RIEDC Board Approves Renewable Energy and Small Business Financing to Help Lower Costs and Expand State’s Knowledge Economy

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August 23, 2011 | Print this page | Share This |

Toray Plastics granted $1 million for solar energy project, NuLabel receives $1.5 million in loan guarantees that will help create 40 new high-skilled, high-wage jobs in the Knowledge District in Providence   

The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) Board of Directors today approved two projects that will help one of the state’s leading advanced manufacturers reduce their utility costs and provide a growing knowledge-based small business with the financing it needs to continue to grow in Rhode Island.

The Board awarded Toray Plastics (America), Inc. a $750,000 grant through the RIEDC’s Renewable Energy Fund (REF) and another $250,000 in federal stimulus funding through the Rhode Island Business Energy Assistance Program (BEAP). The grant package will enable the company to increase its energy efficiency with the installation of a 375KW solar energy project at its Quonset Point facility in North Kingstown.

In the first use of the state’s Job Creation Guaranty Program since the program’s new rules and regulations became effective under Governor Lincoln D. Chafee’s direction, the RIEDC Board also approved $1.5 million in loan guarantees for Providence-based NuLabel Technologies, Inc. to help the company expand and create 40 new high-skilled, high-wage jobs in the Knowledge District in Rhode Island’s capital city.
“Rhode Island is taking concrete steps to help businesses such as Toray, which employs approximately 600 Rhode Islanders, remain competitive through reduction in their utility costs and increased energy efficiency,” said Governor Lincoln D. Chafee, who Chairs the RIEDC Board. “Additionally, we are redesigning the Job Creation Guaranty Program to allow innovation- and technology-driven small businesses, such as NuLabel, to access the capital they need to succeed and bring quality new jobs to Rhode Island.”
“These two funds, when used strategically, can be valuable tools for businesses looking to expand or locate within Rhode Island,” Governor Chafee added. “They can also help us, as a state, to foster an environment that encourages businesses to grow and create jobs.”

Toray Plastics
The combined $1 million in REF and BEAP renewable energy funding for Toray, which employs about 600 Rhode Island workers, is a revision of a previously approved $250,000 grant and a $500,000 loan from the REF for the company’s solar energy project. Over the past 25 years, Toray has made more than $750 million in investments in their Rhode Island facilities. Since the previous renewable energy financing approval, the company is currently making $5 million in capital improvements at Quonset. Toray also has plans to expand its operations with another $11 million investment that includes the creation of 30 new jobs and the possibility of an additional long-term real estate and business expansion opportunity of up to $200 million and 200 new jobs.

“Lowering the cost of doing business is a top economic development priority for the state,” said RIEDC Executive Director Keith Stokes.  “By enhancing its renewable energy funding, the RIEDC will not only more effectively support the substantial capital investments in Toray’s solar energy installation, but through the electricity produced from the system, the RIEDC will also help the company, the largest electricity consumer in the state, cut its overall operating expenses and become more competitive in the marketplace.”

The REF is dedicated to increasing the renewable energy supply in Rhode Island through grants, loans and other financing for renewable energy projects that produce electricity in a cleaner, more sustainable manner and stimulate job growth in Rhode Island’s economy. As part of an ongoing collaborative effort, the state’s Office of Energy Resources and the RIEDC have partnered to create the BEAP to be administered through the RIEDC.  A total of $6.5 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds will be used to further the state’s leadership in advancing renewable energy development and to support energy efficiency programs to help companies reduce their cost of doing business in the state.

NuLabel Technologies
Founded by three Brown University graduates, NuLabel has developed a new, low-cost self-adhesive label technology that replaces traditional label liners with liner-free labels designed to save businesses time and money by lowering material and waste disposal costs.  The $1.5 million in loan guarantees through the RIEDC’s Job Creation Guaranty Program will allow NuLabel, which currently has 10 employees, to access the private capital it needs to gain market share in the $25 billion label industry and create 40 new jobs in the Knowledge District in Providence within five years with average annual wages of more than $74,000.

NuLabel has attracted interest from leading national and international brands which see the potential for the company’s label solution and has raised substantial private equity that will complement the Job Creation Guaranty Program investment.
“The company’s continued expansion will be an important part of the growing knowledge economy in Providence and a key addition to the entrepreneurial and technological talent base already flourishing in Rhode Island’s capital city,” said Lynn Singleton, President of the Providence Performing Arts Center and Co-chair of the RIEDC Board subcommittee on Access to Capital  

Under the Job Creation Guaranty Program, the RIEDC is authorized to guarantee loans by private lenders or guarantee certain bond obligations for the benefit of businesses in primarily technology and innovation-driven industries that can create permanent, high-paying, full-time jobs in the state and continue to expand Rhode Island’s knowledge economy. Interested companies are encouraged to visit the RIEDC website at www.riedc.com for more information about the program.