Bradford Printing opens for business

Governor Carcieri yesterday joined the new owners and employees of Bradford Printing and Finishing LLC to reopen the reorganized company in Westerly. Bradford Printing and Finishing replaces the old Bradford Dyeing Association, which closed its doors in late November. About 80 workers have been hired at the new company and the jobs will pay an average of about $15.50 an hour, roughly the same as at the old Bradford Dyeing. Nick Griseto, chief executive officer and president of the new company, said production will start today. Bradford Dyeing had operated since 1911 and printed 15 million yards of fabric each year, mostly for the U.S. military. Griseto, formerly executive vice president for sales and marketing at Bradford Dyeing, said the new entity is buying the old company’s property, building and equipment from former owner, Michael Grills. Griseto said the new company already has production contracts in place. His partners include former Bradford colleague Vasco Ferreira, who will be chief financial officer. They will also bring on Craig Nichols, Bradford’s plant manager.

FAA certifies Cindtronix flight school

Cindtronix Aviation, at Quonset State Airport, was officially recognized as a Federal Aviation Administration-certified flight school on Dec. 15. The company is the 11th flight school out of about 48 in Southern New England to be certified and the first approved flight school that instructs solely in technically advanced aircraft. Cindtronix was founded in May 2007 by chief executive officer S.M. Alinoor, an electric engineer, and operates a fleet of new Cessna aircraft. It is Rhode Island’s only Cessna pilot center.

Full Channel TV, WJAR sign pact

Full Channel TV and Media General, the owners of WJAR-TV (Channel 10), have signed a new retransmission deal to keep the NBC affiliate on the lineup for cable customers in Barrington, Warren and Bristol. Linda Maaia, president and chief executive officer of Full Channel, said it will continue to provide WJAR’s digital and high-definition feeds to cable customers as broadcasters switch to all-digital broadcasting next month.

IYRS hosts marine trades career session

The International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) in Newport will host a marine manufacturing trades career information session Thursday evening from 6 to 8 in the auditorium on the Newport campus of the Community College of Rhode Island. IYRS offers both short-term training sessions as well as one- and two-year programs in marine systems and boat building. Individuals can sign up for a nine-day introductory course called the Marine Trades Training Program from Feb. 17 to Feb. 27. The course is followed by a Marine Industry Career Day on Feb. 28 where individuals can connect with area employers. For information about Thursday’s session, contact John Freer at IYRS at jfreer@iyrs.org or call (401) 848-5777.

Conn. launches tax amnesty program

The Connecticut tax department is urging people who owe back state taxes to participate in an upcoming tax amnesty program. State officials say the amnesty could raise about $40 million and help close a projected budget deficit that’s in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The amnesty will be offered from May 1 through June 25 to any taxpayer with back taxes owed as of Nov. 28, 2008. Eligible taxpayers will be able to pay off those taxes while avoiding penalties and criminal prosecution. There will also be a small reduction in accrued interest. The amnesty is open to individuals, businesses and other taxpayers. Applications will be accepted after May 1.

Mass. bailout money for health programs?

A coalition of health-care, social-service, labor and legal groups in Massachusetts is urging Governor Patrick to use expected federal bailout money to bolster health programs trimmed because of the state’s budget crisis. The group, called Put Patients First, is also mailing fliers to 100,000 Massachusetts voters about the effects of cuts to hospitals and programs expected to hit low-income residents, children and the elderly particularly hard. Coalition organizer Mike Fadel told The Boston Globe newspaper that health-care centers are looking at reducing core services in anticipation of cuts. A Patrick spokeswoman says no decisions have been made on how the state might use stimulus package funds.

Maine considers options for power provider

The Maine Public Utilities Commission staff has recommended that the state’s largest electric utilities seek more favorable agreements with the New England power grid. But the recommendation stops short of immediate steps to pull out of the grid. The commission had already concluded that Maine ratepayers don’t get enough in return for participating in ISO-New England. Alternatives include going it alone, partnering with neighboring New Brunswick in Canada or following the staff recommendation of seeking reforms from ISO-New England. The full Public Utilities Commission is due to take up the staff recommendation next week and will report its recommendations to the legislature by Jan. 15. Maine regulators contend that the state’s residents shoulder an unfair burden of the expense of regional power grid improvements. They also contend that Maine consumers are left out of the decision-making process, which is increasingly happening at the regional and federal level.

Entergy says it’s happy with current pact

Entergy Corp., the owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, has decided not to offer a new power contract to the state’s utilities, saying the current one is sufficient. Regulators and legislators were awaiting the details of an agreement as they prepare to decide if the plant should be allowed to continue operating when its license expires in 2012. In a letter to the Vermont Public Service Board, Entergy said the utilities already have a good deal if the plant’s license is extended another 20 years and shouldn’t expect more. The utilities can have either a cut on their power price or keep the current revenue-sharing plan, the company said. Under the plan, utilities that used to own Vermont Yankee would receive half of the proceeds from sales above a certain price for 10 years after the plant is relicensed. The utilities would be expected to return that revenue — an estimated $938.8 million over 10 years or $4,000 per household — to customers. But the utilities were hoping for a better offer and are still negotiating with Entergy.

After storm, N.H. residents want own utility

Some residents of Hampton, N.H., want the town to explore dumping electricity supplier Unitil and starting their own utility. The move comes after 300 residents of a central Massachusetts town of Lunenberg signed a petition asking the town to change power companies. Hampton voters will decide at Town Meeting in March whether to investigate the idea further after a selectman said the utility’s response to a recent ice storm showed poor management. Selectman Bill Lally accused Unitil of bad communication and being slow to restore power after the ice storm that left 90 percent of the town in the dark last month. However, Robert Schoenberger, the head of Unitil, has apologized to customers who lost power for up to 12 days after the storm. In letters to its customers in north central Massachusetts and New Hampshire, he said the company wanted to “sincerely apologize” for outages that persisted after the Dec. 11 storm. Schoenberger blamed “extraordinarily severe damage to major electrical circuits.”