With more EDC board members resigning, should the state just scrap the agency?

By PBN Staff
Twitter: @ProvBusNews

The fallout from the 38 Studios LLC implosion is still having an effect on the state’s economic development efforts.

Last week, three more members of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation resigned from the quasi-public agency’s board of directors, potentially leaving the EDC at least temporarily with four full-voting members.

There is a legitimate question as to whether the state’s lawsuit against former EDC staff and firms that did business with the EDC over the 38 Studios deal has had a chilling effect on attracting members of the business community to volunteer to serve on the board going forward.

Given the fact that Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee does not seem to want to take a new tack with the EDC, does it make sense just to scrap it and start the state’s economic development efforts from scratch?