relaxed safety protocols.

IDC Inc., which does business as The Newport Experience, lost about $6 million in revenue last year because of postponed weddings, according to Kate DeCosta, corporate director of sales and marketing for The Newport Experience, which owns and operates Regatta Place and OceanCliff Hotel in

CUTTING LOOSE: Luke B. Renchan, a wedding DJ and leader of the Rhode Island Coalition of Wedding and Event Professionals, has worked closely with the R.I. Commerce Corp. on revising the weddingspecific regulations to be more competitive with other states while maintaining safety, such as relaxing restrictions on dancing.

PBN PHOTO/PAMELA BHATIA

Newport and Stone House in Little Compton.

DeCosta said some frustrated couples have postponed their events three or four times to try to get past the pandemic. Others have tried to pull out entirely and sought to recoup their deposits, which is typically half the cost of the wedding.

DeCosta remains concerned.

“This is an economic driver in the state of Rhode Island,” she said. “So much of our hospitality industry funnels down from these very expensive weddings.”

MONEYMAKERS Indeed, weddings are a big economic driver.

A Rhode Island-based group recently formed to amplify the voice of the industry during the pandemic has more than 900 members, including banquet halls, bridal shops, hair salons, limo services, caterers and cake makers.

And a recent survey of vendors by the Rhode Island Coalition of Wedding and Event Professionals indicated that the average cost of a wedding in the Ocean State over the past five years was $30,000 – and double that in Newport, which has a national reputation for opulent wedding events.

Nationally, the size of the wedding services industry is estimated at $55 billion by IBISWorld, an industry research firm.

While IBISWorld estimated a 21% decline in revenue in 2020 for wedding-related businesses nationwide, the firm is also predicting a 30% rebound this year as rescheduled weddings take place.

How things will play out in Rhode Island remains a question.

Last year, state health officials had limited catered events to no more than 15 guests to slow the spread of COVID-19, but they have gradually loosened that restriction in 2021 as cases have

BLURRY FUTURE: Morayo Sayles, owner of Piper Brown Photography Inc., says she has 20 weddings on her schedule for 2021, but most of them are postponements from 2020 and she’s worried that some may hold off again.

PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

12 | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com

declined. By mid-March, limits were boosted from 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors to 100 people inside and 200 outside.

Those increases, combined with relaxed curbs on dancing, could make all the difference, venue operators said.

At Rhodes on the Pawtuxet, three major events were canceled this March alone, resulting in the loss of “tens of thousands” of dollars, according to Hillary Williamson, general manager at the Cranston banquet hall.

Constant changes, the lack of certainty and the possibility of a new COVID-19 surge have meant a lot of lost business and some staffing cuts. “It costs up [to] about $1,000 a day to run our facility, with insurance and utilities,” said Williamson, noting that the business has gotten by on its dwindling reserves so far.

The increase in crowd capacities? “That would be a game-changer for us,” Williamson said.

Wedding photographer Morayo Sayles is optimistic that the summer and fall wedding seasons can be salvaged, but she’s still on pins and needles.

Owner of Piper Brown Photography Inc. in Smithfield, Sayles shot her last two receptions a year ago, both tiny gatherings with fewer than 20 people. “And then it was just silence,” she said.

So far this year, she has 20 weddings booked – 16 of which are holdovers from 2020. At the same time, she’s had to cut her rates because savvy couples have been more assertive about asking for discounts, aware that photographers are looking for work.

To make matters worse, Sayles acknowledged some of the rescheduled receptions were looking iffy again because, despite the improving outlook, the threat of the virus remains, as do the decidedly unfun reminders of the global crisis: face masks, social distancing and negative COVID-19 tests.

A DEMONSTRATION To ease concerns, several organizations collaborated in January to hold a “mock wedding” at OceanCliff in Newport to demonstrate how such an event could be held safely and still maintain CONTINUES ON PAGE 14

March 25 Tune in to NBC 10 beginning with Sunrise and continuing throughout the day’s newscasts.

In partnership with NBC 10 WJAR, we will celebrate Rhode Island Hospital’s excellence in care at the inaugural Day of Giving.

To learn more, visit rihdayofgiving.org.

T

hree years after having a soft tissue sarcoma removed from her breast back home in Alaska, Lynette Veelman was sitting with a surgeon at one of the country’s most renowned cancer centers.

She and her husband were thousands of miles from home, learning about a procedure that carried with it risks of death and paralysis.

Lynette had been experiencing violent pain for several months—and was diagnosed with a new tumor that had grown into her spinal canal and wrapped around her spinal cord.

“I’ll never forget that doctor telling me he wasn’t the best surgeon for this procedure, that the guy I needed was in Providence,” she says. “We flew to Rhode Island the next day.”

At Rhode Island Hospital, Lynette met Ziya Gokaslan, MD, the hospital’s chief of neurosurgery and director of the Norman Prince Spine Institute, and one of the world’s foremost neurosurgeons. Dr. Gokaslan outlined the same surgery Lynette first heard about elsewhere, detailing his approach and previous experience performing the procedure.

“His kindness and confidence was amazing,” Lynette recalls. “I felt safe and immediately told him I wanted to proceed.”

“ I feel like it was a miracle to have found Dr. Gokaslan all the way from Alaska.

He’s the best, and he’s in Rhode Island.”

— Lynette Veelman

The couple returned to Alaska to prepare, making the 4,500 mile flight back to T.F. Green ten days later.

On February 7, 2018, Lynette’s surgery was successful—a corpectomy of the T7 vertebra, and laminectomy at T8 and T6. She has rods, plates, and more than 50 screws in her back. She is fused from T4-T10.

Lynette’s spine remains tumor-free and she gets stronger with each passing month. She swims, rides 20+ miles on a new recumbent bike, and is back doing cross country skiing.

“I feel like it was a miracle to have found Dr. Gokaslan all the way from Alaska. He’s the best, and he’s in Rhode Island.”

You can meet Lynette and hear more about her journey during Day of Giving on March 25.

MR. AND MRS. ANTHONY CALANDRELLI

TRICIA S. O’NEIL

Financial Advisor, Descendants Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley

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CORONAVIRUS CRISIS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

the festive atmosphere. “Vows” were exchanged on a cliff with an ocean view, and the reception inside included a first dance with the “newlyweds.”

Guests and vendors were given rapid COVID-19 tests before entering.

The ceremony and reception were recorded to make training videos for hospitality p ­ rofessionals.

The mock event also included a “COVID safety officer,” tasked with ensuring partygoers were following public health protocols, but the state has now abandoned that requirement after liability concerns were raised by venue operators.

Luke B. Renchan, a wedding DJ and leader of the Rhode Island Coalition of Wedding and Event Professionals, has worked closely with the R.I. Commerce Corp. on revising the wedding-specific regulations to be more competitive with other states while maintaining safety.

Renchan said couples have fallen into two camps this year.

“Some people are what we call ‘COVID-ed out.’

They’ve changed their dates two or three times, and they’re going to move forward and just follow the rules of the date,” he said. “Whatever happens, if it’s 30 people, it’s 30 people.”

Others are rescheduling or moving the events.

They want as normal an experience as possible and are willing to reschedule or move it to another location that is more lenient, he said.

So far this month, Renchan has had two cancellations.

One reception was for Labor Day weekend, the other in November. One couple had already gotten married and decided to skip the reception.

Another is moving their event to Massachusetts, where they were certain they can dance and invite more people. They were willing to lose a $10,000 deposit on the venue, he said.

The no-dancing rule – aside from the traditional first dances – had many bridal couples fleeing Rhode Island, Renchan said, so the industry is eager to have the new Rhode Island guidance in writing. “They don’t see a wedding without dancing,” he said.

In Newport, larger weddings being planned

by Angelic Affairs LLC are still scheduled for the summer and fall of this year, according to owner Kelly Teves.

She’s monitoring the rules set by the state of Rhode Island carefully and communicating the

‘So much of our hospitality industry funnels down from these very expensive weddings.’

KATE DECOSTA, The Newport Experience corporate director of sales and marketing

details to her clients. But many brides are so focused on their dream day that they’re not quite connecting the dots on wedding size.

Managing expectations has become a part of the wedding planner’s job.

