Politics & Government

Projo.com: Governor Visits Middletown Defense Companies

As fallout from the ongoing ASFT Navy kickback scheme investigation continues to ripple across Rhode Island's defense industry, the governor visited a number of local defense contractors in Middletown on Thursday, Projo.com reports.

Projo.com was reporting on Thursday evening that Governor Chafee had met with representatives from more than a dozen local defense contractors earlier in the day, as well as the Southeastern New England Defense-Industry Alliance at Rite Solutions, a company based in the Aquidneck Corporate Park in Middletown.

The governor reportedly did not address the recent scandal involving an alleged U.S. Navy kickback and bribery scheme case in which Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow (AFST) founder and former president Anjan Dutta-Gupta recently pleaded guilty in a federal court while a second case against a civilian Navy employee remains pending. Chafee also reportedly did not speak about the Navy's subsequent shifting of contracting authority away from the local Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) to Washington, D.C, which has resulted in some instability and uncertainties among local defense contractors that rely on contracts.

Instead, the governor's visit served as more of a fact-finding visit to learn more about the education and skills of the defense industry work force, according to the report.

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Projo.com's complete article may be read by clicking here.


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