Fall River builder faces OSHA fines

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Homeland Builders Inc., a Fall River construction contractor, for alleged willful, repeat and serious safety hazards at a Milford, Conn., construction site. The company, which previously had been cited for fall hazards at job sites in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, faces a total of $214,800 in proposed fines, chiefly for fall-related hazards at a construction site at 188 Clark St., in Milford. The citations and fines follow inspections begun in April after OSHA inspectors on two separate occasions observed fall hazards while driving by the job site. Homeland Builders employees were seen working without required fall protection on the roof of the structure under construction and on the raised forks of a powered industrial truck, situations that exposed the employees to falls of 13 to 15 feet.

August SBA loans total $3.8 million

Rhode Island small businesses had more than $3.8 million in loans approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration during the month of August. The SBA reported that the 20 loans were made by five banks, two credit unions and two certified development companies. The SBA will provide a 50 percent federal government guarantee on most of the loans. Citizens Bank produced the most SBA loans during the month with six, followed by Sovereign Bank with four, Coastway Credit Union with three and Westerly Community Credit Union with two. The August loans helped to create 50 new jobs and retained 96 existing jobs. Since the beginning of the federal fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2007, the SBA has approved 345 loans totaling $56,684,087. That total is 152 loans and just over $5 million lower than the same period last fiscal year. “Although SBA lending in Rhode Island is down from the same period last year, I am extremely pleased that our agency continues to provide the access to capital small businesses need,” said Mary S. Hayward, director of the SBA Rhode Island District Office. “It is even more important to note that despite the economic slow down, SBA-backed loans … helped to create or retain a total of 146 jobs in Rhode Island.”

Bristol Community College sets business expo

The Academic Center for Entrepreneurship at Bristol Community College, 777 Elsbree St., Fall River, will hold its 2008 Entrepreneurship Expo and Awards Ceremony from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14. Business support-service companies are welcome to exhibit products and services at the exposition portion of the event. Nominations for the awards portion are now being accepted. The award categories are for: Developing Entrepreneur, Cornerstone Entrepreneur and Benevolent Entrepreneur. Nomination forms can be downloaded from www.bristolcc.edu.

Nestor gets camera contract in Calif. city

Nestor Traffic Systems Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Providence-based Nestor Inc., said it was selected to provide red light cameras at up to 10 intersections in the city of Manteca, Calif. Nestor’s CrossingGuard Automated Red Light Enforcement system’s tracking technology makes it the only system capable of accurately enforcing the low speed or “rolling red” violations that plague Manteca. In May, Nestor studied six Manteca intersections considered problematic by the local Police Department. The tests concluded that violations — especially rolling right-turn violations — were dangerously high.

Junior League launches membership drive

The Junior League of Rhode Island is recruiting members for the 2009 Provisional Class. The Junior League of Rhode Island is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. The organization’s purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. The Junior League reaches out to women of all races, religions and national origins who demonstrate an interest in and commitment to voluntarism. The Junior League of Rhode Island will host three prospective member information nights. The next one will be held at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, 200 Niantic Ave., Providence. For more information, call (401) 331-9302 or visit www.jlri.org.

Kohl’s opens Quonset store

Progress continues at the Gateway, the $100 million investment and construction project on Post Road in North Kingstown. This month, Kohl’s opened a store at the site in a celebration attended by neighbors, community leaders and a number of the 150 people who began new jobs at the store. Steven J. King, managing director of Quonset Development Corporation, and Town Council President Ed Cooney were joined by state Rep. Larry Ehrhardt and Town Manager Michael Embury at the ceremony. Dave’s Marketplace is slated to open a store on the site in the spring.

Washington Trust helps finance Mass. mall

The Washington Trust Company’s Commercial Real Estate Group formed a partnership with Mansfield Bank to provide $8 million in financing to HechtWin Mansfield LLC for the construction of a 23,840-square-foot retail center in Mansfield, Mass. Mansfield Marketplace will be built just west of Route 140, and will consist of two freestanding buildings that will house AT&T, Sleepy’s, Chipotle Restaurant, Omni Fitness Center and other tenants. The Hecht Company was founded in 2001 by Kenneth Hecht for the purpose of acquiring real estate assets for its own account, and to execute select brokerage assignments for a small number of clients.

Annual report in North Smithfield slated

The North Smithfield Advisory Group will meet at 8 a.m. Friday at Banneker Industries, 582 Great Rd., Suite 101, North Smithfield. Town Administrator Robert Lowe will deliver the State of the Town address. He will highlight the accomplishments of his administration over the last year and will also lend insight on future projects of interest to the business community.

United Technologies drops bid for Diebold

Hartford-based United Technologies Corp. has dropped its $2.6-billion bid to buy ATM manufacturer Diebold Inc., saying the target company had refused requests for financial information. United Technologies, which owns Sikorsky Aircraft, Otis Elevator Company and other businesses, made its offer in February in an effort to broaden its security business and expand into China. Diebold rejected the offer immediately. Until August, Diebold had not issued financial statements for several months and was investigated by the Justice Department and securities regulators over its accounting practices. The company has said it resolved the review of how it recognizes revenue and changed an accounting practice. Shares of United Technologies rose $3.97 yesterday, to $51.60, or 8 percent. Diebold fell $1.97, to $26.31, down about 7 percent.

General Dynamics gets firearms contract

General Dynamics says it has been awarded a $9-million Army contract for production of .50-caliber M2 machine guns at the company’s plant in Saco, Maine. Delivery of the heavy-barrel weapons is expected to begin late next year. The factory in Saco has produced more than 25,000 M2s to the U.S. government since 1979.