“Especially with the vaccine rollout, a lot of them are still anticipating hosting a large wedding this year,” Teves said. “It’s very much, ‘This is my wedding. This is when I want it and I’ll just deal with the guidelines when that time comes.’

But in the meantime, they’re still planning in their mind for 200 to 300 guests.”

Cindy McIntyre has decided to push ahead with her wedding in late April, a date she booked at Meadow Brook Inn in Charlestown 16 months ago.

McIntyre, a Massachusetts native and a professional wedding planner who moved with her fiancé to Texas, had to whittle down the size of her reception because of Rhode Island restrictions.

Under the new guidelines, she’s hopeful she can have 100 guests.

“The hardest part for me is that weddings in Texas are operating week after week, and thinking of our own day and cutting down our guest count is just so sad,” she said. “I tell all my clients the most important part of your day is who is waiting at the end of the aisle. I knew he was the one for me and I am not willing to wait.”

Apparently, others can wait.

Teves said some of her clients have decided already to skip over the next year entirely, as insurance that they can have the wedding they have always wanted.

About three of her clients who had originally booked a date for 2020 skipped over two years, to

dates in 2022, and she’s already getting inquiries about 2023.

‘A LIFE EVENT’ When couples do postpone, the financial implications can be widespread.

“A wedding is not just a frivolous party. It’s a milestone. It’s a life event,” said DeCosta, from The Newport Experience. “For us in Newport, it’s an industry. Hundreds of people eat off that wedding, from the person who mops the floors to the person who provides the flowers to the person who bakes the cake.”

A poll of 50 members of Renchan’s coalition indicated that they had lost between 80% and 90% of their revenue and nearly 1,000 bookings between January and October of 2020.

Lisa Mattiello, the owner of catering company Pranzi Inc., in Providence, has suffered a 40% to 50% drop in revenue this year, due to the complete loss of corporate events and small weddings.

She’s diversified her company, with grab-and-go convenience foods, and was able to stay afloat with a Paycheck Protection Program loan.

For catering and event staffing, the cost of putting on a small wedding is almost the same as a larger one, she said. “It’s the same amount of work,” she said. “I still have to send a chef, whether it’s for 10 people or 30 people. I still have to send ‘back of the house’ [workers], whether it’s for 10 people or 30 people. The staffing isn’t that much different.”

Venues, too, have found that smaller weddings are not cost-effective. Several Newport venues had stopped taking reservations for wedding receptions for 2021 while restricting guest sizes were in place, according to Teves.

At locations that remain open, jockeying for 2021 dates among brides has occurred, with some weddings even being planned for Wednesday and Thursday nights, Teves said.

With relaxed restrictions, essentially two years’ worth of weddings may be trying to find spaces and times in 2021, said Evan Smith, CEO and president of Discover Newport. Those that can’t find their preferred dates may move it into the following year.

Smith’s newly engaged daughter did that, he said. She skipped right over 2021 and is planning on a 2022 event.

The lost business in 2021 has been painful, he said. But he expects weddings will make a full rebound when the pandemic releases its hold.

“Grand weddings have been a part of our society for a long time,” Smith said. “Weddings will come back as glorious affairs. I think they’ll be back bigger and bolder than ever.” n

PLANNING AHEAD: While large weddings being planned by Angelic Affairs LLC are still scheduled for this summer and fall in Newport, owner Kelly Teves, pictured in front of the OceanCliff Hotel in the city, says three of her clients that had originally booked dates in 2020 have moved them to 2022 and she’s already getting inquiries about 2023.

PBN PHOTO/ELIZABETH GRAHAM

14 | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com

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FOR STARTERS WHO OWNS THE BLOCK?

Smith Street (Between Commerce Park Road and Mooring Drive) NORTH KINGSTOWN

600 CALLAHAN ROAD (2001) OWNER: Quonpro Properties LLC

426 SMITH ST. (1987)

TENANT: Rhody Transportation & Warehousing Inc.

MOORING DRIVE

OWNER: 426 Smith Street Realty LLC TENANT: Cardi Corp. (Quonset warehouse)

394 SMITH ST. (1990)

500 CALLAHAN ROAD (1940)

OWNER: E.F. Bucklin Holding LLC

TENANT: PS-Connections LLC

OWNER: 500 Callahan Road LLC

SMITH STREET

TENANT: White Machine Inc.

285 SMITH ST. (1942) OWNER: 285 Smith Street LLC TENANT: Structural Stone LLC

370 SMITH ST. (1987)

360 CALLAHAN ROAD (1940)

OWNER: 370 Smith Street LLC TENANT: Diversified Mobile Services Inc.

OWNER: Zakopane Real Estate Association Inc. TENANT: Thank-U Co.

346 SMITH ST. (1990)

192 SMITH ST. (1992)

OWNER: HRC Realty LLC

OWNER: Montana Realty LLC

TENANT: Business Education Publishing Inc.

COMMERCE PARK ROAD

TENANT: J.F. Brennan Co.

320 SMITH ST. (1987)

290 SMITH ST. (1988)

250 SMITH ST. (1970)

OWNER: Smith St. LLC

OWNER: Smith St. LLC

OWNER: Ultress Realty Inc.

TENANT: ELCO Painting Inc.

TENANT: Unoccupied

TENANT: Agile Technologies PBN RESEARCH AND PHOTOS/CASSIUS SHUMAN PBN GRAPHIC/LISA LAGRECA

16 | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com

PBN.COM | ANOTHER LOOK R.I. solar firms poised for rebound

BY NANCY LAVIN | Lavin@PBN.com

(Editor’s note: A version of this story was first published on PBN.com on March 15.)

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island companies that develop or support solar projects are poised to see big gains in the year ahead thanks to a new, renewable energy-friendly presidential administration in combination with a post-pandemic rebound in demand.

Among them is ISM Solar Development LLC, an East Providence-based developer of commercial and utility-scale solar arrays. After making a name for itself for developing the state’s first community solar farm in Burrillville, the company has begun or is preparing for construction of another four projects across the state, plus eight in Maine, according to Vice President Michael Lucini. Once completed, the 12 projects will generate an additional 80 megawatts of renewable energy for the two states combined.

These growth plans come after a year in which his company, and the industry, reported significant losses due to COVID-19. The major holdup, according to Lucini, came from permitting through municipalities, which due to budget constraints, competing priorities and difficulty in transitioning to virtual public meetings delayed project schedules for several months, or even a year.

The full impact of the pandemic is unclear. The 2020 Rhode Island Clean Energy Industry Report, released in mid-2020 but was based on data collected through the fall of 2019, estimated the state had lost nearly 4,000 clean energy jobs since the start of the pandemic.

While the economic fallout of the pandemic continues, Lucini has started to see a rebound, which he attributed in part to the Biden administration. Federal tax incentives are the primary driver behind the kind of large-scale solar arrays his company develops, particularly because the landfills, gravel pits and other repurposed sites ISM Solar works on are costly and require finan-

GROWTH COMING: Some solar energy companies foresee some prosperous years ahead, thanks in part to the policies of the Biden administration.

AP FILE PHOTO/ROBERT F. BUKATY

cial incentives.

Federal tax credits were set to expire at the end of 2020 but were extended in the December stimulus bill before President Joe Biden took office. Also important to Lucini: legislation known as the CLEAN Futures Act introduced in March that would establish federal targets for zero-net emissions.

“It would be the first time where the federal government is going to create the demand and standards,” he said, noting that until now, state targets have largely driven the industry.

The state of Rhode Island has rolled out a host of ambitious renewable energy goals and corresponding incentives through the R.I. Office of Energy Resources, R.I. Commerce Corp. and via private utility company National Grid Rhode Island.

Doug Sabetti, owner and founder of Newport

Solar, offered a different take. While his company, which focuses on residential rooftop solar arrays, was also poised to benefit from the change in presidential administration, lack of state funding might hamper growth.

Sabetti said he is concerned by the latest round of grants distributed through R.I. Commerce Corp.’s Renewable Energy Fund. Unlike in previous years, his company secured only half of the money it applied for through the first-come, firstserved grants for renewable energy projects this year.

Without that funding, Sabetti had put hiring plans on hold and worried over a now uncertain future for his company.

