Carlo Marazzi Promising to offer affordable high-speed Internet to all of Puerto Rico, the $32.5 million Puerto Rico Bridge Initiative was officially inaugurated Tuesday, with the goal of eventually expanding a broadband footprint to the entire island. The inauguration of the first phase of the network comes nearly a year after PRBI project manager Critical […]
Saying the historical “flip-flopping” of tourism marketing campaigns for Puerto Rico has “confused the hell out of everybody,” the Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association has set the ball rolling on establishing a destination marketing organization, or DMO, for the island.
The Economic Development Bank announced Sunday it is looking to boost its loan portfolio for Puerto Rico’s small- and mid-sized businesses by nearly 10 percent, to $275 million, in fiscal ’12, as a result of efficiencies achieved at the agency over the past 23 months.
El Amal’s owners left only a brief note on the door to announce the closing. (Credit: © Mauricio Pascual) Local drugstore chain El Amal closed down its 22 stores Saturday, taping only a brief note on the door to explain its decision to customers. It has been reported that some 600 people will lose their […]
Sergio Marxuach (Credit: ©Mauricio Pascual) Two years after the Luis Fortuño administration declared the island in a state of fiscal emergency, and put into motion a series of cost-cutting and revenue-generating measures, the government has managed to control expenditures and reduce the structural deficit — and has piled on debt — an analysis by the […]
Expecting it to be a “short sale,” Borders Group on Saturday will begin liquidating everything at the 200 stores it will close as part of its Chapter 11 procedure, including the Carolina and Mayagüez locations.
Local coffee production has dropped by half in the last five years as the sector considered a jewel of Puerto Rican agriculture has battled against natural disasters and a lack of people interested in taking on the arduous task of picking beans.
If the government truly wants to help the economy move forward, aside from monitoring that all of the recently enacted reforms effectively serve their purpose, it will have to implement what private sector representatives on Thursday called a “credibility reform.”
GDB President Carlos García (Photo credit: ©Mauricio Pascual) Government Development Bank President Carlos García will be stepping down from his post effective March 1, the official confirmed Wednesday. He will be succeeded by Juan Carlos Batlle, another banker.García’s resignation comes two years after he accepted the job, leaving his position as COO of Santander BanCorp […]
Enrique Ortiz de Montellano For the second time in as many days a local wireless provider has jumped into the 4G arena. On Wednesday Claro de Puerto Rico announced the start of its next-generation wireless service, with an investment of $240 million. The HSPA+ network covers 80 percent of Claro’s footprint, including Vieques, said Claro […]
Michigan-based mega books retailer Borders Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a New York court on Wednesday, confirming industry reports that it would seek to reorganize deteriorated finances.
(Photo Credit: Carlos Anguita) AT&T de Puerto Rico on Tuesday announced plans to beef up its local wireless network, adding cell sites and technology to enable fourth-generation transmission speeds. However, in an unusual twist to its announcement, the company withheld associated investment figures. Nevertheless, the island’s largest wireless carrier said its plans call for installing […]
The $3.73 billion budget submitted Monday by the Obama administration for fiscal 2012, which begins in October, will have a yet unquantifiable impact on the island that will likely mean less money for communities and students.
The issue of transparency regarding public sector procedures has become especially relevant during these tough economic times. To achieve it, governments have turned to technology to expose their agendas -- often going online to offer reports and information to show constituents how taxpayer money is being spent.
W Hotel in Vieques Hotels in Vieques saw a 5 percent drop in the number of room nights sold during the first six months of fiscal ’11, maintaining a similar pattern of visitors in comparison to the same period during fiscal ’10. According to numbers released by the Puerto Rico Tourism Co., between July and […]
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