Cicilline to unveil federal aid proposal

Mayor David N. Cicilline was to announce today a proposal to get millions of federal dollars to deal with the city’s foreclosure problem, his office announced. The announcement is part of “an ongoing effort to protect Providence neighborhoods from the national foreclosure crisis,” a news release said. The news conference for the “aggressive proposal” was set for 10 a.m. at 72 Ford St., in the city’s West End, a place particularly impacted by foreclosures, Cicilline’s office said.

N.E. gets federal safety training grants

The six New England states will share $526,766 in health and safety training grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration. Rhode Island received $9,357 while Massachusetts received $63,395. Grantees can use the money for training miners working in surface and underground coal and metal and nonmetal mines, including miners engaged in shell dredging or employed at surface stone, sand and gravel mining operations. Overall, the Labor department awarded $8.2 million in grants for fiscal year 2008, up from the prior year’s allocation of $7.9 million.

Pennsylvania suspends talks with GTECH

Lottomatica SpA, the manager of Italy’s national lottery, said Pennsylvania officials have suspended talks with the company’s U.S. gaming-equipment unit, Providence-based GTECH Corp. The state revenue department suspended the discussions, which concerned a contract providing terminal-based lottery services, after GTECH advised them of a change in equipment, Lottomatica said. Pennsylvania said it will solicit offers from two companies that submitted previous proposals. Commenting on the matter, GTECH CEO Jaymin B. Patel said, “GTECH has a family of terminals that is field proven, highly reliable, and sets the standard in lottery ticket sales around the world.” “We have every expectation of successfully meeting the Lottery’s requirements in Pennsylvania.”

Papitto group announces $1.63 million in gifts

The Papitto Foundation yesterday announced gifts totaling $1.63 million: $1.3 million to Miriam Hospital, Providence; $300,000 to St. Mary Academy – Bay View, Riverside; and $30,000 to the Colin Myers Memorial Fund, Providence. The gift to Miriam Hospital is designed to help strengthen its cardiac surgery program. In honor of this gift, the hospital will name its new surgical floor The Ralph and Barbara Papitto Surgical Floor. “This important and generous gift supports our three-phase construction project to modernize the hospital and equip it with the latest patient-care technology,” said Kathleen C. Hittner, M.D., hospital president and CEO. The Colin Myers Memorial Fund was established at the Rhode Island Foundation by James Myers, M.D., in memory of his son. The gift to the Educating the Whole Woman for the 21st Century Capital Campaign of St. Mary Academy – Bay View, Riverside, pre-kindergarten through high school and the largest girls’ school in New England, will finance renovations and improvements to its high school. Ralph Papitto, who founded Providence-based Nortek in 1967 and also set up other public companies, established The Papitto Foundation in 1986.

EMC purchases Infra of Australia

Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC Corp., the world’s largest maker of storage computers, has bought closely held Infra Corp., of Australia, to gain software for automating computer services. Infra, based in Sydney, sells software that lets information technology help-desks automate tasks such as resolving system failures, EMC spokeswoman Lesley Ogrodnick said in an e-mailed message. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., the world’s largest grain processor, and the University of Technology of Delft, in the Netherlands, are among Infra’s 400 customers, according to the company’s Web site. Infra will become part of EMC’s Resource Management Software Group and keep its brand name. Its 150 employees will be retained, Ogrodnick said. The acquisition won’t have a material effect on sales or earnings this year, EMC said in a statement.

Tech Global Partners teams with Push Tech

North Kingstown-based Tech Global Partners Inc. has announced a reseller partnership with Push Technology Ltd. for its Internet application technology, Diffusion, which is a data-publishing tool that enables technology companies and end users to create Web applications. Tech Global is the primary distribution channel for Diffusion in the North American and South American markets and will distribute the software and provide technical services. Tech Global is a services organization focused on providing assistance to technology organizations and end users, with a special expertise in the retail and hospitality industries. Tech Global operates offices in Texas and California. Push Technology is a privately owned company based in the United Kingdom.

Univision credit rating is downgraded

The corporate credit rating of Univision Communications Inc., partly owned by Providence-based Providence Equity Partners, has been downgraded from a B to a B-minus by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s because the Spanish-language media company had been expected to gain more on the sale of its music division. Last week, Univision announced it had reached an agreement to sell its music division to Universal Music Group for $153 million, of which $113 million is due to Univision upon closing. That amount was “significantly lower than expected” and not enough to repay a $500-million bridge loan that matures in March 2009, S&P said. “Univision plans to sell additional assets and investments to repay the remainder of the bridge loan,” wrote S&P credit analyst Michael Altberg. Last year, a group of private investors, including Providence Equity, Thomas H. Lee Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners, Texas Pacific Group and Los Angeles billionaire Haim Saban, bought Univision for $12.3 billion. To finance the highly leveraged transaction, the new owners took on nearly $10 billion in debt.

Astro-Med wins contract from Bombardier

West Warwick-based Astro-Med Inc. has been awarded a contract to provide ruggedized cockpit printers for aircraft maker Bombardier Inc.’s new cockpit and will complement the new avionics suite provided by Rockwell Collins. Astro-Med’s real-time, high-resolution cockpit printers will provide pilots with additional information, including printed maps of flight plans and weather patterns, and hard-copy reproduction of other information displayed on screen. The airborne printers will be manufactured in a custom color and print configuration for integration inside the flight deck. Astro-Med previously announced the contract last year, but did not name Rockwell Collins because it had not publicly announced its agreement with Bombardier. Astro-Med is a manufacturer of high-tech specialty printing systems, electronic medical instrumentation, and test and measurement instruments.

Aviation Week honors Cessna CEO

Providence-based Textron’s Cessna Aircraft Co. division’s chairman, president and CEO Jack J. Pelton was named winner of the 2008 Aviation Week magazine’s Laurel for Business and General Aviation at the annual awards banquet March 4 in Washington, D.C. The Laurels, among the aerospace industry’s most prestigious awards, have been presented annually for more than 50 years to recognize professional excellence. Pelton was noted for his work in spurring the company into new markets with the introduction of both the SkyCatcher light sport aircraft and the planned Citation Columbus large-cabin, long-range business jet. Pelton also led Cessna’s expansion of its single-engine product line with the company’s first-ever acquisition of another manufacturer in December 2007, acquiring certain assets of Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing and its high-performance aircraft product line. Under Pelton’s leadership, Cessna turned in its best financial performance, with sales last year of $5.2 billion, raising the company’s backlog to a record $12.6 billion.