“You put all that work into the application, and then to not get the money… it’s not worth it,” he said. n

Are states of emergency still needed?

BY NANCY LAVIN | Lavin@PBN.com

(Editor’s note: A version of this story was first published on PBN.com on March 9.)

PROVIDENCE – More than a year after former Gov. Gina M. Raimondo declared a state of disaster emergency over the COVID-19 pandemic, some have grown weary of the seemingly everlasting crisis and are pushing to lift the declaration and ease restrictions. The state emergency declaration, which has been renewed monthly since its March 9, 2020, start date, has been extended to April 14 by Gov. Daniel J. McKee. But some municipal leaders, many of whom followed Raimondo with their own emergency orders last March, are questioning whether the continued emergency state is necessary. Others have already done away with theirs.

Exactly how many cities and towns still have emergency declarations on the books is unclear. The Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns is not tracking that information, according to Executive Director Brian Daniels.

The city of Warwick does not.

Mayor Frank J. Picozzi said the city emergency declaration ended last summer before he took office.

The city is still enforcing state restrictions on business capacities, social distancing and mask-wearing.

But Picozzi saw little benefit to maintaining an emergency declaration, particularly as residents become increasingly tired of the restrictions.

“There’s a certain level of exhaustion for people if you’re in code red all the time,” said Narragansett Town Manager and Commissioner of Public Safety James R. Tierney. Narragansett in May also lifted its emergency declaration, simply because renewing the declaration and an ever-changing set of executive orders became too burdensome, he said.

In North Providence, where an emergency declaration is still in place, the Town Council has started to push back on restrictions. The council on Feb. 25 approved a resolution urging the governor and state legislators to allow restaurants with bar licenses to resume normal bar hours,

describing the 11 p.m. curfew as “arbitrary” and “without accompanying scientific or rational explanation.”

North Providence Mayor Charles A. Lombardi said he anticipated lifting the city’s emergency order soon.

“Numbers are down, and it seems like we’re heading in the right direction,” he said.

Lombardi and other municipal leaders said they felt pressure from the business community to reopen.

Striking the balance between supporting the hard-hit business community and following public health guidelines is difficult, Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza said. Providence was one of the first municipalities to declare an emergency, on March 12, 2020, and has renewed it ever since.

Elorza anticipated keeping an emergency declaration as long as the state. “The worst thing we can do for the economy is open up too soon, have cases explode and then have to pull back again,” he said.

As more residents get vaccinated, there’s little need for that kind of uni-

EASING OFF? North Providence Mayor Charles A. Lombardi says his town’s state of emergency will end soon.

PBN FILE PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

lateral authority, according to House Minority Leader Blake A. Filippi, R-New Shoreham.

He said the General Assembly failed to better oversee executive decisions during the yearlong emergency state. Fellow Republican Rep. George A. Nardone has introduced legislation to address this by creating a joint legislative committee to oversee disaster declarations and requiring legislative approval for emergency declarations lasting more than 90 days. n

www.pbn.com | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | 17

FOCUS | CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN

R.I.’s Gilbane reaches 150-year milestone

BY MARY MACDONALD | MacDonald@PBN.com

IT

started with two brothers, both carpenters, who got their business off the ground by building window and door frames on Providence’s East Side.

Through economic depressions, world wars, even two deadly pandemics – one in 1918 and another now – that two-man startup has grown into a multibillion-dollar company with 3,000 employees that ranks as one of the largest commercial builders in the U.S. The name of the two carpenters? William and Thomas Gilbane.

Providence-based Gilbane Inc. is now marking its 150th anniversary, and with its history of survival and growth, its executives say they see reasons for optimism beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thomas F. Gilbane Jr., CEO and chairman of Gilbane Inc., said its volume of prospects – the running list of projects that are going to be built – is now about the same as it was before the pandemic. The company is tracking about 1,000 potential contracts across the country.

And the company, which remains family-owned, is getting creative to keep the growth going. One of its relatively recent efforts – providing the financing for projects, which are then built and leased back to the client through a public-private partnership

– is bringing in business. The company recently completed two high schools in Houston using a lease-to-purchase format that allowed the school district to finance the buildings and open them quickly.

Those types of solutions are paying off.

In 2019, its revenue was stated at $6.4 billion, an increase from about $5 billion two years prior. Gilbane has more than 400 employees based in Rhode Island.

The pandemic impacted its operations, including a shutdown of some projects. But others moved ahead.

In Rhode Island, the list of projects that have continued includes the $190 million East Providence High School that is slated to be finished by September 2021. The fourstory, 300,000-square-foot building is the largest K-12 project in state history.

Massive projects such as this are a far cry from how the company started.

Gilbane’s origins can be traced back to 1870, when William Gilbane, a son of Irish immigrants, founded the carpentry business and was soon joined by his younger brother Thomas. The company grew through the turn of the century and was responsible for building many of the finer homes on College Hill in Providence.

Among its notable structures, the company built the Smithsonian National Air

‘We’re constantly working on this legacy that we’ve shared.’

PAUL J. CHOQUETTE JR., former Gilbane Inc. CEO 18 | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com

UNFINISHED: A Gilbane Inc. worker inspects a beam at the East Providence High School construction project the company has undertaken. At four stories and 300,000 square feet in size, the $190 million building is the largest K-12 project in state history.

PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

and Space Museum in 1976 and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1984, both in Washington, D.C. Through it all, it has retained its headquarters in Providence and its family-owned structure. The company is now into its sixth generation of Gilbanes. In some decades, including the Great Depression, the company merely survived, performing smaller, skilled-carpentry jobs.

At other times, notably the years during and following World War II, it expanded rapidly, building barracks at the Goat Island Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, and constructing supply depots and training facilities elsewhere. After the war, it built large General Motors assembly plants in Ohio and Massachusetts.

“Really, it was the history of Rhode Island,” said Paul J. Choquette Jr., the former CEO. “Through the turn of the century, the [1920s], we were a humming company. During the Depression, we basically didn’t go out of business. But in World War II, we sprang forward. That was really the rebirth of the company.”

One of the greatest strengths the company has, Choquette said, is its breadth. That helps insulate it from downturns in various sectors. The company manages the construction of high-rise condominiums, a segment that’s taken a hit in the pandemic.

But it’s also building pharmaceutical plants and labs, a growth sector.

“It’s an interesting business that we’re in,” Choquette said. “It’s ebb and flow. You’ve got to be in most markets if you can be, so that as the ebb and flow makes work available, you’re in a position with the experienced people, that’s the key.”

Gilbane’s staying power is respected in the industry, even among competitors.

“It was always Red Sox-Yankees with them,” said Michael McNally, a former executive at Skanska USA. “I was always competing with them.”

McNally, who is an R.I. Commerce Corp. board member, said Gilbane has developed a reputation for treating its employees well and for its commitment to safety.

The company has the support of unions, as well, according to Michael F. Sabitoni, president of the Rhode Island Building & Construction Trades Council. It has consistently hired union laborers on its buildings, he noted.

Although still family-owned, the company has adapted to meet its needs. Five years ago, a nonfamily member, Michael McElvy, was named CEO and president of Gilbane Building Co., the construction management arm of Gilbane Inc. Gilbane executives also have reached out to governance experts when they needed more guidance in how to foster growth.

The company worked with John Davis, a professor at Harvard Business School, who has researched and written about family businesses.

“You have to share information with the family, so no one is being shut out,” Choquette said. “It’s the concept of being a steward. We’re constantly working on this legacy that we’ve shared.”n

CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN | FOCUS HOMEBUILDERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

And that change is a good thing, according to Sweenor, founder, CEO and president of Sweenor Builders Inc. Like so many others, the company was forced to turn to videoconferencing when stay-at-home orders and other safety protocols were enacted last year to slow the spread of the coronavirus. And there’s no going back.

Sweenor said he now invites clients for virtual presentations in which he displays designs, budgets and videos of building or renovation projects. What he discovered was a better way of communicating with clients and his team, something that he might not have been willing to try without the worldwide crisis.

And this new efficiency came at a good time.

The homebuilding industry is experiencing a major surge, and adapting to videoconferencing and other technology has allowed Sweenor to take on additional work.

