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Shobeir Ansari, Getty Images.
At the end of every month, we recap the biggest tech and startup happenings in Rhode Island. We have an archive of past roundups here. To get this info weekly (Tuesday afternoons, to be exact), sign up for the Rhode Island Inno Beat newsletter.
Let’s take a look.
- Gov. Gina Raimondo has announced that East Yorkshire, U.K.-based wind turbine maintenance company GEV Wind Power will establish its U.S. headquarters in Rhode Island. The move will create an estimated 125 jobs including support staff, blade technicians and management positions, which will be maintained for at least 12 years. A third-party analysis found that during that time, the state will have a projected $3.5 million net increase in personal income, sales and business corporation taxes, as well as a $13.67 million increase of the state GDP.
- Verizon has chosen parts of Providence to receive its new Verizon Communication’s 5G Ultra Wideband network, according to Yahoo! Finance. It will follow the tech’s Denver, Colorado debut, which occurred this week. College Hill, Mt. Hope, Federal Hill, Providence College and Rhode Island School of Design are all covered by the rollout. The report adds that the move will help buoy the company’s goal of more than 30 5G cities by the end of 2019 in an effort to “gain a foothold in the industry.” The coverage is set to debut July 1.
- University of Rhode Island has received a $20 million federal grant to expand Rhode Island IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, a biomedical research program, the Providence Journal reports.
- Brown University’s Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship has named local thought leader and CareerDevs CEO Arnell Milhouse, as well as investor and former Google manager Laura Thompson as its entrepreneurs-in-residence for 2019-20.
- East Providence-based ProThera Biologics, a company that works to develop proteins for the therapeutic treatment of life-threatening inflammatory conditions, has received a $2.03 million Small Business Innovation Research Fast Track grant from the National Institutes of Health.
- The Navy debuted NavalX, a platform that is "aimed at connecting Navy operations with the innovators who have new tools to test and implement," Federal News Network reports. The move will help creators better broadcast their concepts throughout the Navy.
- The University of Rhode Island has announced that 62 undergraduate students will participate in its Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, which allows participants to conduct graduate-level research during the 10-week training. Said students represent nine different local colleges and universities, with 27 participants from the University of Rhode Island.
- Rhode Island is No. 10 on WalletHub's "Best and Worst States for Jobs Right Now" rankings, Thrillist reports. It comes in right behind California, and joins New Hampshire (No. 5), Vermont (No. 4) and Massachusetts (No. 1) in the top 10.
- Providence-based WhatsGood, a delivery platform for local farmers, officially launched in Boston after a successful nine months testing its delivery system in Rhode Island.
- Providence hospitality students received a total of $49,500 worth of surprise scholarships from the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation during an exclusive reception in May.
