What's behind the death of family-owned marinas in RI

Good morning, I'm Will Richmond at The Providence Journal and this is the Daily Briefing.

If you're a boat owner you've probably noticed that many of Rhode Island's marinas have new names.

During the past couple of years, the independent, family-owned marinas have slowly died off. The facilities are still there but the owners have been replaced by corporate entities.

Is this a good thing? It depends.

The Journal's Antonia Farzan and Jonny Williams talked to leadership at some of the companies leading the effort to become a major player in the state's – and nation's – marina scene, along with the boaters who use the services.

While some customers are glad to see improvements for services that in some cases were being deferred, other factors are raising concern and have caught the attention of one of the state's top elected officials.

Here's what Antonia and Jonny found.

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: What's behind the death of family-owned marinas in RI