Before the pandemic, the company received about three inquiries a week from prospective clients. Now there’s an average of three inquiries a day, which has translated to three new contracted jobs a week. Sweenor said his business is booked with projects into 2022.

“It’s been a boon for us,” Sweenor said.

John Marcantonio, executive director of the Rhode Island Builders Association, said his members have relied on technology such as the Zoom videoconferencing platform and 3D cameras to not only survive but thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marcantonio said he sees a robust homebuilder industry in the state as being partly attributable to a shift in behavior toward technology, both on

‘There was definitely a learning curve.’

JEFF SWEENOR, Sweenor Builders Inc. founder, CEO and president

the part of builders and their clients, during the pandemic that will likely be permanent.

“Housing has radically changed – because the way we live, work and play has radically changed,” said Marcantonio, who noted that he does not “foresee things going back to the way they were.”

In a trade that in some ways still relies on technology and principles that were developed centuries ago, builders who have adjusted to serve the “housing market the best will be the busiest,” Marcantonio said.

“Many companies, the moresophisticated builder types who had the capability and resources to begin with, have embraced technology, more so now than ever,” he said.

“You have to adapt.”

When the pandemic first hit a year ago, Sweenor worried about the future of his company, which he started in 1989 and has built to more than 30 employees. After all, the financial markets tanked immediately, travel was restricted, the economy came to a near standstill and businesses started closing.

Still, the construction industry was deemed essential and remained active.

During the first weeks of the pandemic, Sweenor Builders scrambled first to learn how to adapt to the Zoom platform.

“There was definitely a learning curve. We had never used it before,” Sweenor said. “Probably the most technological advancement we had here was a conference call.”

So, while his construction sites operated and adhered to safety protocols, his office operation transformed. “We did everything on Zoom,” he said. “It was remarkably effective. I was shocked.”

Practicing and becoming proficient with Zoom led to discoveries, such as utilizing the platform to conduct budget and design presentations. It also cut meeting times in half “because everything was to the point; you don’t seem to go off on tangents as much, and there wasn’t a lot of side conversations,” he said.

The basic screen-share feature turned out to be a godsend for meeting with clients and conducting design work. “The most effective thing for us is the ability to have a faceto-face call but yet be able to share the screen and look at what we have created for you,” Sweenor said.

“It created a completely different experience,” he said, as he could see his clients’ reactions to design CONTINUES ON PAGE 20

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FOCUS | CONSTRUCTION & DESIGN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20

proposals. It is now a permanent feature of his business, and he has wondered why he had not thought about utilizing the technology before the pandemic.

It wasn’t that Sweenor was a complete novice to the ways of the web.

His company has produced videos for its YouTube channel for several years as a marketing tool. Last year, however, it started a web series called “Sawdust” that has a “This Old House” feel to it. The videos are designed to help prospective clients visualize what occurs on a construction site.

“I use it to differentiate us from other builders,” said Sweenor. “We tease it on social media, but it lives on our YouTube channel.”

His business also is integrating the use of 3D camera technology for walking clients through a property over the internet. Sweenor’s team takes video of a property using the special camera, providing clients with a virtual tour of a property.

“The biggest silver lining is what [the technology] has done to our industry,” Sweenor said, “and the amount of business we have generated from it.” n

PAPER TRAIL: Jeff Sweenor, founder, CEO and president of Sweenor Builders Inc., used to meet with all of his clients face to face to review paper blueprints of projects. Now most of the designs are reviewed in videoconferences.

PBN PHOTO/ELIZABETH GRAHAM

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20 | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com

| FOCUS GENERALCONTRACTORS CONTRACTORS (ranked (ranked by number of regional employees) FOCUS | GENERAL by number of regional employees) CLOSER LOOK

General contractor | Website CEO/President

Address Phone

Regional employees Year founded

Cardi Corp. | cardi.com Antonio Cardi, president

400 Lincoln Ave. Warwick, R.I. 02888 (401) 739-8300

550 1967

Asphalt, bridge and highway construction, concrete, sand and stone

Gilbane Buildling Co. | gilbaneco.com Thomas F. Gilbane Jr., chairman; Michael McKelvy, CEO and president

7 Jackson Walkway Providence, R.I. 02903 (401) 456-5800

423 1870

Construction and facilities-related services, preconstruction planning and integrated consulting capabilities

2020: 3

Arden Building Cos. LLC | ardenbuildingcompanies.com Robert Bolton, CEO

505 Narragansett Park Drive Pawtucket, R.I. 02861 (401) 727-3500

263 1954

Design and build, electrical, fire protection, HVAC, plumbing and sprinkler service maintenance

4 2020: 4

Dimeo Construction Co. | dimeo.com Bradford S. Dimeo

75 Chapman St. Providence, R.I. 02905 (401) 781-9800

257 1930

Construction manager and builder of academic, corporate, health care, institutional, residential and retail projects

E. Turgeon Construction Corp.

Year founded: 1896

5

J.L. Marshall & Sons | jlmarshall.com Leo K. Marshall, president

P.O. Box 2210 Pawtucket, R.I. 02861 (508) 399-8910

250 1933

Reinforced concrete structures and slab, water and wastewater-treatment plants

3

6

D.F. Pray Inc. | dfpray.com Scott Pray, president

25 Anthony St. Seekonk, Mass. 02771 (508) 336-3366

85 1959

Financial, health care, LEED, life sciences, manufacturing, multifamily housing, retail, senior living

7

Shawmut Design and Construction | shawmut.com Les Hiscoe, CEO

3 Davol Square, Suite A275 Providence, R.I. 02903 (401) 752-6500

73 1982

Commercial, corporate interiors, cultural and historic preservation, health care, life sciences, hotels, restaurants, retail and sports venues

8

Pariseault Builders Inc. | pariseault.com Brian Casey, president

25 Sharpe Drive Cranston, R.I. 02920 (401) 738-0524

67 1946

Construction services for academic, health care, religious, commercial, multiunit, restaurant, luxury residential, and nonprofit/community clients

9

Site Specific LLC | sitespecificllc.com Peter Crump and Matt Dempsey, partners

141 Gano St. Providence, R.I. 02906 (401) 632-4400

45 2004

Academic, commercial, health care, historical, hospitality, museum and gallery, residential, retail

TRAC Builders Inc. | tracbuilders.com William Tracey, president; Nelson Ferreria, chief operating officer

28 Wolcott St. Providence, R.I. 02908 (401) 943-3800

45 1995

Construction management, general contracting

Agostini Bacon Construction Cos. | baconconstruction.com George L. Agostini, chairman and CEO; Steven J. Agostini, president and chief operating officer

241 Narragansett Park Drive East Providence, R.I. 02916 (401) 431-1200

44 1967

Administrative, classroom and residential educational facilities

12

Sweenor Builders Inc. | sweenorbuilders.com Jeff Sweenor, CEO

12 High St. South Kingstown, R.I. 02879 (401) 789-4341

42 1989

Full range of design and build services for new construction and remodeling

13

J2 CONSTRUCT Inc. | j2construct.com Sean Burke and Jeff Lipshires, founders

55 John Clarke Road Middletown, R.I. 02842 (888) 301-0076

40 2018

Construction and design for residential and commercial properties

14

E.W. Burman Inc. | ewburman.com Edward Burman, president

33 Vermont Ave. Warwick, R.I. 02888 (401) 738-5400

38 1964

Commercial and industrial buildings, historic restoration, hospitals

2020: NL

Catalano Construction Inc. | catalanoconstruction.com Jason Catalano, president

10 Nate Whipple Highway Cumberland, R.I. 02864 (401) 658-3999

36 1989

Site work, excavation and utility contractor specializing in commercial, academic and municipal projects

16 2020: NL

Ahlborg Construction Corp. | www.ahlborg.com Eric Ahlborg, president; Glenn Ahlborg, vice president and director of construction operations

355 Centerville Road Warwick, R.I. 02886 (401) 681-4949

35 2009

Design and build, construction management, general contracting

Davitt Inc. 1 | davittdesignbuild.com Matt Davitt

4 Frank Ave. South Kingstown, R.I. 02892 (401) 792-9799

31 1982

Design and build firm for luxury and coastal homes; insurance/restoration for large property losses due to fire, flood or severe storm damage

