State budget includes $350,000 appropriation for Polaris

PROVIDENCE – A total of $350,000 has been appropriated in the state budget for the Polaris Manufacturing Extension Partnership to boost Rhode Island’s manufacturing industry.
“This is a fantastic game-changer for our center,” Christian H. Cowan, director of Polaris, said this week.
The funding was proposed by state Rep. Joy Hearn, D-Barrington, and Sen. Erin P. Lynch, D-Warwick.
The budget takes effect July 1.
Polaris, a nonprofit business unit of the University of Rhode Island Research Foundation, provides more than 750 manufacturers in Rhode Island with business improvement programs.
“This appropriation will help Polaris to boost Rhode Island’s manufacturing industry by providing local companies with the tools they need to compete, expand and thrive in our state,” Hearn said in a statement. “The funding will allow Polaris to assist small manufacturers in expanding their businesses. Small manufacturing business counts for 95 percent of Rhode Island manufacturers, and a large number of this segment is not served by Polaris due to lack of funding.”
The appropriation will add to funds Polaris currently receives on a yearly basis from the federal government. Until now, Rhode Island was one of three states that did not provide state funding to its manufacturing extension partnership.
“Polaris is an important part of manufacturing growth,” Lynch said. “The program offers training in technology acceleration, innovation engineering, sustainability, facilities planning and other business improvement programs to help keep Rhode Island manufacturers viable. Helping to fund this program will greatly benefit manufacturing in this state.”
Several experts, including Cowan; David Dooley, the president of URI; Bill McCourt, president of the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association; along with several others, testified in front of the House and Senate finance committee about the impact Polaris has had and could have on Rhode Island manufacturers.
Cowan, in a follow-up interview, said that the funding will allow Polaris to more effectively support smaller manufacturers, ones with fewer than 100 employees.
The additional state funding, according to Cowan, will allow Polaris to receive even more federal funding. He expects that the $750,000 in federal funding will grow to $900,000 this year, bringing the total to $1.2 million, including the state money. He said the state funding will help lower fees for the small manufacturers to use Polaris’ services, something that had been an obstacle for some of them before.
Laurie White, Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce president, said the appropriation would “spur new business growth, encourage expansion of existing businesses, create jobs and attract private investment.”
“Despite the last decade’s job losses, Rhode Island’s manufacturing sector continues to demonstrate a diversity and resiliency to support a manufacturing renaissance in the state,” she said.
According to the chamber, manufacturing employs about 9 percent of the labor force in Rhode Island. The manufacturing labor force totals approximately 40,700 employees, with an average wage of more than $51,000.

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