2008 cruise season kicks off June 2nd 

Downtown merchants and restaurateurs will welcome the first of many American Cruise Line visitors June 3rd between the hours of 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM. 

Vessels typically land later in the evening around 8:00 PM and tour the city the day after for a few hours. There are, however, some boats that land around 5:30 PM, allowing passengers a chance to explore downtown in the early evening hours.  [VIEW SCHEDULE]

Businesses are encouraged if possible [read more]

 New Bedford, other 'Gateway Cities' form economic alliance

BOSTON — Urban communities outside Boston that often feel neglected by state government are banding together to fight for common interests, such as job training and economic development.

Mayors and city managers from 11 cities — including New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang — met at the Old State House on Monday to form an alliance to fight for "a new urban agenda."

Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray attended the event [read more]

 City’s compact is valuable step

At long last, Massachusetts' former mill cities are uniting to advance their common interests.

Eight months ago, we endorsed a call by think tank Mass Inc. for the state's "gateway" cities — so named for employing new immigrants in the factories of the Industrial Revolution — to forge a coalition.

The recommendation was born out of a study Mass Inc. conducted in partnership with the Brookings Institution. The results painted a stark picture of 11 urban [read more]

  Company relocates -- keeps jobs in New Bedford

NEW BEDFORD — A 30-employee company that manufactures exhaust systems for motor vehicles marked its move to its new 30,000-square-foot home on Brook Street Thursday.

Davico Manufacturing, which was started in the city in 1987 and now is a $5-million-a-year business, has relocated all of its operations to a building at 95 Brook St. that at one time housed Arlan's Department Store and later was used by Cliftex Mills.

Raymond P. Surprenant, owner and president [read more]
 

  New Bedford waterfront safety improved through federal and state grants

NEW BEDFORD — The administration of Mayor Scott W. Lang is making a major push to improve public safety on the working waterfront, installing equipment as simple as life rings and ladders and as complex as sophisticated new cameras that will provide blanket surveillance 24 hours a day.

Federal and state grants are being used wherever available, said Kristin Decas, port director and executive director of the Harbor Development Commission. When completed later this year, the various projects along the waterfront [read more]

  Café Funchal is Greater New Bedford Small Business of the Year

NEW BEDFORD – Café Funchal, a family-owned business established in 1999, has been honored by the New Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce and BankFive with the 2008 Greater New Bedford Small Business of the Year Award.

The restaurant and catering business is owned and operated by the DaSilva family.

The food is prepared by José and Lidia DaSilva, who focus on old family recipes and the traditional cuisine of their native Madeira, Portugal. Their sons, Duarte and Luis DaSilva,
manage the restaurant’s day-to-day operations [read more]

  Area companies focus on performance excellence

The New England Performance Excellence Initiative (NEPE Initiative) is a new integrated system of internet collaboration tools and knowledge resources, combined with live monthly gatherings taking place across New England to help all small to medium size enterprises to improve their performance by learning useful methods from business performance management experts and managers of high performance businesses to get bigger, better, stronger, and increase their sales and profits!

The NEPE Initiative Road Show is being launched [read more]