18

Case Construction | caseconstructionri.com Kurt Gustafson, president

225 Wampanoag Trail East Providence, R.I. 02915 (401) 434-6511

25 1918

Self-performing general contractor specializing in educational, medical and commercial construction

18

Behan Bros. Inc. | behanbros.com Michael J. Behan Jr., owner and president

975 Aquidneck Ave. Middletown, R.I. 02842 (401) 846-1516

25 1973

Affordable and luxury residential, design and build, historical preservation, commercial, industrial, institutional, LEED

Deslandes Construction Inc. | deslandesconstruction.com James G. Deslandes Sr., president

126 Bellows St. Warwick, R.I. 02888 (401) 467-7600

20 1963

Commercial construction and build-outs, custom homes, project management, residential renovations

H.V. Collins Co. | hvcollins.com Henry Collins, president

99 Gano St. Providence, R.I. 02906 (401) 421-4080

16 1924

Conceptual and design development budget preparation, pre-construction services

Bowerman Construction Inc. | bowermanassociates.com Greg Post and Leo Hudon, principals

1 Richmond Square, Suite 220E Providence, R.I. 02906 (401) 454-4300

16 1914

Automotive, dental, health care, industrial-warehouse, manufacturing/office, retail, residential apartments and veterinary

23

Keough Construction Management Inc. | keoughconstruct.com Raymond Keough, president

312 Waterman Ave. East Providence, R.I. 02914 (401) 383-8266

14 2004

Construction management services, design and build services, general contracting, owner representation services

24

A. Autiello Construction Co. | autielloconstruction.com Anthony Autiello, vice president

125 Carlsbad St. Cranston, R.I. 02920 (401) 942-6822

12 1994

Commercial, industrial, institutional, medical and retail projects

E. Turgeon Construction Corp. | eturgeon.com Francis Ducharme, president

8 Webb St., Unit B Cranston, R.I. 02920 (401) 943-0190

10 1896

Construction management/general contracting firm specializing in commercial projects

2021 rank

1 2020: 1 2

2020: 2

3

2020: NL

2020: 6

2020: 5

2020: 9

2020: 7

9

2020: 10

11 2020: 11 2020: NL

2020: NL

2020: 12

15

17

2020: 15

2020: 14

2020: NL

20

2020: 16

21

2020: NL

21

2020: 16

2020: NL

2020: NL

25

2020: 18

Specialties

Re-ranked by oldest contractor

1

Gilbane Building Co. Year founded: 1870

2

Bowerman Construction Inc. Year founded: 1914

LIST RESEARCHED BY James Bessette NEED A COPY? To purchase a copy of this list, call (401) 273-2201 or visit PBN.com/lists for more information.

UPCOMING LISTS April 2: Adult Education Programs; Online Degrees & Programs; April 16: Rhode Island Independent Insurance Agencies; Software Development Companies WANT TO JOIN? For more information about participating in PBN’s Top Lists, or to make additions or corrections, call (401) 680-4838 or write to Research@PBN.com.

NL = Not listed last year.

FOOTNOTE j Also known as Davitt Design Build.

1 Also known as Davitt Design Build.

YEARS

130

PROMOTING THE MECHANICAL CONTRACTING www.nemca.org www.nemca.org 617.405.4221 617.405.4221 INDUSTRY FOR OVER @NewEnglandMCA @NewEnglandMCA

www.pbn.com | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | 21

COMMERCIAL&&INDUSTRIAL INDUSTRIALSERVICES SERVICES COMPANIES FOCUS ||COMMERCIAL

(ranked by number of employees)

(ranked by number of employees)

2021 rank

1

2020: NL

2

2020: NL

3

Company | Website President

Address Phone

No. of employees

Gilbane Buildling Co. | gilbaneco.com Thomas F. Gilbane Jr., chairman; Michael McKelvy, CEO and president

7 Jackson Walkway Providence, R.I. 02903 (401) 456-5800

423

Carpionato Group | carpionatogroup.com K. MacArthur Coates, CEO and president

1414 Atwood Ave. Johnston, R.I. 02919 (401) 273-6800

162

Top services

Year founded

Construction and facilities-related services

1870

Construction and facilities-related services, and management

1999

LIST RESEARCHED BY James Bessette

99 Bald Hill Road Cranston, R.I. 02920 (800) 242-5892

4 2020: 2

Ruggieri Brothers Inc. | ruggieribros.com William Ruggieri

110 Comstock Parkway Cranston, R.I. 02921 (401) 463-9100

60

Commercial flooring contractors

1949

5 2020: NL

Paolino Properties LP | paolinoproperties.com Joseph R. Paolino Jr., managing partner; Donna Paolino, partner

100 Westminster St. Providence, R.I. 02903 (401) 274-6611

55

Real estate investment, development and management

1900

Sheehans Office Interiors | sheehansoffice.com Jack Sheehans, owner

524 Park Ave., and 865 Waterman Ave. Portsmouth and East Providence, R.I. 02871 and 02914 (401) 683-3150

35

Commercial interiors and office furniture

1979

7

A&A Window Cleaning | aawindowcleaning.com Alfred D'Andrea, president

200 Lavan St. Warwick, R.I. 02888 401-944-8877

31

Commercial window cleaning

1930

8

Tavares Cleaning Services Inc. | tavarescleaning.com Carlos Tavares, owner

PO Box 73093 Providence, R.I. 02907 (401) 461-4495

30

Janitorial and maintenance services

1990

9

F.H. French Co./Blackstone Management | fhfrench.com Jennifer Cookke, owner and president

6 Blackstone Valley Place Lincoln, R.I. 02865 (401) 334-8900

25

Asset and property management, tenant fit-out and owners-rep services

1935

Peter M. Scotti & Associates | scottirealtyri.com Peter Scotti, owner and president

403 South Main St. Providence, R.I. 02903 (401) 421-8888

15

Appraisal, consulting, real estate sales and leasing, and property management

1988

2020: 8

Office Concepts | officeconceptsinc.net Sharon Maguire, president

2250 Pawtucket Ave. East Providence, R.I. 02914 (401) 435-4200

12

Office furniture and related services

1968

2020: 9

12

TJ Russell Supply | tjrussellcompany.com Erik Warner, owner and president

86 Tupelo St. Bristol, R.I. 02809 (401) 253-2882

6

Distributor of cleaning, maintenance and shipping supplies, paper products

1971

13

Intercity Paper Co. | intercitypaper.com Carlos Tavares, owner

1093 Elmwood Ave. Providence, R.I. 02907 (401) 722-4599

5

Janitorial and maintenance supply distributor

1991

14

Office Direct | offdir.com Phyllis Cannava, owner and president

380 Jefferson Blvd.

Warwick, R.I. 02886 (401) 732-3040

4

Interior design and commercial properties

1989

Superior LED Light LLC | superiorledlightsolutions.com Kevin and Trish Audette, owners

15 North Cobble Hill Road Warwick, R.I. 02886 (401) 352-1030

2

Installs energy efficient lighting through utility incentive programs

2014

6 2020: 7

2020: 6

2020: 5

2020: NL

10

2020: NL

11

2020: 10

2020: 11

15

2020: 13

Total number of employees:

983

W.B. Mason Co. | wbmason.com Ed Pires, director

2020: NL

CLOSER LOOK

22 | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com

118

Office products

1898

NEED A COPY? To purchase a copy of this list, call (401) 273-2201 or visit PBN.com/lists for more information.

UPCOMING LISTS April 2: Adult Education Programs; Online Degrees & Programs; April 16: Rhode Island Independent Insurance Agencies; Software Development Companies WANT TO JOIN? For more information about participating in PBN’s Top Lists, or to make additions or corrections, call (401) 680-4838 or write to Research@PBN.com.

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IT’S PERSONAL Solomon earns Golden Paw Award REP. JOSEPH J. SOLOMON JR., D-Warwick, has received the Golden Paw Award from Animal Rescue Rhode Island in South Kingstown. The annual award is given to individuals who advocate for addressing homeless, abused and abandoned animals.

What was your reaction to being selected as a recipient of an ARRI Golden Paw Award?

