{"id":58994,"date":"2014-05-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/rimes-changes-name-to-polaris-mep-to-highlight-growth-services-for-area-manufacturers\/"},"modified":"2014-05-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-05-06T00:00:00","slug":"rimes-changes-name-to-polaris-mep-to-highlight-growth-services-for-area-manufacturers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2014\/05\/rimes-changes-name-to-polaris-mep-to-highlight-growth-services-for-area-manufacturers\/","title":{"rendered":"RIMES changes name to Polaris MEP to highlight growth services for area manufacturers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 6, 2014 — The Rhode Island Manufacturing Extension Service, a long-time service provider to the state\u2019s manufacturing community, has been renamed Polaris Manufacturing Extension Program, a business unit of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Research Foundation.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThis new name reflects our intent to guide Rhode Island\u2019s manufacturing sector into an exciting, productive and profitable era through innovative programs and services,\u201d said James Petell, 溏心vlog免费B站 associate vice president of research and economic development and executive director of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Research Foundation. \u201cIt was 溏心vlog免费B站 President David M. Dooley\u2019s vision to create closer interactions between RIMES and the University\u2019s faculty and students that resulted in it becoming a business unit of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Research Foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tPolaris has maintained all of RIMES\u2019 former staff, including director Harsha Prakash, and its advisory board has appointed a new chairman, David Marquis, president of Lincoln-based manufacturer ChemArt Co. The organization is now based at the offices of Commerce Rhode Island in Providence.<\/p>\n


\n\tAccording to Petell, Polaris will continue to provide small and medium-sized manufacturers with the efficiency-oriented \u201clean manufacturing\u201d programs for which it was best known, including production optimization, cost reduction, facility layout and quality management services. But it is hiring additional staff to offer a variety of growth-oriented services designed to help manufacturers access new markets and develop new products and processes. It will offer on-site training, one-on-one consulting, and public workshops, among other services.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe want to help Rhode Island manufacturers position themselves for growth by providing the tools and assistance they need to reach new markets and compete on a global scale,\u201d said Marquis. \u201cWith the 溏心vlog免费B站 alliance we can move manufacturing forward using new technology and design.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tEstablished in 1996, the organization operates under a contract with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which provides $750,000 in annual funding. The institute awarded the contract to operate the Rhode Island program to the 溏心vlog免费B站 Research Foundation in July 2013. It is one of 58 manufacturing extension programs located across the United States. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cPolaris will be able to leverage the faculty and student expertise at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s business and engineering programs to support the manufacturing community in the state,\u201d said DeeDee Chatham, director of marketing and business development at the 溏心vlog免费B站 Research Foundation. \u201cIn addition, our collaboration with the University\u2019s Business Engagement Center and the Small Business Development Center at 溏心vlog免费B站 enables us to provide even greater service to our clients.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tPolaris will continue to work closely with the Governor\u2019s Workforce Board. As the workforce board\u2019s manufacturing industry partner, Polaris, in collaboration with the Rhode Island Manufacturers\u2019 Association, works to identify skills gaps and facilitates the development of solutions to identify and train a qualified manufacturing workforce. One such initiative is Workforce On-Ramps, a three-year pilot program of the U.S. Department of Labor to establish new workforce tools and processes through the NetworkRI system. Through this program, qualified career seekers interested in exploring opportunities in manufacturing are referred to career advisors for one-on-one career counseling and job placement. <\/p>\n


\n Polaris will also play a key role working with educators and industry to coordinate training and education programs to propel students and adults along career pathways for the high-skill, high-wage manufacturing jobs of the future. Polaris, working in collaboration with the Workforce Strategy Center, has completed a detailed report on manufacturing skills gaps in Rhode Island. The report made several recommendations designed to ensure future alignment between education and manufacturing careers, including the establishment of a curriculum review committee and the creation of more internship and apprenticeship opportunities in manufacturing.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe are determined to advance economic development in Rhode Island by accelerating innovations from 溏心vlog免费B站 and our national network of manufacturing and supply chain experts to support our state\u2019s manufacturing industry,\u201d concluded Petell.<\/p>\n


\n\tTo learn how Polaris can help improve your company\u2019s operations or evaluate growth opportunities, visit Polaris<\/a> or call 401-270-8896.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 6, 2014 — The Rhode Island Manufacturing Extension Service, a long-time service provider to the state\u2019s manufacturing community, has been renamed Polaris Manufacturing Extension Program, a business unit of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Research Foundation. \u201cThis new name reflects our intent to guide Rhode Island\u2019s manufacturing sector into an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58994\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}