11 minute read
SPOTLIGHT
SOMETHING NEW SPOTLIGHT
POOCH PASSION: Former graphic designer Aldo Abreu, left, now uses his expertise to groom pets after opening Chibi’s Choice Pet Grooming & Supply in East Providence with his wife, Megan, right.
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PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
Crafting canine coats
BY NANCY LAVIN |
Lavin@PBN.com
ALDO ABREU LOVES all things design and dogs.
So, when the former graphic designer moved from his native Dominican Republic to Rhode Island seven years ago, his wife, Megan, a Rhode Island native, encouraged him to pursue a career that married his artistic eye with pooch passion. After five years honing his skills as a groomer for a local Petco, Abreu struck out on his own.
Chibi’s Choice Pet Grooming
& Supply opened in East Providence in October – the opening was delayed a few months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The name pays homage to Abreu’s Dominican roots; “chibi chibi” is a colloquial Spanish call for a dog to come, much like “here, kitty kitty” is used in the U.S.
Thanks to Abreu’s multilingual background, the business serves both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking customers, with dog grooming the primary service for now, though he hopes to add a day care and training facility. Supplies, including beds and bows made by Megan’s mom and bandannas crafted by a local teacher, are also sold.
Prices vary based on the services and dog size and type of coat. n
DYNAMIC DUO: Anthony Squillacci Jr., left, president of APAC Tool Inc., took over the family business, which was started as a jewelry manufacturer by his father, Anthony Squillacci Sr., right. APAC now also does product design.
PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
Right tools for jewelers
Toolmaker also creates branded promo materials BY NANCY LAVIN | Lavin@PBN.com
ANTHONY SQUILLACCI SR. learned toolmaking as a teenager, watching over his uncle’s shoulder as they sat side by side at a workbench.
Several decades later, Squillacci Sr. was in the teacher’s seat, showing his son, Anthony Squillacci Jr., the same technique using a jeweler’s saw and sheet of metal.
Advances in technology have changed much of that rudimentary process, which is now done through computer-controlled machinery. What has not changed is the fatherson duo’s close relationship, and their shared passion for their craft through their business, APAC Tool
Inc.
Squillacci Sr. founded the toolmaking and jewelry manufacturing company in 1966, striking out on his own after working for his uncle, who owned a similar company.
It was a natural path, given his family history – two other uncles also worked in the industry – and his love for the combination of mechanics and artistry required.
“I never went to trade school,” Squillacci Sr., now 80, recalled. “Back then, you just learned from the people you knew.”
His son, Squillacci Jr., also felt called to the family business, though he emphasized that he was never pressured by his father. After graduating Hope High School, the Providence native considered going to college to study computer programming, or maybe graphic art.
However, he chose to try out a stint at his father’s company, and he never left.
“By being involved in this business, I get to the graphic arts and computer programming bits, so it worked out really well,” said Squillacci Jr., who now serves as company president. His dad is chief operating officer because, as Squillacci Jr. joked, “he refuses to retire.”
Together, the two guided their business through a host of evolutions and challenges, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As a manufacturer, the company was never forced to shut down, but business suffered as a result of supplychain shortages and decreased demand from some clients.
Fortunately, previous efforts to grow and diversify their business helped them survive. While Squillacci Sr. started the company originally manufacturing tools for jewelry companies, he realized he had to change directions after the boom of the early 1980s dropped off. Increased imports created new competition, and Rhode Island’s once hallmark jewelry industry no longer reigned supreme.
Squillacci Jr., who joined the company during this time, helped his father with the “soul searching” that led to a new strategy. The company still manufactures jewelry production tools, which comprise half of its business, but now sells them to manufacturing companies rather than jewelers. They also make industrial and consumer products, some medical goods and even branded promotional materials for companies to use at trade shows, corporate events and social gatherings, sold through a separate division known as APAC Promo.
An e-commerce business started in 2007 caters to recreational jewelry makers and craft hobbyists, selling clips, catches and other “findings” used to make jewelry.
Technological advancements have been critical too; 3D modeling software, laser-engraving and computer numerical control machines are all key services. But craftsmanship is still a part of the trade; and finding workers with the skill and training to fill those positions can be challenging.
“You need that mechanical mind,” Squillacci Jr. said. n
HOT TOPIC
Cities join forces to combat ATVs
BY NANCY LAVIN | Lavin@PBN.com
MANY LAWMAKERS, BUSINESS OWNERS and residents are upset about the increasing appearance of loud, illegal allterrain vehicles on streets around Greater Providence, but authorities have struggled to stop them despite the nuisance and the hazards to the public.
Cranston Mayor Kenneth Hopkins earlier this month announced an executive order allowing local law enforcement to arrest riders on unregistered ATVs and seize their vehicles, similar to a policy Providence has had on its books since 2017.
While Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza continues to emphasize this strategy as a way to get illegal vehicles off the streets – more than 200 have been destroyed since the City Council passed the ordinance – he acknowledges something still needs to be done about the seemingly ”endless supply” of ATVs zooming along the streets.
In a March 16 news conference, Providence and Cranston officials announced that the police from both cities are joining forces to crack down on the problem by sharing information, financial resources and personnel. They said they would continue to focus attention on gasoline stations where riders fuel up, sellers of ATVs, and organizers and participants of “rideouts,” large gatherings of ATV riders that sometimes overwhelm other motorists on city streets.
But the collaboration may expand to other municipalities, Elorza said. And a system to require registration of new ATVs was among Elorza’s list of 2021 legislative priorities.
