BOSTON – The New England Council has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce it says will help its members access foreign markets and increase exports. more

There are good reasons for state and local officials and owners of the Industrial Trust Tower in downtown Providence to work together to save the Art Deco landmark. But not if it involves a government bailout. more

BOSTON – The Mass. Department of Transportation announced last week that a panel charged with exploring public-private partnerships to fund certain transportation infrastructure projects was slated to hold its first public meeting last week. more

BOSTON – Representatives from 20 Massachusetts communities, as well as the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Living Cities and several other organizations and agencies last week launched the Working Cities Challenge: An Initiative for Massachusetts Smaller Cities. more

BOSTON – Attorney General Martha Coakley last week appointed Timothy Langella, an attorney with more than 30 years of legal experience in national and international business disputes, as chief of the Business, Technology and Economic Development Division. more

At the present time, Rhode Island is consumed by two different issues. The first of these concerns our state’s approach to economic development. Do we rejigger the R.I. Economic Development Corporation into a Department of Commerce, or proceed with a marginally changed EDC but give the governor a more substantial hand? The second concerns the extension of Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist’s contract. more