It was welcome news out of West Warwick last week, when Cox Communications unveiled its new and dramatically expanded New England Customer Call Center. Cox put $3.5 million into the facility, which added 200 new jobs in 2000 – and will add 200 additional jobs in 2001.
The Cox Call Center represents concrete evidence that Rhode Island can be a major player with regard to economic development initiatives, and that the business climate here has indeed improved.
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It is also evidence that Rhode Island appears well positioned to capitalize and prosper in what has been widely termed an emerging “New Economy.”
Cox and others — American Broadband, for example — are determined to get Rhode Island wired. That movement appears to be working.
In recent weeks, the downtown Jewelry District has been getting newly wired by Cox, and plans are set for similar technological advances at Quonset Point. In fact, the technological revolution in Rhode Island appears to be well under way. Several buildings downtown have been targeted for transformation into “smart buildings” as developers search for a competitive edge in attracting tenants.
The wiring of Rhode Island crosses business and residential lines. For example, 92 percent of Rhode Island homes now have access to broadband Internet service — compared to 40 percent nationwide.
That is good news — and an excellent selling tool for Thomas Schumpert, executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. Schumpert has often said that the abundance of broadband cable is increasingly attractive to companies considering making Rhode Island their home.
“It makes our job easier,” said Schumpert.
And the bottom line of course, is jobs. Gov. Lincoln Almond said at the Cox Call Center that the thing about economic development is you have to keep plugging away. There is no end, no goal line to cross.
The governor is right. So while we applaud the state’s efforts in working with Cox, we look forward to future such announcements.
