More benefits for Bradford Dyeing workers

Workers at Bradford Dyeing Association, in Westerly, have been certified for federal trade-adjustment benefits because the business has been adversely affected by foreign competition and imports. The company laid off 44 employees earlier this year. The assistance includes vocational training, job-search allowances, relocation allowances, health-coverage tax credits and reemployment services. To be eligible for the benefits, laid-off workers must be enrolled in training no later than 8 weeks after the certification date of April 11, and no later than 16 weeks after their last day of work.

Banneker Industries receives national award

North Smithfield-based Banneker Industries Inc. was named the 2008 National Subcontractor of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration at a recent luncheon held in Washington, D.C., as part of National Small Business Week. The award honors a small business that has provided the government and industry with outstanding goods and services as a subcontractor. Banneker is a supply-chain management company run by Cheryl W. Snead, president and chief executive officer, and Roland H. Snead, executive vice president. The company was established in 1991 and has operations in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Indiana, California and Texas. It is the first Rhode Island business to win the award.

CVS opens learning center in Boston

Woonsocket-based CVS Caremark, in partnership with the Jewish Vocational Service, has opened the company’s first CVS Regional Learning Center in Boston. The company and the vocational service said they share a similar goal –– to empower disadvantaged individuals from diverse communities to find employment and build careers. JVS will provide pre- and post-employment services to trainees, while CVS will provide a corporate learning center to hire and develop associates. The center houses classrooms and a mock CVS store –– complete with a state-of-art pharmacy, photo lab and beauty center –– to train new and current associates, from entry level to management. CVS and JVS said they aim to train more than 3,000 new and current employees this year at the center, and a portion of the trainees will be welfare-to-work participants, as well as refugees.

Rockland Trust selling some real estate

Rockland Trust Co., of Rockland, Mass., a subsidiary of Independent Bank Corp., has agreed to sell 17 pieces of real estate for $32.2 million to American Realty Capital LLC, based in Pennsylvania. Rockland then plans to lease back the 17 sites. The leases are for 10 to 15 years for each location. The closing is scheduled for Friday, according to a federal regulatory filing. The transaction is expected to immediately add to this year’s earnings, officers of Rockland Trust said. Independent Bank (INDB:Nasdaq) runs banks in Plymouth, Norfolk, Barnstable and Bristol counties in Massachusetts, and acquired Slades Ferry Bancorp, (SFBC:Nasdaq) based in Somerset, in February.

Pa. lottery contracts with Scientific Games

Scientific Games Corp., of New York, has been selected by the State of Pennsylvania to supply services for the state’s lottery. A five-year contract is being negotiated and will begin Jan. 1, 2009, New York-based Scientific Games said in a statement. Pennsylvania officials ended negotiations last month with Lottomatica SpA’s Providence-based GTECH unit, the previous winner of the contract, after being advised of a change in equipment in the proposal.

Newport mansion tours offered in Chinese

The Preservation Society of Newport County and the U.S.-China Institute at Bryant University are teaming up to benefit Chinese-speaking tourists visiting the Newport mansions, and others interested in learning about Chinese culture. Bryant University President Ronald K. Machtley and Preservation Society chief executive officer and executive director Trudy Coxe will meet at the Chinese Tea House at Marble House on Friday to sign the accord. Under the agreement, the U.S.-China Institute will translate the Preservation Society’s printed tour scripts into Mandarin Chinese, and will periodically provide a Mandarin-speaking guide for Chinese tour groups. “We currently offer printed tour scripts in several languages,” said Coxe. “With Chinese-speaking tourists making up a large and growing segment of Newport mansions’ visitors, the ability to offer them tours in their own language will enhance their experience and make the mansions more attractive as a destination.”

FM Global voted ‘best in world’

Commercial property insurer FM Global, of Johnston, has been named “Best Property Insurer in the World” by risk managers and financial executives of the world’s top companies, based on research conducted by Euromoney magazine. The magazine is read by more than 140,000 financial-industry professionals. “Their votes rank FM Global as the leading property insurer in the world,” reports the magazine in its April issue, citing interviews with 255 chief risk officers and chief financial officers at large corporations in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East who were surveyed about which insurers are best at risk mitigation. “Risk to property, even if it is no longer the only worry for businesses to insure, still remains the biggest single risk,” reported the magazine. “FM Global does only one thing but strives to do it supremely well.”

Catalyst wins advertising recognition

Providence-based Catalyst Inc., a leading business-to-business brand and marketing communications consultancy, for the second year in a row has won a distinguished position in BtoB magazine’s annual list of top national advertising agencies. Only 14 New England firms earned recognition on this year’s list. BtoB magazine said qualifying agencies had to offer full-service marketing communication services and were judged on exceptional work performed last year, their percentage of business that is b-to-b, the number of new clients and demonstrated growth of the business. Brian Odell, president and founder of Catalyst, which has 18 employees, said, “Catalyst is building a national reputation for excellence. Clients from as far away as California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Florida have contracted us to help overcome challenging b-to-b marketing problems.”

QualityMetric appoints senior scientist

Lincoln-based QualityMetric Inc. has named Barbara Gandek as senior scientist and director of international research and development. Gandek will report to James E. Dewey, chief innovation and research officer, and continue to work closely with her colleague of 19 years, John E. Ware Jr., QualityMetric’s founder and chief executive officer. During her career, Gandek has authored or co-authored more than 40 peer-reviewed articles, many of which fostered the development of health outcomes measurement around the world. QualityMetric works with health-care and life-sciences companies to measure health outcomes.

Rejection of LNG terminal to be appealed

Broadwater Energy, a consortium of Shell Oil and TransCanada Pipelines Ltd., said Monday it will appeal to the U.S. Commerce Department after Connecticut and New York turned down its proposal for a $700-million liquefied natural gas terminal that would float in the middle of Long Island Sound. Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a Republican, and New York’s David Paterson, a Democrat, both rejected the project on environmental and safety grounds.