If you were founding a company today, would you base it in Rhode Island?

Although I may be in the minority, my feeling is that, because my personal networks are here and the local educational institutions produce graduates who are able to produce excellent work at a reasonable cost, I would almost assuredly stay here. Moving elsewhere would require a lot of learning the ground somewhere else, diverting energy and resources I could be putting to use here.

Providence...not Rhode Island

What RI has in its favor is a network that is only 3 degrees of separation apart, from Westerly to Woonsocket - but what speaks against it is a history of thievery and dishonesty. Most RI college grads do not stay. The location makes RI unique - but the political environment has historically made it inhabitable. Hard to stay and hard to leave - that is the unique challenge of living in RI.