(Editor’s note: This is the first in an occasional series focused on questions from Providence Business News readers for R.I. Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor.)
- What is Secretary [Stefan] Pryor's view on workforce development & training in Rhode Island? Gov. [Daniel J.] McKee has created the $45 million RI Life Science Hub project, promoting the importance of biomedical entrepreneurship opportunities in supporting startups in the state. This is an excellent start, but in the end, we need a well-trained workforce to help these companies. We are experiencing severe brain drain of biomedical talent in the state. What are the secretary’s plans to strengthen and retain the state biomedical workforce? Since 2023, the long-standing NIH-funded Rhode Island-IDeA Network of Biomedical Research has been piloting a biomedical skills training program and would like to expand it into a more structured, state-supported project. One excellent example of such INBRE-state collaboration is Delaware’s recent renewal [$10 million in state matching funds].
Workforce development is a central pillar of Rhode Island’s economic strategy and is identified as a priority in the RI 2030 Plan. Consistent with that, the state works with higher education institutions and training providers to help align workforce development programs with the needs of the business community. This approach is intended to build a sustainable talent pipeline that supports innovation and the state’s long-term economic competitiveness.
One component of this effort is the Rhode Island Commerce Corp.’s Wavemaker Fellowship Program, which offers partial student loan repayment to retain highly skilled professionals in critical fields, including biomedical and life sciences. By supporting early-career talent, the program helps mitigate brain drain and strengthens Rhode Island’s capacity for research, commercialization, and health care innovation.
Some additional workforce investments that flow through the Commerce Corp. include the Science and Technology Advisory Council’s Innovate Rhode Island Bioscience & Engineering Internship Program. This initiative promotes workforce development and education in the bioscience and engineering fields, reimbursing eligible companies for interns at up to $6,500 per intern.
The Rhode Island Life Science Hub, supported by an initial $45 million state investment, was established to strengthen Rhode Island’s biomedical and life sciences ecosystem. RILSH supports programs that accelerate innovation, entrepreneurship and training. Key workforce-related partners include:
- New England Medical Innovation Center: NEMIC offers the MedTech Leadership Program, which provides bioscience professionals education on industry basics, regulatory affairs, business development, and fundraising. Additional programs include a six-month Accelerator Program for startups and the EMPOWER Program, which supports underrepresented founders with mentorship, workshops, and financial resources. These initiatives build the local biomedical talent pipeline.
- Courage Builder: Courage Builder offers internships, externships, workshops, and conferences that connect students and early-career professionals with employers, helping participants gain real-world experience, build networks, and explore career pathways in STEM and biomedical fields.
- Portal Innovations/Ocean State Labs: Through its Ex³ platform, this life science incubator provides startups with lab space, IT infrastructure, and operational support, helping companies accelerate from seed stage to funding while developing and retaining local talent.
Taken together, these initiatives reflect how the state is advancing workforce goals while also supporting specific programs to assist in the retention and growth of Rhode Island’s biomedical workforce and innovation economy.
Continued investments in Commerce Corp. and RILSH will help to sustain and expand these programs. Such investments will also enable the creation of new initiatives, providing even more support for workforce development and innovation.
We invite a dialogue about the specific program you reference in order to explore how it might be bolstered or expanded.
- As a solar developer and contractor working across New England, I’ve seen firsthand how lengthy interconnection timelines and inconsistent municipal permitting processes can make otherwise viable renewable energy projects financially infeasible. Rhode Island has ambitious clean energy goals, but these delays continue to slow investment and job creation in the state. What steps is R.I. Commerce taking – in collaboration with utilities, municipalities, and the Office of Energy Resources – to streamline project development timelines and make Rhode Island a more competitive and predictable market for solar and energy storage developers?
One step that R.I. Commerce has taken in collaboration with state and local partners is to launch a statewide electronic permitting initiative to increase permitting efficiency, moving certain services [including the solar permit itself] online. Going forward, we are planning additions and enhancements to the e-permitting system that may make applications and approvals even easier.
We recognize, however, that there are multiple stages in the process of advancing an energy-producing project, some of which are inherently time consuming. For example, the review and approval of development permits [including local zoning, planning, and building permits] remains under the authority of municipal governments, where the speed of processing varies. To assess a grid’s load capacity requires an Interconnection Study, which also takes time. It should be noted that similar approval processes exist throughout New England.
That said, we aim to help Rhode Island’s processes move as rapidly as possible [and to help the state meet its clean energy goals] so we are open to dialoguing and brainstorming with state, local, and private sector partners to continue improving these systems.
(Do you have a question for R.I. Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor? Send it to PBN Editor Mike Mello at mello@pbn.com.)