It is a tremendous honor to be recognized by such a prestigious organization. My hope is that this award brings more attention to the issue of animal testing in the medical field. How society treats animals is a reflection on how we treat one another. Since the victims of animal abuse cannot speak for themselves, it is up to lawmakers to keep animals in mind when crafting health and safety laws.

What laws are you working on to protect animals?

I plan on continuing efforts to ban testing on animals in the medical field. I introduced a law that protects dogs from being outdoors in extreme temperatures, and I look forward to building upon that law. I have co-sponsored legislation that would prohibit those convicted of cruelty to animals from owning an animal.

And I will continue to investigate any issues that animal rights advocates may bring to my attention in the future.

What are the biggest issues that you are addressing as a state legislator?

I am very concerned about the impact on mental health that COVID-19 is having on our community. I plan on continuing my efforts to ensure that people struggling with mental health issues have the resources and help that they need. This is more important now than ever

PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS

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when people are faced with unimaginable stress due to the pandemic. I believe the mental health of children has been particularly affected, and I want to make sure the schools are properly equipped to deal with the emotional issues that students will face in the future. Over the last several months, my primary goal was ensuring that my constituents were taken care of. Whether it is helping them navigate unemployment insurance, directing local businesses to economic relief programs or just lending a sympathetic ear to someone who is struggling, my job is to be there for the people in my district.

We are all having to adjust to the new way of living and communicating when we cannot see one another face to face, but the job itself has not changed.

What do you hope to accomplish for your district during your tenure?

I grew up in a family that believes that we have a duty to leave the world in a better place than we found it. I ran for office because I want to have a positive impact on my community. My No. 1 focus is helping the state and its residents recover from the pandemic. I want to focus on helping small businesses that are struggling, but also focus on helping the many people who have lost their job due to the pandemic. We are just beginning to comprehend the ways in which this pandemic has had an impact on society, financially, medically, emotionally and in many other ways, so legislatively, we have our work cut out for us. n

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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE HEALTH CARE

ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE

Carla de Venecia, MD, has joined Rhode Island Medical Imaging as a women’s imaging radiologist.

Dr. de Venecia held a Women’s Imaging Fellowship at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, and a Diagnostic Radiology Residency at NYU Winthrop Hospital. A Magna Cum Laude graduate of the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, New York, NY, with a BS in Biomedicine, Dr. de Venecia received her MD from Stony Brook University School of Medicine, NY. She is Board Certified by the American Board of Radiology and holds memberships in the Society of Breast Imaging and the American College of Radiology.

DBVW Architects is pleased to announce the promotion of Edward Cifune, AIA to Associate Principal. A key member of DBVW’s K-12 Schools practice, Ed has considerable experience creating welcoming, creative, and dynamic public school facilities. Ed spent a decade managing large educational and public facilities projects throughout New England. Ed has almost 30 years of experience in commercial, municipal, and multi-family residential projects.

Known for his work ethic and willingness to mentor younger staff members, Ed is an invaluable member of the DBVW team.

DBVW Architects is pleased to announce the promotion of Pierson Booher, AIA to Principal. With his extraordinary technical expertise, attention to detail, and ability to tackle complex challenges, Pierson is the ideal choice to lead any preservation project. Before joining DBVW in 2014, Pierson worked with prominent preservation firms in New York and Philadelphia. Pierson holds a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech. At DBVW, he has led multiple preservation projects at Yale University and throughout Rhode Island.

ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURE

HOSPITALITY/TOURISM

DBVW Architects is pleased to announce the promotion of Brian Boisvert, AIA to Project Manager.

Brian’s Revit skills and knowledge of detailing for new construction have made him an asset to the DBVW team. Brian was a key player in the development of construction documents for “Edge College Hill”, a new fifteen story residential building recently completed in downtown Providence and he is currently providing construction administration services for the new Farm Fresh RI food hub. As a veteran of the U.S. Army, Brian has extensive experience working in a team environment and meeting deadlines under pressure.

DBVW Architects is pleased to announce the promotion of Matthew Valero, LEED AP to Director of Visualization. With his extraordinary computer rendering skills and his keen design sense, Matthew breathes life into DBVW designs, through 3D computer visualization. Matthew’s renderings are an invaluable tool for advancing projects during design development, for helping DBVW clients visualize designs, and for building community support in public forums. Matthew is a member of the American Society of Architectural Illustrators and has won numerous awards for his rendering work.

Pamela Baldwin, director of Sales & Marketing at Gurney’s Newport Hotel, has been named to Discover Newport Board of Directors, representing hotel properties 100 rooms or more. “I look forward to making a positive impact and offering my vision to continue the great efforts of Discover Newport in its mission to generate tourism and further develop the conference industry for our region,” states Baldwin. A well respected leader in the hotel industry, Baldwin started her career managing boutique hotels in San Francisco. Baldwin has twenty-five plus years’ working in the hotel industry in Providence, and served on many boards and associations.

PBN’S WEEKLY FEATURE PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

offers your company the perfect opportunity to announce new hires, promotions, special accomplishments and philanthropic activities to the Rhode Island business community.

The listing includes: • Your announcement published on PBN.com within 24 hours (Monday-Friday) and archived on our site.

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• Your announcement printed in the next available edition of Providence Business News.

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• 1 photo, 90-100 words of text, clickable links to your website, social media sharing and keywords to optimize search.

To submit a standard listing, go to PBN.com/pbnconnect.

For a featured listing, contact your account manager or Advertising@PBN.com 401.680.4800

www.pbn.com | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | 25

IT’S PERSONAL MACKAY’S MORAL | HARVEY MACKAY

Hard work pays off AN OLD RANCH OWNER named John had a small spread in Montana. The state government claimed he was not paying proper wages to his workers, so it sent an agent to check things out.

“I need a list of your employees here, along with how much you pay them,” said the agent.

“Well,” replied John, “there’s my ranch hand Silas, who’s been with me for three years. I pay him $600 a week plus free room and board. The cook, Ben, has been here for 18 months, and I pay him $500 a week plus free room and board. Then there’s the half-wit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night.”

“That’s the guy I want to talk to, the half-wit,” said the agent.

“That would be me,” replied John.

Hard work is the most important key to success. Without a willingness to work hard, business success is nearly impossible. Take it from Thomas Edison, who said success is “1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.”

One of the keys to hard work is motivation. But how do you stay motivated to do the hard work necessary to be

successful? For some, it’s accomplishing small tasks to achieve big goals.

For others, it’s focus, consistency, dedication and perseverance.

For me, it’s a three-pronged approach: I keep physically fit to accomplish what I need to; I start out each day with my most important task; and I reward myself for working hard.

The harder you work for something, the better you’ll feel when you achieve it. Working hard becomes a habit. You get self-satisfaction from pushing yourself to the limit, knowing that all the effort is going to pay off.

Sam Walton, founder of Walmart Inc., said: “If you love your work, you’ll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon, everybody around will catch the passion from you – like a fever.”

Work isn’t work if you enjoy it.

I’m so convinced of that notion that the subtitle of one of my books is, “Do

What You Love, Love What You Do, and Deliver More Than You Promise.”

Sam Ewing, former professional baseball player, said: “Hard work spotlights the character of people: Some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all.”

To work hard, you need to minimize distractions. Interruptions are a killer because you lose focus and productivity.

Many people talk about multitasking, but I think it’s detrimental to accomplishing your goals. It’s hard to constantly start and stop what you are doing. Finishing the task at hand is tremendous motivation to move on to the next.

Author David Bly offers this assessment: “Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.”

In a small village lived a hardworking farmer who owned a vast

Work isn’t work if you enjoy it.

vineyard. Year after year the vineyard provided a rich harvest, and the farmer became very successful. He had three sons who were young and energetic but never bothered to work hard. As the farmer grew old, he began to worry about his sons’ futures.

Then he fell very ill and realized his death was fast approaching. He called the sons and told them: “Dear sons, I see my death nearing me, but before I bid goodbye to all of you, I want to share a secret. There is a treasure hidden under the fields. Dig the entire field after my death to find it.”

The old farmer died. After the funeral, the sons began to dig for the treasure without leaving any part of the field untouched, but they found nothing. However, their digging of the field led to a healthy crop and resulted in huge earnings. This made the sons realize what their father meant: Hard work pays off.

