EDC to seek changes to R.I. expedited permit process

PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Economic Development Corporation today announced plans to propose new rules aimed at strengthening its expedited permitting process.
The agency cited commercial property insurer FM Global’s decision last week to build a new $60 million headquarters in Johnston (READ MORE) as a model of how the “Certificate of Critical Economic Concern” process can help create and retain high-wage jobs in Rhode Island.
“With the lease on our current headquarters expiring in July 2009, FM Global was faced with a tight time frame,” Shivan S. Subramaniam, FM Global’s chairman and CEO, recalled in a statement today. “First and foremost, we were looking for a timely review by state and local officials of our plans to build a new headquarters.
“Within 48 hours of notifying R.I. EDC that our current headquarters would not meet our future needs,” Subramaniam said, the agency had helped the company arrange meetings with Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and the heads of the R.I. Department of Environmental Management, R.I. Department of Transportation and the EDC.
“FM Global is an important part of the Johnston community, and we were very determined to keep their new corporate headquarters in our town,” said Johnston Mayor Joseph Polisena, adding: “It took a collaborative effort at both the state and local level to accomplish this great win for FM Global, Johnston and Rhode Island.”
The process “demonstrated that we can work in a coordinated way with state and local officials to speed up the review process to promote economic growth,” said Saul Kaplan, the EDC’s executive director.
The CCEC law requires state agencies to complete their reviews of qualified economic development projects within 90 days.
Proposed rule changes the agency plans to put before the public at a hearing next month would direct the state’s CCEC expedited review program toward companies that commit to keeping or creating more than 100 high-wage jobs in the state; to proposed developments that would create more than 50,000 square feet, at least half of which would be new office or commercial space; and to projects in cities or towns that agree to work with the state in an expedited review process. The agency also will propose eliminating the program’s current fee.
“Adjustments to the CCEC program are an important step in realigning Rhode Island’s economic development toolkit to support our strategy to build a higher wage economy that provides job opportunities for all Rhode Islanders,” Kaplan said.
The R.I. Economic Development Corporation is a quasi-public agency established to promote business development, preservation and expansion in the state and undertake port projects in Rhode Island. To learn more, visit www.riedc.com.