Given a typical Memorial Day weekend, Lisa Konicki, staff, and volunteers at the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce would be consumed with the annual Virtu Art Festival, held in the 14-acre Wilcox Park in downtown Westerly. It infuses more than $6 million into the local economy and provides a showcase for some of the area’s […]
Frank Prosnitz
Frank Prosnitz brings to WhatsUpNewp several years in journalism, including 10 as editor of the Providence (RI) Business News and 14 years as a reporter and bureau manager at the Providence (RI) Journal. Prosnitz began his journalism career as a sportswriter at the Asbury Park (NJ) Press, moving to The News Tribune (Woodbridge, NJ), before joining the Providence Journal. Prosnitz hosts the Morning Show on WLBQ radio (Westerly), 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday, and It’s Your Business, also on WBLQ, Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Prosnitz has twice won Best in Business Awards from the national Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW), twice was named Media Advocate of the Year by the Small Business Administration, won an investigative reporter’s award from the New England Press Association, and newswriting award from the Rhode Island Press Association.
Posted inBusiness, Things To Do
International Boat Show proposes modifications, hopeful governor approves September event
The Newport International Boat Show has become among the latest events looking for special dispensation from Governor Gina Raimondo, hoping she will approve holding the event, which typically attracts upwards of 30,000 visitors over four days in September. Meanwhile, another Aquidneck Island staple, Newport Polo is still awaiting word from the governor, with its first […]
Posted inBusiness
Historic Bell installed at Hammetts Wharf, adding to the city’s historic attractions
The Hammetts Bell, manufactured more than 150 years ago by one of the storied bell manufacturers of the last two centuries, will become another historic point of interest along Newport’s waterfront, at the site of Newport’s newest hotel, Hammetts Wharf. “This is very exciting,” said Colin Kane, founding partner at Perigrine Group, LLC and co-owner of […]
Posted inSports
Newport Polo remains hopeful it will not have to cancel its season
With less than three weeks to its scheduled first match on June 6, versus Switzerland, Newport Polo remains on hold and hopeful that Governor Gina Raimondo will approve its plan to re-open. Polo is suggesting modifications that they believe would comply with adequate social distancing, while changing the game to reduce physical contact among players. […]
Posted inNews
Westerly Schools look to an uncertain future
Twice in recent years, Westerly’s residents have rejected bond issues that would have upgraded school facilities. Now, with the coronavirus draining financial resources from the community, the prospects of another bond issue are slim. Meanwhile, the school superintendent and school committee are struggling to find $1.6 million cut from its budget proposal by the Town […]
Posted inBusiness
East Providence Jeweler recognizes Miriam Hospital critical care nurses, while supporting children in need
MRT Jewelers, 927 Warren Ave., East Providence this week will show its appreciation for critical care and Intensive Care nurses at the Miriam Hospital by presenting each with a silver bracelet engraved with a very special message from Psalm 91: “No harm shall overcome you.” “My hope is that these bracelets will serve as a […]
Posted inBusiness
Not all Westerly businesses will survive COVID-19
There was a time, not too many years ago, when Westerly’s High Street, its main street, was littered with empty store fronts and vacant second floor offices, by broken streetlights, and an image of a timeworn town. But in recent years, before the coronavirus pandemic shut everything, the community had come alive. There are few […]
Posted inCity & Government, News
Grow Smart to host a series of online weekly panel discussion, June through September
Grow Smart RI, an organization that promotes sustainable and equitable economic growth, will explore critical development issues with a series of online panel discussions, held weekly from June to September. Grow Smart is adapting its Power of Place Summit to go virtual, beginning with a June 3 panel discussion, culminating in a half-day virtual plenary […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Newport Music Festival hires third executive director in 10 years, plus first artistic director
The Newport Music Festival recently hired its third executive director since the passing in 2010 of Mark Malkovich III, who over his 36 years as general director built the festival into perhaps the most renowned chamber music festival in the world. Suzanna Laramee, who combines several years of experience in the financial industry with an […]
Posted inNews, Sports
Newport Polo hopes governor accepts its proposal that would change the experience for spectators and players
Polo is hoping that a proposal it gave to Governor Raimondo a few days ago will allow the popular event to hold its summer series – but if it does, it will look a lot different than in past years. According to Agnes Keating, wife of Dan Keating, president of the polo association, Newport Polo […]
Posted inNews
Wickford Art Festival and Charlestown Seafood Festival fall victim to COVID-19
Two more of Rhode Island’s iconic summer events – the Charlestown Seafood Festival and Wickford Art Festival — canceled yesterday (Thursday), the latest victims of COVID-19. Heather Paliotta, executive director of the Charlestown Chamber of Commerce, announced that the 36th annual Seafood Festival, scheduled for August 7-9, was being canceled in the aftermath of Governor […]
Posted inNews
MLK Center helps thousands during the pandemic, expecting need to rise through the fall
