Working with a brand-new hospital union and coming out on the positive side of an employee survey. Revamping an entire emergency department – an offshoot of a malpractice case. Establishing a breast health center. Creating an alliance with a major Boston hospital. All that would be a lot to accomplish over many years, but Sandra L. Coletta did it in just four. Coletta, president and CEO of Kent Hospital in Warwick, took the job in 2008, after putting in 25 years at The Miriam Hospital and Lifespan. And for her efforts, Coletta was named an Industry Leader in the category of health care services. more

The most recent state-level employment figures remind us that this economic recovery, like the recession that preceded it, is astonishingly uneven across the United States. more

New England’s unemployment rate remained essentially unchanged in April, dropping to 6.9 percent compared with 7 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics announced Friday. more

President Barack Obama couldn’t get a national version of Georgia’s popular on-the-job-training program for the unemployed through Congress, but local companies and other supporters of the idea hope a similar program will be created in Rhode Island this year. more

Swipely CEO Angus Davis was one of many skeptics of Rhode Island’s $75 million loan guarantee to former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios LLC video game startup two years ago. Now he has even more company in the business community urging state leaders not to sink any more money into the embattled Providence firm since it defaulted on part of its public-financing deal. more

PROVIDENCE – Mayor Angel Taveras announced last week the city will begin accepting applications for its first fire academy in four years. The move is expected to save millions of dollars in overtime costs. more

PROVIDENCE – A bill that could simplify administration of the RI Works program and boost employment numbers in the state has passed the Senate. more

Despite the three-tenths of a percentage point decline in its unemployment rate in April, to 8.8 percent, Rhode Island still has the sixth-highest jobless rate in the nation, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. more

The U.S. Labor Department awarded the R.I. Department of Labor and Training a $1.7 million grant from the Workforce Innovation Fund, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced Thursday. more

Eileen Hayes, president and CEO of Amos House for the past 11 years, maneuvers through the crowded waiting room of the South Providence social service agency. more