Business
| Recommended 
Around the region …
01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Rite-Solutions, of Middletown, has been awarded a competitive task order valued at up to $18.7 million to provide technical, analytical and software engineering services to support the Naval Undersea Warfare Center’s undersea vehicle-development program. The period of performance if all options are exercised is five years. Rite-Solutions, a software development firm, will lead a diversified team to provide NUWC with a variety of capabilities. The company is an employee-owned small business focused on engineering and information technology for both government and commercial customers.
Cox Communications is going green with “Cox Conserves,” a series of initiatives designed to conserve resources at the company and protect the environment. In addition to the installation of computerized lighting, heating and cooling systems, use of energy-saving lighting and a toner-cartridge recycling program, the company has introduced hybrid vehicles to its fleet. The new Ford Escapes are the most fuel-efficient in their class, getting an estimated 500 miles on a tank of gas. The vehicles will be used for Cox Tech Solutions, which brings technicians to homes to fix computer and equipment problems. The company plans to continue to switch portions of its fleet to diesel and hybrid vehicles over the next several years. It will also launch a comprehensive desk-side recycling program for its 1,200 employees and a compost initiative at its New England Care Center in West Warwick this summer.
Astro-Med, of West Warwick, will exhibit at this year’s premier trade show and technical conference dedicated to aerospace telemetry in Toulouse, France, today through Thursday. It brings together aerospace engineers from around the world as well as large aerospace companies such as Airbus, Ampex, GE and L3 Communications. Astro-Med is a world supplier of data-acquisition and recording systems for ground-based, as well as airborne, applications to monitor flight data during the development of new aircraft, missiles and satellites. The Everest Data Recorder is the company’s flagship product for this market and are used at NASA, Air Force and Navy test ranges, as well as at aircraft makers such as Airbus and Boeing. In addition to the company’s exhibit, one of its senior engineers will deliver a technical paper titled “Algorithm to Improve Performance for Displays of Sampled Waveforms.”
Pittsfield, Mass.-based KB Toys has appointed Andrew Bailen as president and chief executive officer. During his 28-year career, Bailen has managed retail businesses including Party City, Blockbuster Video, Circus World Toys and Noodle Kidoodle. He was most recently president of Loew-Cornell, a division of the Jarden Corp. KB Toys is owned by an affiliate of Prentice Capital Management LP, a private-equity firm specializing in strategic investments in the consumer and retail sectors.
Nuance Communications, of Providence, a supplier of speech and imaging solutions, has announced the availability of PowerScribe Workstation 4.8, a speech-recognition system for radiology. It is enhanced with partner Vocada’s Veriphy function, creating a simplified user interface for radiologists. The added feature is a communications system for test-result management that allows physicians to send messages to ordering clinicians instantly via pager, cell phone or e-mail. The integration eliminates delays and inaccuracies in communication, improving patient safety and streamlining reporting.
Dan Smith, president of Raytheon Co.’s Tewksbury, Mass.-based Integrated Defense Systems, which has a unit in Portsmouth, was elected to the Association of the United States Army’s Council of Trustees during its recent spring meeting in Arlington, Va. The 11-member council is the AUSA’s governing body and provides broad policy direction to the association’s officers and staff and governs its financial affairs. Smith has been elected to a three-year term that begins July 1. IDS is Raytheon’s leader in joint battlespace integration for a broad international and domestic customer base, including the U.S. armed forces, the Missile Defense Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
Rogers Corp., of Rogers, Conn., and Optodot Corp., of Boston, have entered into an agreement to focus on technology and business development of new membrane film products for battery and energy-storage applications. The agreement will have Rogers and Optodot working together on product development and Rogers selling the separator products. Rogers also retains an option to purchase Optodot’s membrane technology. The alliance between the companies is in response to the rapid growth of energy-storage requirements in transportation, military and consumer electronics.
Sovereign Bank, one of the largest banks in Rhode Island and New England, has named Marshall P. Soura to succeed Jim Lynch as chairman and chief executive officer of the mid-Atlantic division. Soura will have total responsibility for all retail and commercial banking operations in the division. Lynch will retire from Sovereign Sept. 30 and will continue to serve as vice chairman of Sovereign Bancorp until then. Soura is currently executive vice president and managing director of Sovereign’s global solutions group and marketing department. He will continue to oversee both organizations.
Framingham, Mass.-based Netezza, a provider of data warehouse appliances, has announced that Guitar Center, a retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards and audio and recording equipment, has implemented the Netezza Performance Server system at its retail stores. Guitar Center said it has selected Netezza, in collaboration with business intelligence software from QuantiSense and MicroStrategy, to manage and analyze data. The integrated business intelligence provides Guitar Center with a consolidated view of its operations to identify and respond to trends in the business across divisions, the company said.
… Citizens Bank held its ninth annual ceremony at its downtown Providence headquarters yesterday to recognize employees with 25 or more years of service, each of whom will have his or her name inscribed on a brick that will be installed as a permanent part of the plaza.
 | Johnston's Central Landfill: More than just putting trash in a hole in the ground |
 | Tour points to transformation of South Side, Elmwood |
 | Seekonk turkey farm marks 65th anniversary |
|
More business stories
Jobs woes adding to R.I. housing troubles
Most Viewed Yesterday
Politics of religion: Kennedys and the Catholic Church
Lawyers to get $59 million from Station fire settlement
About 150 gather in Warwick for Tea Party’s first open meeting
Most active surveys
Will you skimp on Thanksgiving dinner this year? If so, where?
Who will win the PC-URI basketball game?
Would you trade Clay Buchholz and Casey Kelly for Roy Halladay?
Will you allow your children to be vaccinated against swine flu? Why or why not?
Most e-mailed in the last 24 hours
Reader Reaction
You must be logged in to contribute. Log in | Register Now!
You are logged in as screenname | Log Out
You are logged in, but do not have a "screen" name. Create a Screen Name