PBN: If you had the president of a corporation on the phone and you were looking to convince them to move a division here, what are the key points you’re going to make?
CARCIERI: To me, you build on what you are good at or where you have strength. For example, we got wind there was a site consultant in town a few weeks ago – it was a biotech company, no name was disclosed – but something similar to Amgen. Amgen was happy to meet with the consultant because they would like to see another one here. The point being, they feed on each other. You try and build up a talent pool that you can draw on. You try to build on something that fits with what is already here.
PBN: Do companies prefer to have like companies here beside them?
CARCIERI: Yes – it means they have an employment pool.
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PBN: What makes Rhode Island attractive in terms of economic investment?
CARCIERI: One of the things we have been working on is to connect the higher education community with the business community – make that public/private link. My theory has always been that one of the things that should make us attractive is our proximity to Boston. Between the two – Greater Boston and Greater Providence – you have probably the richest higher education environment in the country. You need good higher education. In a broader sense, we are an attractive place. I was in Boston the other day. To me, we have most of what Boston has, only less congestion. This is a great place.
PBN: Following Fidelity’s arrival here several years ago, should we have seen more financial services firms come here to take advantage of tax incentives that were put in place?
CARCIERI: You have to understand you have two phenomena going on. Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen enormous consolidation. The number of people that are going to do what a Fidelity did is shrinking. Secondly, when you analyze why Fidelity came here … they had a big concentration in Boston. So they decide to spread out. They go up into New Hampshire and come down into Rhode Island. The hit of a big company dropping in and building a big facility, that’s rare. So you have to be on your toes when someone is consolidating so that you are ready for them. Bank of America is the most obvious example. There was a case where Massachusetts and Connecticut were trashing them. And when Ken Lewis came in, we basically said: ‘How can we work with you? We know you are going to go through a period where you’re going to consolidate a bit, but we want you to think of Rhode Island when you come out of that.’ So now we’re going to have 900 of their jobs in East Providence. So my point is: You have to be on your toes. You have to position yourself so you’re not the loser and you can at least stabilize what you’ve got and maybe grow it.
PBN: It seems odd the American Express building downtown would remain vacant for so long. What’s your take on that?
CARCIERI: I talked to the treasurer. It’s not up to me to say what to do and he’s got an investment board. But I said: ‘Don’t sell the thing.’ Look around. Why sell that building now, when this area is about to become the hottest spot – with GTECH and The Westin and the Masonic Temple and the other projects. After Fidelity is in there, by the time their lease is up, most of these projects will be done and the area will be humming.
PBN: A few weeks ago, you pushed for a two-day sales tax holiday. How disappointed are you that legislative leaders did not embrace the idea?
CARCIERI: I am disappointed. My sense is they didn’t want to come back, there were issues of veto overrides that would have to have been sorted out. That’s too bad.
PBN: Next year is an election year. How confident are you that you can get the General Assembly to support your economic development ideas?
CARCIERI: With the exception of the tax holiday, the General Assembly has been good about economic development issues. With Fidelity, they responded. With Bank of America … and with GTECH, they were all in here. We’ve tried to push harder for more money for the Slater centers, but that’s budget balancing. Can I get things done? I think so. It’s just more difficult because it is an election year.
PBN: The state’s bond rating was recently upgraded. What leads to that kind of move and why is it significant?
CARCIERI: These are financial people. They’re trying to rate the relative risk. They’re looking at the balance sheet. How much debt do we have? We’ve halved ours over the past 10 years. We maintain a reserve, which is legislated. Two percent of our revenue has to go in and it’s fully funded. So we have a little cushion there. We can’t, under the law, touch that. They look at the trend in your economic base – your jobs and your population. One of the things they focused positively on us was from the end of the recession in 2001 we’ve outperformed – in terms of economic growth – all of the New England states. Our per capita income is rising. You have to generate jobs that are good-paying. They said we were the only state in the country that did pension reform. They hadn’t been here in awhile. And what they saw were a lot of positives. There is $3.5 billion to $4 billion in private investment going into the state and the city. And there’s probably another quarter-of-a-billion in public investment in relocating Route 195. There’s the 403 connector down at Quonset Point. What they see is a lot of momentum here in a positive direction.