“We need creative solutions,” Elorza said.
Sen. Frank S. Lombardi, D-Cranston, has introduced his own measure that would allow municipalities to designate certain trails or open spaces where ATVs, dirt bikes and other recreational vehicles could be ridden, subject to registration and rules about mufflers.
Lombardi acknowledged that the timing of his bill, introduced on March 4 and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, was “not perfect” amid recent arrests and crimes committed by ATV riders. But he hoped fellow lawmakers would see his proposal as an opportunity to capitalize on a growing recreational pastime. And the community could benefit from the registration fees and other requirements, Lombardi said.
“Right now, there are thousands of people from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut going to New Hampshire to ride their bikes,” he
JORGE O. ELORZA, Providence mayor
said. “This is our way to get some of that back.”
Lombardi said his bill might face pushback from business owners, but he hoped the proposal would at least raise awareness about alternative solutions to a problem that doesn’t seem to be going away.
He also supported police efforts to get illegal ATVs off the streets, saying the thoroughfares of Cranston have become “inundated.” Earlier this year, a group of riders hit and injured a Cranston police officer on Atwood Avenue.
Cranston Street has also become a hot spot, raising concerns from area businesses.
Cranston manufacturer Taco Inc., located on Cranston Street, has been less affected than its retail and restaurant neighbors since few customers visit the office, said company spokesman Ken Watson. But the company supported efforts to crack down on ATVs, particularly for the safety of its employees who often share the roadways with those riders during their commute.
Asked whether he supported proposals to designate alternative places for riders to go, Watson said he was not familiar enough to comment. n
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Helping those in recovery find a safe place to go
BY MARY MACDONALD | MacDonald@PBN.com
“Dee Dee” Williams works with people trying to stay off drugs and maintain a sober life. Her work revolves around coordinating services, including finding them available spots in recovery houses, where they can break away from old patterns and give themselves time to get healthy and back on their feet.
Although Williams gets her information on bed availability directly from organizations that provide them, the public and other health professionals can now see updated openings by using a new website.
Called Open Beds, the state website launched in late 2020 and reveals on many days the reality of mental health and drug treatment across Rhode Island: finding an available bed can be difficult.
On a recent afternoon, 520 beds were already filled at recovery houses across the state for that night, with only 50 open beds remaining. Including inpatient beds for mental and behavioral health treatment – which are also listed on the website – 723 of 791 total beds in the state were filled for the night.
The website provides regularly updated information on where treatment beds can be found for adolescents and children, elderly adults, and men and women. The nonprofits and hospitals that provide treatment programs each have a listing, with the number of filled beds and the number available.
Before Open Beds – www.ribhopenbeds.org – health care providers and families, or individuals, would have to place calls frantically trying to find an opening.
People trying to access substance use treatment need time – as much as a year – to have a structured setting, said Williams, director of the call center at Horizon Healthcare Partners, a nonprofit that operates Behavioral Health Link, the state’s only 24-hour call center that connects people seeking services to available programs.
“There are people who are out there who go into treatment, and then because they’ve burned so many bridges, they don’t have any place else to go,” said Williams. “They also don’t want to go back into the same cycle they just left. They want to go into a recovery living situation.”
While a person is in that recovery setting, Williams and her staff work to find them additional resources, including getting them on lists for subsidized housing or connecting them with job resources. Open Beds, launched by the R.I. De-
partment of Behavioral Healthcare, De-
velopmental Disabilities and Hospitals, is intended to help users identify who provides services, and what kinds of availability exists for inpatient services, such as detox beds, crisis stabilization units and substance use residential programs. Recovery houses, located in residential neighborhoods across the state, feature an on-site house manager. The homes are typically run by nonprofits and are licensed by the state but look like any other apartment or home. In Rhode Island, 10 programs offer housing for men, while five homes are for women. Two are focused on veterans. Some people stay in recovery homes for a few months, others for as long as a year. The recovery homes often have waitlists. This is particularly true for women seeking treatment, said Williams. She observed that for women, seeking residential treatment is particularly hard because they often have children or are caring for parents. Only Amos House, a Providencebased nonprofit, runs a program for women that allows them to bring their children. For many, the COVID-19 pandemic has made recovery even more difficult, Williams said, isolating people from the social support they may need to stay sober and drug-free. DONNA “Substance use can be a very social disease,” Williams said. “It’s about who you know, who you are around. If you are living a sober life, your friends and your support system is very important to you. Isolation is our enemy.” With social isolation and job loss and the other fallout from the pandemic, more people appear to be struggling with substance use. Rhode Island documented 356 fatal overdoses for the first 11 months of 2020, according to the data provided by the R.I. Department of Health. That represents nearly a 16% increase in deaths for the entirety of 2019, and the highest number reported since the state started publishing its overdose statistics seven years ago. Whether the spike last year is directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet clear, said Ryan Erickson, director of strategy and public affairs for BHDDH. But the overdose epidemic has accelerated after several years of decline. The state’s new Open Beds website, Erickson said, adds a lot of transparency for people who need support. If the Open Beds website shows a lot of filled beds, it also reveals where the openings exist. Families, patients and other health care professionals can then call the providers directly. “Even when the website tells us we are often at our capacity … you can see small pockets of availability where we have it,” Erickson said. n
CONNECTING CALLERS: Marissa Rodriguez, left, and Matt Latondresse volunteer at Behavioral Health Link, a 24-hour call center in East Providence that connects people seeking substance use treatment programs.
PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
