The news was simple. Bristol-Myers Squibb is considering putting a $660 million biologics manufacturing plant in Rhode Island, among three other states, with the decision to be made by June 30. The announcement should serve as a loud wake-up call to the state’s movers and shakers to stop talking about change and start making it happen.
The story comes on the heels of yet another list that ranks the Ocean State near the bottom of the 50 states in terms of business climate – 48th on the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index.
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Might this influence Bristol-Myers Squibb’s decision? Corporations consider a number of factors, and Rhode Island has a lot going for it. In addition to the state’s quality of life, it already has proven itself to be hospitable to biologics – Amgen has spent more than $1 billion to expand its West Greenwich plant.
But there is a little rain cloud over that economic asset. The Kent County Water Authority has been unwilling to guarantee Amgen the water it needs to run at capacity. Without water, it is not out of the realm of possibility that Amgen could walk away from the investment. Someone needs to step up and fix the problem.
More important is the elephant in the room, namely taxes. The foundation urges states to simplify income taxes, get property taxes under control and generally get out of the way of business-to-business transactions.
The point here is that the governor and the General Assembly need to make things happen now. It’s not just about this potential investment, although that is certainly incentive to bring about a deal. It is just simply time to stop hindering development that will create the wealth in the state that all its citizens can share.
B of A backs up words with volunteer deeds
Too often in today’s business world, we lose good corporate citizens through mergers and consolidations. Many feared that would happen when Bank of America acquired FleetBoston Financial; we’re happy to see it wasn’t the case.
Bank of America had promised to maintain its support for local nonprofits, but given the track record of so many corporations in other cities, there was reason to be skeptical. But Bank of America was as good as its word.
In 2005, the first full year of Bank of America operations in Rhode Island, the company gave $1.79 million to local nonprofits, a 25-percent increase on 2003’s gifts. To encourage the donating of time, the company allows all employees to devote up to two hours per week to a volunteer initiative, a policy that resulted in 8,000 hours of time given to the region.
We live in times that are stretching human services providers to the max. They need help. Bank of America’s response to the call is one worth celebrating.
