Stephanie Bernaba

PROVIDENCE – Javier Montañez, superintendent of the city’s public school district, announced his resignation Friday, ending more than 30 years of service to the system as a student, bilingual teacher, assistant principal, principal and…

Rhode Island’s community health centers are bracing for a new round of financial and operational challenges as changes to Medicaid ­eligibility, new work requirements and uncertainty surrounding a federal drug discount program threaten to put…

As the co-owner of Warwick-based ExactPay Payroll Services LLC, Craig Force knows his payroll and human resources technology business is up against some stiff competition. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 5,556 payroll services…

Rhode Island’s construction trades gained 400 jobs in July, a positive sign for an industry that nonetheless is facing a workforce reckoning: Thousands of experienced workers are nearing retirement, while the state expects 26,556 job openings in the…

Seven Rhode Island College undergraduates are preparing to sit for the Sphinx assessment, a test that could shape their careers before they graduate. Pass it, and they enter a track toward certification in Epic, the records system Care New England…

Tyler Gill has fueled his passion for food with hands-on training and persistence to create a pathway into the culinary industry. He credits the ProStart program at the Regioinal Career & Technical Center at Coventry High School, his studies at the…

In 2023, the General Assembly made its biggest bet yet on Rhode Island’s life sciences industry. Lawmakers committed $45 million over three years to create the R.I. Life Science Hub, a quasi-public state entity charged with centralizing, connecting,…

For Rhode Islanders who live in neighborhoods without a full-service grocer, a so-called dollar store can be a convenient and affordable place to buy food. And it’s becoming a bigger part of the way Americans shop. A 2023 study by University of Rhode…

For Jennifer “Jenny” McCabe, Cookie Chow started with a chocolate chip cookie, a little experimentation and a lot of time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. McCabe, who has always enjoyed baking, began taking the chocolate chips out of a family…

Newport Heights was quite a different place years ago, when the 11-acre public housing complex in the north end of the city – then known as Tonomy Hill – had a reputation as a dangerous place to live. When Kate Dyl moved in more than two decades ago,…

Brian Fernandes remembers reading the same passages over and over as a child and feeling lost. He could say the words correctly but had no idea what he was reading. The moment when reading finally clicked – when one sentence flowed into the next with…

Jason Kelly | Director, Bryant University Chafee Center for International Business 1. What does the Chafee Center’s new World Trade Center designation mean for Rhode Island businesses looking to expand internationally? Through World Trade Center…

PBN Leaders & Achievers Awards 2026 GREG AGNONE Chestnut Hill Insurance Group CEO and president After his dad passed away in 1987, Greg Agnone realized his mom, a stay-at-home parent, was dealing with financial matters without any real training.…

PBN Leaders & Achievers Awards 2026 DORIS BLANCHARD R.I. Commerce Corp. director of outreach and engagement As director of outreach and engagement at the R.I. Commerce Corp., Doris Blanchard focuses on connecting businesses, municipalities and…

PBN Leaders & Achievers Awards 2026 GAIL ALOFSIN University of Rhode Island Office of Strategic Initiatives associate director Gail Alofsin’s career has been shaped by saying “yes” to opportunities, curiosity, networking since age 7 and paying…

PBN Leaders & Achievers Awards 2026 TOMÁS ALBERTO ÁVILA State of Rhode Island associate director of intergovernmental affairs and outreach After earning a mechanical engineering degree from the Wentworth Institute of Technology, Tomás Alberto Ávila…

PBN Leaders & Achievers Awards 2026 PATRICK LEBEAU Morgan Stanley Wealth Management executive director and financial adviser A few years after graduating from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in economics and western studies,…