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What's New This Month
November 14, 2025 | Issue 19
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Join RIMA’s 2025 Holiday Food & Fund Drive Challenge to support Rhode Island students — email Dawn Arpin at dawna@mfgri.com to participate and receive your toolkit!
A huge THANK YOU to our member companies who have already joined the challenge:
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RIMA Executive Director Chenevert to Retire After More than 40 Years in Industry
Learn More
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Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Rhode Island Young Manufacturers Network (RIYMN) Kickoff Event, hosted by the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association (RIMA) — such great energy, conversations, and connections!
A special thank-you to our sponsors, AXIOTROP, LLC and Dolce & Salato, for helping make it all possible.
If you or someone you know owns or manages a restaurant, bar, or event space that might be interested in sponsoring the venue at the next RIYMN event, please reach out to RIYMN Chair, Natalie Karneeb, at nataliek@mfgri.com.
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Ready, Set, Rhody Business Survey
Your input matters! By taking this short survey, you’ll help RI Commerce improve how they share important information and resources to keep Rhode Island’s small businesses resilient and prepared for natural disasters.
Take Survey Here
Ready, Set, Rhody Business Continuity Resources
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Inside Taco, Inc: A Culture of Care and Craftsmanship
Empowering Pumps & Equipment recently visited Taco, Inc. as part of their Industry Access series, touring the facility with Joe Mattiello to learn how this family-owned company integrates innovation, craftsmanship, and a strong commitment to its employees through education, wellness, and professional growth initiatives.
Read Article Here
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🔍Are you Looking to Hire New Talent?
If you are a RIMA member, you can post open jobs on our website
by following these steps:
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Go to https://rimanufacturers.com/jobs/
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Click the "Post a Job" button – you can then get the job details submitted.
- Once you publish it, we will get a notification and we then have to approve the submission. Once we have approved it, it will show on the website.
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Now entering its 12th year, the Providence Business News Manufacturing Awards continues to honor trailblazing manufacturers who power innovation and progress across Rhode Island and Southeastern New England.
With award categories spanning Lean Manufacturing, Exporting, Workforce Development, Product Innovation & Design, Sustainability, and Supply Chain Management, this program shines a spotlight on the companies redefining what’s possible in manufacturing.
Date: November 19th, 2025
Time: 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Location: Crowne Plaza
| | Upcoming Webinars, Workshops, & Summits | | Job Instruction Workshop: Train for keeps. Teach for Results. |
High turnover. Inconsistent performance. Safety concerns. Sound familiar?
The problem isn’t your people—it’s how they’re trained.
Polaris MEP’s Job Instruction (JI) Workshop equips frontline leaders, supervisors, and trainers with a simple yet powerful 4-step method to teach jobs effectively, efficiently, and consistently.
Developed as part of the original TWI (Training Within Industry) program, this method has helped thousands of manufacturers shorten training time, boost retention, and build safer, more capable teams.
Over the course of 5 daily, 2-hour sessions (10 hours total), you will learn how to:
• Break down jobs into teachable steps
• Deliver training that sticks
• Increase employee confidence, safety, and quality
• Reduce rework and errors
• Onboard new talent faster—and keep them longer
Why It Works:
Job Instruction emphasizes doing a job correctly, safely, and conscientiously—the first time and every time. It’s not just what to do, but how to teach it.
Who Should Attend:
Supervisors, leads, HR professionals, and anyone responsible for training operators and frontline staff in a manufacturing or production environment.
Space is limited and this workshop fills up fast.
Register now to build the skills your trainers need—and the workforce your company deserves.
Date: November 17th - 21st, 2025
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Location: 315 Iron Horse Way, Providence, 02908
| | Navigating Tariff, Trade, and Customs Compliance in Today’s Environment
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Tariff regulations and enforcement priorities continue to evolve, creating new compliance challenges for importers, manufacturers, and companies with global supply chains. Heightened scrutiny by regulators – including U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), increased whistleblower activity, and rising use of the False Claims Act are among key factors shaping today’s risk environment.
Date: November 18th, 2025
Location: Webinar
Time: 10:00 - 11:30AM
| | Maximining Workforce Potential: Incentives Every Employer Should Know | | |
What you’ll learn:
- How to access financial incentives available to Rhode Island employers
- Programs designed to support hiring and workforce development
- Ways to maximize available benefits for your business/organization
Date: Thursday, November 20th, 2025
Location: Webinar
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
| | The Impact of Digital Transformation on Manufacturing Supply Chains | | |
This webinar will review the challenges and opportunities of digitized supply chains and discuss approaches to successful outcomes. It will also cover best practice implementation processes, the roles of AI and Generative AI across the supply chain, and how to achieve optimal outcomes while ensuring ability to make changes and scale.
Date: December 4, 2025
Location: Webinar
Time: 3:00 PM
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Manufacturing in the United States
Key Facts
Federal and State Data
NAM Research
New Orders (Durable Goods, August): Increased $8.9 billion (2.9%) to $312.1 billion, following two consecutive monthly decreases.
Transportation Equipment: Led the increase with $8.1 billion (7.9%) to $110.2 billion, also following two consecutive monthly decreases.
Learn More
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Programs & Resources for Members! | |
Since 2021, Verizon has awarded
$14 million in grants to small businesses.
Register and complete resources to access a
$10,000 grant application.
To complement the hundreds of free resources on Digital Ready, we're
awarding 50 small businesses with $10,000 grants.
Who can apply?
Owners of for-profit small businesses based in the U.S., Puerto Rico, or US Virgin Islands. Nonprofits are not eligible.