Mackay’s Moral: Pray for a good crop but don’t forget to hoe. n Harvey Mackay is the author of the New York Times best-seller “Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive.” He can be reached through his website, www.harveymackay.com.

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IT’S PERSONAL TO SAVOR | JESSICA NORRIS GRANATIERO

Shades of lambrusco THE WORD LAMBRUSCO often conjures up images of the TV commercial jingle “Riunite on ice … that’s nice,” or the excessively sweet red wine that our grandparents used to drink. While the brand Riunite put lambrusco on the U.S. wine map many years ago, lambrusco, a slightly sparkling low-alcohol wine, had not garnered the attention it deserves until just recently.

Lambrusco hails from northern Italy, specifically from the areas of Emilia Romagna and Lombardy. Those are the only two regions permitted by law in which lambrusco can be made. You will not see a lambrusco from California or any other wine region unless the laws are changed. The laws of wine production and labeling in Europe are more stringent than those in the U.S. Lambrusco is both the name of the grape varieties (there are many) and the name of the wine itself.

Slightly effervescent, no two are alike.

Most lambruscos are blends of different lambrusco varieties. The most popular are lambrusco di Sorbara, lambrusco reggiano, lambrusco grasparossa and lambrusco salamino. Wines made from lambrusco grasparossa are often the deepest in color, body and tannins. Wines produced from lambrusco di Sorbara are often the most delicate and softest, with lower tannins. Tannins are components in wine that often give you that dry, velvety mouthcoating feeling.

Lambrusco has different styles, from beautifully bone-dry (secco) to slightly sweet (semi-secco) to sweet (dolce). These words on the label, as well as the alcohol content, will give you some insight and

price point. They typically range from $10-$20, with some ageable ones fetching up to $40.

Lambrusco is also one of the best choices for partnering with food. Emilia Romagna is home to Bologna, Parma, Modena and Reggio, areas from where some of the best cheeses, cured meats and balsamic come. So naturally their foods – parmigiano-reggiano, mortadella, prosciutto di Parma and aged sweet balsamic, for example, best match with lambrusco. However, other good partners for dry red lambrusco are lamb, game birds and filet mignon. Sweeter red lambruscos are great for pairing with dark chocolate or tiramisu. White and rose styles complement lighter dishes of shellfish, salads and beans. While I always say the best epicurean marriage is the combination of wine and food from the same region, lambrusco has a place at the table with cuisine from any country because of its versatility. Here are a few of my top choices. n Lini Rosé Lambrusco (Sorbara & Salamino), Emilia Romagna – light floral aromas with dry notes of ripe, juicy strawberries and raspberries. n Fiorini Becco Rosso Lambrusco Grasparossa, Emilia Romagna – full-bodied, medium dry with prominent tannins and blackberry and bing cherry notes. n Fondo Bozzole Incantabiss Lambrusco Mantovano, Lombardy – light to medium body and dry with dark cherry and plum notes. n

PLENTY OF CHOICE: Lambrusco has various styles, from bone-dry secco to sweet dolce.

COURTESY THE SAVORY GRAPE

education on their sweetness level. The sweeterstyle lambruscos typically have an alcohol content of 11% alcohol by volume or below, while the drier ones are above that. Some of the best and most traditional-style lambruscos are red and can range in flavor profiles, from lighter red fruits of raspberries and strawberries to richer dark fruits of black cherries, plums and blueberries. However, some producers such as Lini, a fourth-generation family in Emilia Romagna focused on the craft since 1910, also make dry lambrusco in white and rose wine styles. Another great aspect of lambrusco is its

Jessica Norris Granatiero is the founder of The Savory Grape, a wine, beer and spirits shop in East Greenwich.

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OPINION EDITORIALS

Gov. McKee must show how his office can work with lt. gov

SEEKING A PARTNER: After six years as lieutenant governor, new Gov. Daniel J. McKee says he wants his successor to be a partner he can work with. But they won’t be able to appear together on the ballot in the 2022 gubernatorial election.

AP FILE PHOTO/STEVEN SENNE

Eleven years ago, the late Robert J. Healey Jr. ran the last of his three failed bids for lieutenant governor, capturing 39% of the vote. What made that respectable showing notable, however, was that Healey was a single-issue candidate, focused primarily on abolishing the office.

That so many voters agreed with him may be one reason recent Rhode Island governors have tended not to work closely with the person elected by voters to fill in or, in extraordinary circumstances, replace them if they can’t finish their term.

But when the extraordinary happens, as was the case with former Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s resignation to serve as United States secretary of commerce, it’s voters who get shortchanged. Gov. Daniel J. McKee is still trying to get up to speed in the office and on the issues, more than two months after Raimondo was tapped for her new post in President Joe Biden’s cabinet.

That’s why the former lieutenant governor’s plan to make his successor a partner, as opposed to leaving him or her to carve out their own role, is in the state’s best interests.

The National Lieutenant Governors Association says 26 states have team elections for the two offices. For Rhode Island to join them, it would require a constitutional amendment that voters couldn’t decide on before the next gubernatorial election in 2022, according to Common Cause Rhode Island.

Until then, Mr. McKee will get to make the case in practice that the two offices can be more effective working together, rather than separately as he and his predecessor did for six years. n

Keep ATVs off city streets Kudos to Cranston and Providence officials for taking seriously the proliferation of all-terrain vehicles on city streets. The cities are joining forces to combat the growing problem, which has included altercations between police and groups of ATV riders defying laws that prohibit their operation on community streets.

ATV riders who complain they don’t have enough places to ride the vehicles do have a point. The state can designate trails on state-owned land for their use but has yet to do so.

So that leaves private property as the only places where the vehicles can be legally operated.

Sen. Frank S. Lombardi, D-Cranston, has introduced a bill that would allow local communities to designate trails where ATVs and other recreational vehicles can be ridden. His proposal has merit, but the problems in Cranston, Providence and some other communities have typically involved packs of riders on loud-running, unregistered vehicles.

These riders are a public nuisance and pose dangers to other motorists that should not be tolerated. n

POLL CENTRAL EXECUTIVE POLL

Emotional support Does your company offer employees any emotional support services in response to the pandemic?

Yes: 60%

What support services does your company offer employees?

(Select multiple)

PBN.COM POLL

How can Rhode Island’s new governor, Daniel J. McKee, most help the state’s business community this year? MARCH 5-11

Other: 60%

By keeping his focus on ensuring COVID-19 vaccines get to everyone as quickly as possible

One-on-one counseling: 40%

50%

No: 40% Our company does not offer support services: 40%

Have employees at any point during the pandemic sought such services?

Yes: 60% No: 20% Our company does not offer support services: 20%

Stress-management activities: 20% Self-care videos: 0% Weekly well-being communications: 0%

Have some employees at any point requested to take a leave of absence to seek emotional support?

No: 80%

The Providence Business News Executive Poll is a weekly survey of 70 business leaders throughout the state, representing small and large companies in a variety of industries.

Yes: 20%

He should immediately provide tax relief to small businesses through executive order

Prioritize the economic needs of the state’s devastated hospitality industry

25% Make R.I. Commerce Corp. more focused on the needs of small businesses

14%

11%

Do promised benefits from a proposed medical-waste treatment plant in West Warwick outweigh potential negatives?

THIS WEEK’S POLL:

• Yes, the green jobs, tax revenue and energy generation would be welcomed • Yes, because any health and safety concerns will be addressed during permitting • No, more research needs to be done on the health effects and safety of this type of facility • No, it should only be sited in a community that wants it • I don’t know To vote, go to PBN.com and follow the link on the home page

28 | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com

OPINION OPINION

Crisis calls for special hospitality plan

STEPHEN M. MACIEL GUEST COLUMN

In a Feb. 5 Providence Business News article, Farouk Rajab, general manager of the Providence Marriott Downtown and chairman of the Rhode Island Hospitality Association, painted a dire picture for his hotel and the entirety of the hospitality industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I agree that persuading people to travel will be a challenge that may take mass vaccination before people will feel safe, that corporate travel may never return to previous levels, and that major events may be on the distant horizon. I also agree that we do need a clear plan at the ready – including a way to help improve Rhode Island’s economy.

