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Business Digest
01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Central Transport Inc., of 1761 Fall River Ave., Seekonk, a freight terminal, faces $109,500 in proposed fines from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It was cited, following an inspection, for repeated and serious violations of safety standards, OSHA said. The agency identified several hazards for which the company had previously been cited at other Central Transport locations. These include fall hazards from unguarded loading docks; lack of eye and face protection for employees filling batteries; blocked access to an emergency eyewash station located next to a battery charging area; no training in fire extinguisher use and forklift operations; failing to inspect forklifts for defects; and failure to remove defective forklifts from service. As a result, the company was issued six repeat citations. The company was also issued four serious citations, for lack of an emergency response plan; improper distribution of fire extinguishers; improperly installed electrical wiring; and allowing pigeon guano to accumulate on the terminal floor and other surfaces. A serious citation is issued when death or serious physical harm is likely to result from a hazard about which the company knew or should have known.
The Community College of Rhode Island has placed second in the country among large community colleges in the third national Digital Community Colleges Survey, which examines how colleges have progressed in using information technology to deliver services to their students, faculty and staff. The American Association of Community Colleges and the Center for Digital Education conduct the survey biennially to reward community colleges that are providing a high level of online services and support. Two years ago, CCRI placed fifth among large community colleges. The award was given at a reception Monday, during the American Association of Community Colleges 2007 Annual Convention in Tampa, Fla.
The acoustic separation design and construction of the Renaissance Providence Hotel ballroom to protect Veterans Memorial Auditorium from sound transfer between it and the ballroom was recently tested and proven to be effective. The acoustic separation was required because the two neighboring businesses on the new Avenue of the Arts are interconnected at the foundation level, with the hotel’s ballroom located two floors beneath the historical auditorium. The protection of the auditorium’s highly acclaimed acoustics, and sound separation of the ballroom from the auditorium above it, were a shared concern in the property development agreement between the nonprofit VMA organization and Sage Hospitality Resources, the developers of the Masonic Temple site.
KVH Industries Inc., (KVHI: Nasdaq) said yesterday it received a new contract from a European defense contractor for the purchase of KVH’s fiber-optic vehicle navigation systems and displays for use on new infantry fighting vehicles. If all options are exercised, the contract will have a total value of more than $6 million, with shipments starting next year and extending through 2014.
AAA Southern New England will hold the 2007 Great Battery Roundup from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. The event is designed to encourage the public to locate stray automotive or marine lead-acid batteries and bring them to a collection point where they can be safely picked up and shipped to a recycling center and formed into new batteries. Last year AAA collected almost 2,000 batteries. Used vehicle batteries containing both lead and sulfuric acid are a toxic danger to humans and the environment, as well as a potentially dangerous fire and safety hazard. Batteries can be dropped off at the following locations: AAA branch offices at 1035 Reservoir Ave., Cranston; 110 Royal Little Drive, Providence; AAA Glass & Battery, 405 Washington St., South Attleboro. Batteries may also be dropped off at AAA-affiliated facilities at Newport Tire, 154 Connell Highway; Mulzer Car Care, 591 Boston Neck Rd., North Kingstown; and Dave’s Tire, 325 Bedford St., Fall River.
New Hampshire utility regulators have approved a settlement in which customers of KeySpan Energy Corp. in New Hampshire will receive refunds, after being overcharged for natural gas for six years. With interest, the company’s 80,000 New Hampshire customers will get more than $3 million in refunds. The typical residential heating customer will get about $35. The company also agreed to make a $200,000 contribution to Low Income Energy Efficiency programs. Refunds will be based on how long residents have been KeySpan customers and how much natural gas they used from March 31, 2006, to March 31, 2007. The state’s three public utilities commissioners heard testimony on the agreement from staff and the company at a hearing last week. Thousands of customers in Rhode Island were provided natural gas by KeySpan until it was purchased by National Grid last year.
When it comes to spirits, coffee brandy remains Mainers’ libation of choice. State sales figures for last year show that Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy remains by far the top-selling brand of liquor in the state, just as it’s been every year for more than a decade. Nearly 994,000 bottles, worth $11.9 million, were sold in four different bottle sizes in Maine in 2006. Allen’s is so popular that its different bottle sizes rank first, second, sixth and ninth on the Maine Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations’ list of the top 25 alcoholic items sold last year. Allen’s is the only brand that appears more than once in the top 10. Number two in revenue totals was Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, with $4.7 million worth of sales in Maine and 252,300 bottles sold. Bacardi Light rum sold 253,643 bottles, with revenues of almost $4.3 million. Other top sellers in Maine last year included Orloff Vodka, which sold 212,000 bottles, and Absolut Vodka, which sold 135,000 bottles.
The Planning Board of Salem, N.H., has approved plans for the state’s first biodiesel production plant. Businessmen Dan Espinal and Tim Hickey, of Atlantic Biodiesel, plan to begin producing a renewable fuel from vegetable oil as soon as this summer. Initial plans are to have vegetable oil trucked in from the Midwest while the business tries to interest local farmers in growing rapeseed or mustard seed.
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest U.S. public pension fund, said it will vote against the $19-billion sale of Clear Channel Communications Inc., the third big shareholder to oppose the takeover. The acquisition “is not in the shareowners’ best interest,” Calpers said on its Web site yesterday. The fund owns 3.34 million shares of Clear Channel, or less than 1 percent of the largest U.S. radio broadcaster. Calpers joins Fidelity Investments and Highfields Capital Management in opposing the buyout by private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital. The offer needs to be approved by two-thirds of shareholders at a special meeting Thursday in San Antonio, Texas, where the company is based. “It’s certainly not surprising that institutional investors are lining up against this deal at the last minute,” Fred Moran, an analyst with Stanford Group, in Boca Raton, Fla., said. “If the deal’s not sweetened there’s very little chance of getting the approval of shareholders.”
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