For Heather Strout, executive director of the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Center in Newport, it’s the stories from people lining up for the center’s food pantry that are heartbreaking, people “who have never had to come to a food pantry before.” Over these last six weeks as they have seen their jobs disappear to […]
Posted inThings To Do
Coronavirus forces cancellation of South County events
South County’s major spring and summer festivals are quickly canceling or changing in the aftermath of Gov. Raimondo’s announcement today that she was banning large gatherings of all kinds for the summer as the state and nation continues to confront a raging coronavirus. The Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce announced it was converting its early […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Things To Do
Newport Music Festival not proceeding as planned, working on a “floating season”
The Newport Music Festival, where some of the world’s most accomplished classical musicians and new and exciting talent perform in the houses of Newport, has fallen victim this summer to the coronavirus. In a letter on the Music Festival’s website, posted today, Suzanna Laramee, president and chief executive officer announced the 52-year-old festival was cancelling […]
Posted inColumns
Just My Opinion: Prescription for revitalizing the local economy – “Creativity and Innovation”
“Creativity, innovation.” If anything is going to help small businesses survive the coronavirus pandemic it is just that. It is innovation that helps businesses set themselves apart from their competition even in the best of times. Tom Peters, the very well-respected management guru, wrote about it in his book, In Pursuit of Wow, the WOW […]
Posted inSports
URI’s Isaiah Coulter first Ram drafted by the NFL since 1986
For University of Rhode Island wide receivers Isaiah Coulter and Aaron Parker and lineman Kyle Murphy dreams have turned to reality as they now begin their National Football League careers. Coulter, yesterday, became the first Rhody Ram to be drafted by an NFL team in more than three decades when the Houston Texans took him […]
Posted inBusiness, News
Discover Newport lays off staff, consolidates services
These are tough times if you are in the tourism industry. Toughest if, perhaps, you head an agency that oversees one of America’s most popular tourist destinations. Ask Evan Smith. He’s executive director of Discover Newport, the tourism group that coordinates and oversees much of the tourism industry in a city that has been ranked […]
Posted inBusiness, City & Government, News
SBA schedules Webinar to help companies communicate through email during COVID-19 crisis
The Rhode Island Small Business Administration’s Rhode Island District is providing important webinars for businesses, giving them tools that they can use now during this COVID-19 crisis, and when it passes. To that end, the SBA has scheduled a “Marketing Basics Webinar Series – Email Marketing 101 on Thursday, April 23, from 11a.m. to noon. […]
Posted inColumns
Just My Opinion: Let’s take the politics out of the cure
So, a column came in the other day trashing President Trump, and an op-ed came in this morning trashing the Democrats. And the pandemic continues, without choosing a political party to attack or support. We are house bound for the most part until this deadly and persistent virus subsides. Politicians and would-be political pundits step […]
Posted inSports
“Out of the ashes” – three NFL prospects emerge from URI’s highly unsuccessful football program
Sometime between next Thursday and Saturday, when the National Football League holds its 2020 draft in what is a most bizarre year, you’ll possibly hear something just as bizarre – a player or two or three selected from the University of Rhode Island, a team that plays in college’s second tier – the FCS – […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Theatre By The Sea cancels season
Theatre By The Sea, among Rhode Island’s premier summer attractions, has cancelled its 2020 season, the latest victim of the coronavirus pandemic. Peter Hanney, owner/producer, made the announcement on the Wakefield theatre’s website and on social media. Founded by Alice Tyler during the Great Depression to give people work and provide an escape for the […]
Posted inCity & Government, News
Thousands of RI businesses approved for $1 billion in federal aid as PPP on course to run out of funds by week’s end
Thousands of small businesses in Rhode Island have been approved to receive some $1 billion in federal aid under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a program that Mark Hayward, Small Business Administration (SBA) District Director in Rhode Island, said is likely to run out of money by the end of the week. Mark Hayward The […]
Posted inCity & Government, News
Newport to forgive 4th quarter tax penalties and interest, promising more relief may be on the way
The city of Newport is one of several communities in the state that is forgiving tax penalties and interest, and is also suggesting there may be additional relief for individuals and businesses that continue to suffer financial hardship because of the coronavirus. “We have pushed the deadline back to June 30 and will work with […]
Posted inColumns, Opinion
Just My Opinion: Not the time for a government media bailout
U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, both from Rhode Island, and more than a dozen of their colleagues are calling on government to provide a bailout for a beleaguered news media, A news media that has clearly been further decimated by the impact of the coronavirus on the advertisers upon whom they rely. Without […]
Posted inPeople & Profiles
What’s Up Podcast: Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea discusses COVID-19 crisis
Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea today joined What’s Up’s Frank Prosnitz to discuss changes her office is making during this coronavirus crisis to make things easier for voters and businesses. Gorbea also touches on the move of the state archives to a new location, importance of the census, and puts off questions about her own […]