As we emerge from the pandemic, there will be a major pent-up demand for leisure travel that may help offset some of the corporate travel loss. And though there will be fewer major events, travelers will still be looking for getaway experiences for which Rhode Island’s accommodation and hospitality industry is very well-suited.

And as far as a clear plan for a “Herculean effort” that Rajab says is needed for the local hospitality industry to recover, allow me to propose a plan of action to serve as a partial solution.

I suggest we further capitalize on the state’s strengths within the tourism and hospitality industry to develop a statewide, unified amenity campaign. This campaign, with the internal working title of “Discover RI First,” would be designed to attract more year-round overnight guests and motivate these guests to enjoy state-based products and services, with a special emphasis on Main Street and mom-and-pop businesses.

The plan is to rally our business com-

munity around a promotion campaign to enhance our existing tourism accommodation packages by combining them with added-value amenity offers. These amenity offers can be distributed by accommodation hosts (and other promotional methods) and be presented through familiar mediums such as a website, value card or mobile app.

The methodology is to form a “dispersed responsibility” alliance of mutually beneficial strategic partners who present a unified promotional front. The amenity-offer details can be publicized and accessed through existing private- and public-sector websites.

The main idea is to shift our focus to the areas where we rank first in U.S. travel and hospitality rankings (our strengths), as well as our claim to fame, “Rhode Island Firsts” in U.S. history.

The campaign centers around this core component: The first documented case of people taking a two-week vacation in what is now the U.S. happened in Narragansett Bay (as Giovanni da Verrazzano recounted in a letter to King Francis I of France in 1524).

The entire campaign’s hospitality story can unfold from this point telling why we are uniquely positioned to host “your next ­vacation.”

The intent is to add enough over-the-top value to our existing overnight packages to the point of making them “irresistible.” This will help attract more local, regional and national leisure travelers to choose Rhode Island for their vacation or stay-cation, and motivate them to enjoy our local flavor. (As this campaign builds from this primary demographic, other demographic targets such as day-trippers and daily consumers can be

There will be a major pent-up demand for leisure travel.

simultaneously developed.)

Working to increase overnight guests, and warmly inviting them to experience Rhode Island’s hospitality, creates an immediate, directly positive benefit to the state’s local economy by generating greater revenue, profit and taxes. According to a 2012 Global Insight Study, each overnight visitor in Rhode Island generates $435 in expenditures and adds $257 in gross state product. (These premium offers can be subsidized as a form of media woven into existing marketing budgets. This campaign also helps develop a more business-friendly Rhode Island culture by demonstrating a concentrated focus on state-based businesses.)

On a statewide level, the campaign could enhance existing value packaging during the annual “Hotel Week RI.” On a regional district level, it could enhance value packaging at area hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts, and Airbnb locations during our lowest occupancy months. And it should coincide with local media promotions with retail and food venues throughout the year.

These enhanced, experiential packages engage visitors and tell our state’s unique story through direct-to-consumer sampling. They can be offered immediately by bundling existing amenities and incentives and continue to grow more elaborate.

I am proposing that our private sector, with public-sector cooperation, adopt and incorporate this campaign as part of our state’s marketing strategy. My colleagues and I are in the process of test marketing aspects of this campaign and building a database of strategic partners who want to see this, or a similar plan, come to fruition. Consider joining us? Email me at stevemaciel@cox.net and call me at (401) 368-1325. n Stephen M. Maciel is a former chairman of the Southern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce and a former publisher of the Ocean State Beach Guide.

Economically, COVID-19 checks are questionable ROBERT H. SCOTT III AND KENNETH MITCHELL GUEST COLUMN

The $1,400 direct checks to people are the most expensive and perhaps most popular part of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package signed by President Joe Biden on March 11.

The package contains a lot of provisions that will help struggling Americans, and we understand why the checks are so popular.

But as economists, we believe these direct payments make little economic sense.

First, let’s consider the checks as relief.

The purpose of a measure primarily designed as relief during a crisis is to help those most affected.

The latest jobs report shows about 10 million people are unemployed. These people – mostly workers in the hospitality and leisure industries, disproportionately lowincome and people of color – are in desperate need of aid and support.

But for the vast majority of Americans, it’s like the pandemic never happened, financially speaking. A recent Pew survey found that 79% of Americans reported their family’s financial situation is about the same as or better than a year ago.

The relief package phases out at $80,000 for single people and $160,000 for couples, which would still benefit about 280 million people, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

This means that checks will go to a lot of people who don’t really need them.

OK, then how about the checks as a stimulus? So even if a lot of people who aren’t in desperate need get a payment, at least they’ll spend it and help the economy recover from the COVID-19 shock, right?

There are two problems with that. The first is that it’s not clear the economy needs much stimulus right now. While the jobs report showed millions of people remained unemployed, the February numbers came in a lot better than expected, adding to signs the U.S. economy is in fairly good shape.

The other issue is that past coronavirus checks haven’t been all that stimulative. The government began cutting $1,200 checks for most Americans in March 2020 and sent out another round of checks in December.

Research conducted on the first round found that the vast majority of Americans

saved most of the money or used it to pay down debt. About 40% of the money went toward purchases supporting industries such as food, beauty and other nondurable consumer products that had already seen spikes in spending.

So you might be wondering, what’s a better way to spend the several hundred billion dollars earmarked for checks?

At a minimum, relief payments should be targeted, such as to people who lost jobs or are working fewer hours due to illness.

But a better way would be to increase those supplemental unemployment checks to $600 from the $300 lawmakers agreed to.

Or take the U.K. approach and provide targeted but generous income replacement for workers affected by COVID-19. Another focused measure would be to help people pay for their mortgages and rent. n Robert H. Scott III is a professor of economics and finance at Monmouth University.

Kenneth Mitchell is an associate professor of Latin American politics at Monmouth.

Distributed by The Associated Press.

www.pbn.com | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | 29

ONE LAST THING I

have found that inspiration can come from a variety of places – even situations of great hardship. I recall a discussion with a family member who had lost several members of their immediate family within a short period of time. In a situation of such devastation, I wondered how they could continue to move forward surrounded by so much uncertainty and adversity. The answer was straightforward and powerful – optimism.

In a year unimaginable for most and an environment where uncertainty is common, one may not even realize the questions to ask or where to go for assistance. Our first inquiry to any organization is – have you been so focused on survival that you are missing an opportunity to prosper?

Rather than an organization merely enduring these days, the focus should be learning how to thrive in the face of adversity, while developing a team that is trusting and inspired.

Existing leaders whose formal education ended years ago have been forced to learn new skills while enduring a year of negativity.

Remember that team members are, and have been, watching, learning and ready to contribute when given the opportunity.

Anthony J. Mangiarelli Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd. Partner, director of Enterprise Services Group Anthony J. Mangiarelli has been with financial services firm Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. Ltd. for more than 20 years. He became a partner in 2015 and is KLR’s resident expert on the federal economic stimulus packages.

It’s important to have trust in your advisers, as success requires everyone’s assistance and ideas. Challenges lead to innovation and failures lead to a determination to succeed.

Our team at KLR has allowed us to thrive in the face of adversity because we hold on to the belief that things will always get better.

As we plan for 2021 and beyond, one word comes to mind – optimism! n

Let optimism be your guide PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

30 | MARCH 19-APRIL 1, 2021 | PROVIDENCE BUSINESS NEWS | www.pbn.com

Hear from PBN’s panel of health care experts about how they are addressing the challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and consequential new trends in the industry.

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KIRSTEN ANDERSON, MD, MPH

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DR. MATT COLLINS

ASHISH K. JHA, MD, MPH

Senior Director Clinical Solutions MD New England Market, CVS Health

EVP & Chief Medical Officer, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island

Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health

DR. CLAIRE LEVESQUE

PETER MARINO

CHRISTOPHER D. PALMIERI

Chief Medical Officer Tufts Health Plan

KAREN T. TASHIMA MD

Professor of Medicine, Director of Clinical Trials at The Immunology Center, The Miriam Hospital

President & CEO Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island

President & CEO, Commonwealth Care Alliance®

PATRICK TIGUE

RI Health Insurance Commissioner

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