Applicants may apply for one business only and must be over the age of 18.
How to apply?
Complete any combination of two eligible courses or events between July 1, 2025 and December 10, 2025 to unlock the application.
Submit the application by 11:59 PM (PST) on December 10, 2025.
Late applications will not be considered.
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Improving Rhode Island Manufacturing and the Public Good
Polaris MEP drives, manages and/or plays a leading role in a variety of programs that are driven by the needs of smaller Rhode Island manufacturers. We enhance their performance and the economy of the Ocean State by working with key partners on new, innovative initiatives and by contributing to ongoing programs.
| | Good Jobs Challenge Ocean Tech Works Workforce Development Program | | |
Currently unemployed or underemployed and looking to contribute to the Ocean Tech industry?
Ocean Tech Works offers a regional and collaborative workforce development program aimed at addressing immediate job opportunities in ocean-based careers, in partnership with PolarisMEP.
New England Institute of Technology is a higher education partner in this initiative, by offering degree programs in mechanical engineering and electrical technology alongside workforce opportunities in:
- Mechanical Engineering
- Electromechanical Engineering
- Electronics
- Electrical
- Robotics
- and, similarly related fields.
Take advantage of this opportunity to attend school for free while interfacing, and potentially interning, with an Ocean Tech employer during one of the following 18-month degree programs:
Upcoming Information Sessions for Prospective Students
~Friday, November 21
9:00 – 9:30 AM
~Monday, December 1
3:00 – 3:30 PM
*Session are mandatory for prospective students.
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Discover programs, funding, and support designed to help your manufacturing business grow, innovate, and thrive in Rhode Island.
1️⃣ Rhode Island Governor’s Workforce Board – Programs & Services
Strengthen your workforce with apprenticeship initiatives, incumbent-worker training grants, youth work-immersion programs, and more.
👉 Explore Programs & Services
2️⃣ Rhode Island Commerce Corporation – Business Assistance
Access grants, innovation incentives, financing, tax credits, and site-readiness support — everything you need to expand your manufacturing operations.
👉 See Business Assistance Offerings
3️⃣ RIHub – Startup & Scale-Up Programs
For manufacturers innovating or scaling: RIHub offers customer discovery, pitch training, incubator space, and expert legal and tech consultation.
👉 Browse RIHub Programs
4️⃣ Rhode Island Life Science Hub – Funding Opportunities
Manufacturing in life sciences or med-tech? Explore sector-specific funding (pre-seed to growth) and commercialization support.
👉 View Funding Opportunities
5️⃣ 401 Tech Bridge – Innovation & Accelerator Programs
Advance your tech capabilities through accelerators, prototyping support, testing resources, and industry showcases — ideal for defense and industrial innovation.
👉 Discover 401 Tech Bridge Programs
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Research & Engineering/Development
Rhode Island Manufactures should note that businesses incurring Research & Engineering (R&E) expenditures will still need to capitalize and amortize R&E costs for Rhode Island income tax purposes for 2025.
Learn More
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Is Manufacturing Making a Comeback in the US?
The executive director of the Reshoring Institute laid out a playbook on how manufacturers can best determine the cost to manufacture in the U.S. — or whether they should continue foreign production.
Learn More
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How Businesses Can Prepare for Tariff Uncertainty
Announcing tariffs … increasing tariffs … postponing tariffs … the headlines keep coming. When adjusting strategy amid uncertainty, what steps can be considered now and in the longer term?
Learn More
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Breweries Invest in Heat Pumps to Decarbonize, Cut Costs
New Belgium Brewery, Diageo and other beverage manufacturers are pursuing electrification technologies from AtmosZero and Skyven to reduce emissions and improve downtime risks.
Learn More
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Bringing an AI Boost to Additive Manufacturing
The technology can make it easier for companies to use 3D printing and enhance the design process.
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Manufacturing Activity Advances to a Two-Month High
The S&P Global Flash U.S. Manufacturing PMI rose from 52.0 to 52.2 in October, a two-month high. This continues the trend in business conditions with nine of the past 10 months signaling growth. Factory production grew for the fifth consecutive month, while new orders increased at the steepest pace in one-and-a-half years, driven by the domestic market. On the other hand, export orders for manufactured goods fell at the fastest rate since February, with sales to China and Europe falling.
Learn More
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New NAM Roadmap Ties America’s AI and Energy Future to Urgent Need for Permitting Reform
The National Association of Manufacturers today released Manufacturing’s Roadmap to AI and Energy Dominance, a blueprint outlining the steps policymakers must take to strengthen America’s energy and artificial intelligence dominance—including comprehensive permitting reform.
Learn More
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Trump’s Tariffs: Tracking the Status of International Trade Actions
The U.S. has rolled out a deluge of tariffs, sparking responses from trading partners. Here’s where each tariff – threatened or realized – currently stands.
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US Investigates Robotics, Industrial Machinery Imports
The Commerce Department is evaluating national security risks of the industrial gear supply chain, potentially clearing the way for new tariffs.
Learn More
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2025 Year-End Guide for Manufacturing and Distribution Companies
Citrin Cooperman is proud to announce the launch of our 2025 Year-End Guide for Manufacturing and Distribution Companies! This guide was developed to provide leadership at manufacturing and distribution companies with the tools necessary to navigate strategic planning for their business in the upcoming year.
Learn More
| | | | Thank You to our 2025 Sponsors! | | |
Annual Breakfast & Meeting Presenting Sponsor
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