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Energy Efficient, Environmentally Savvy
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QDC's Green Garage, Admin Building
Sets a High Standard
 When the Quonset Development Corporation's (QDC) 16 maintenance vehicles used for construction, plowing roads and mowing grass need an oil change the old oil will be carefully siphoned and collected in a tank in the new maintenance garage. From there, the used oil will be sent through a state of the art furnace system and used to heat the building.
That's just one of the green features QDC has built into its new maintenance garage and administration building designed to set an example of energy efficiency and environmental sensitivity.
 The garage also has two massive tanks that collect rainwater and recycles the water for irrigation. The plantings surrounding the building are also drought resistant. And the footprint of the building, at 18,000 square feet, is 66% smaller than the existing space.
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Making Way for Thousands of New Jobs and Hundreds of Millions in Private Investment
The relocation and consolidation of the QDC administrative and maintenance staffs will clear the way for the $144 million Quonset Gateway development and the $87 million Ocean State Job Lot expansion.
The Gateway is expected to create 2,160 new jobs- the majority in targeted high wage sectors. A Gateway corporate office building is expected to be built at the site of the old Navy administrative building and indoor concrete shooting range currently used for QDC offices and storage.
The fourth phase of the Ocean State Job Lot expansion will replace the 1940 era Quonset hut building that currently houses the QDC maintenance staff and vehicles. The Ocean State Job lot expansion has already created over 500 new jobs.
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Business Mix at Quonset Designed
to Provide Stability, Diversity
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Small and Large Businesses Create Synergy
With its large tracts of land and large multi-national corporations, the Quonset Business Park provides platforms for continued growth and job development in targeted high wage sectors. But the Business Park is also home to 126 small businesses, entrepreneurs that are developing in workplace incubators where they share resources and space and often service the larger Quonset residents.
"Our large tenants employ thousands of Rhode Islanders," said Steven J. King, QDC COO. "But the smaller businesses that are quietly conducting research, developing new technologies and taking advantage of the Business Park's high tech state of the art infrastructure, are equally important to our vision of a well rounded park."
While 89% of Rhode Island's workforce is employed by small businesses, the mix is slightly lower at the Quonset Business Park, where 75% of the employers are small businesses.
There is almost 500,000 square feet of targeted quality small business space at the park. This includes the West Davisville Small Business Center which has already rented its first phase of 1,200 square feet business condominiums and is beginning construction on the second phase.
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Governor Appoints New QDC Board Members
With over $300 million in private investment, and only 500 acres remaining for development, three business and real estate professionals have been appointed by Governor Carcieri to the QDC Board of Directors.
The QDC Board is instrumental in transforming the old Navy bases into a first class business park where 8,200 employees report to work every day.
Gov. Carcieri's appointees, who need Senate confirmation, are: James D. Berson, of North Kingstown, chief operating officer of the Meeting Street Center, in Providence; John G. Laramee, of Newport, founder of Laramee-Wignall in Warwick, an industrial and commercial development firm; and Keith W. Stokes, of Newport, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce.
The governor appoints six members to the QDC Board. The North Kingstown Town Council appoints two, and the town councils in Jamestown and East Greenwich appoint one each.
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EB Seeks Hundreds of Engineers, Designers
Electric Boat, with facilities in Quonset Point and Groton, Connecticut, is moving to hire 400 new engineers and designers. This hiring phase will accommodate an anticipated acceleration in defense spending specifically for the increased production of Virginia- class submarines and conceptual work on a new destroyer and aircraft carrier. Currently EB employs over 2,000 people at Quonset and 7,600 in Groton. The job openings, which were publicized during a job fair this past weekend, represent a positive turn for Electric Boat, which saw some layoffs in 2006.
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