To the editor,
I believe that every Rhode Island company and every Rhode Island worker can successfully transition to a 21st-century innovation economy that creates higher-wage job opportunities for all Rhode Islanders. This is an important time for Rhode Island’s future. We are at a tipping point and must confidently move forward with a common vision and actionable plan for strengthening our economy.
Over the last few decades Rhode Island’s economy has changed in fundamental ways. Like the rest of the nation, our economy has shifted away from a reliance on machinery and equipment to “knowledge workers” who generate ideas and information. We must now compete in an economy where innovation and knowledge are the primary drivers of economic growth. Though daunting, the transition to a new, global, innovation economy offers Rhode Island an opportunity to achieve greater prosperity now and in the years to come.
Many factors will affect our success in repositioning Rhode Island’s economy to create higher- wage job opportunities for all Rhode Islanders. It is essential that Rhode Island continue to improve its business and tax climate. Recent changes to create a flat-tax option, lower capital-gains taxes, cap property-tax increases, and phase out the car-and-inventory tax are good steps. We must not lose ground on the progress we have made to become more competitive.
The R.I. Economic Development Corporation has completed a comprehensive review of its activities and programs and has aligned its entire effort to the vision, goals and strategies of [its recently unveiled] Economic Growth Plan. Central to this review and repositioning are ongoing efforts to modernize the agency’s programs to reflect the current needs of Rhode Island companies and better support companies that are well positioned to grow and create higher-wage innovation-economy jobs.
RIEDC has become a more client-facing organization and staffing has been restructured so that our entire team is active in the marketplace working with companies to understand growth requirements and provide access to the land, labor, capital and government support they need to grow. In 2007, the RIEDC business development team made 4,200 calls on Rhode Island companies and in 2008 a goal of 5,000 calls has been established.
We can build a 21st-century innovation economy that creates more high-wage jobs for Rhode Islanders. Our plan is starting to work. Staying on strategy will require decisive leadership, deep collaboration and the courage to forgo short-term fixes. It will be difficult but, for the sake of our state’s future, we cannot afford to fail.
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As a member of a company, Clariant Corp. of Coventry, that just closed it’s doors after over 60 years here in Rhode Island and took it’s, at one time $60M payroll with it. This is a company that has plants on five different continents. This is the type of business we need. Rhode Island will not survive, economically, without a strong business tie to the world. My company was one of those ties and we let it die. I find that there are three basic issues this state has to fix and fix now. It makes no difference how many committees you have or what RIEDC does. or the number of studies.
In the last 15 years we were in operation, there was a need to give job applicants a basic skills test in order to see if they were qualified to work there. I mean this was basic. Just a little above “See spot run”. If this one problem isn’t solved then nothing else we do will help, NOTHING!
TAXES,TAXES,TAXES!! Need I say more???
The grip of organized labor, private or public service unions control an inordinate portion of the Rhode Island business climate. That’s right labor controls too much BUSINESS.
There are members of our State Legislature who are also members of private and public employee unions. This can’t happen. How can a business, interested in coming to R.I. seeing this and doing a little more research and seeing our history, with regards to these unions, still want to come here? I sure wouldn’t, would you?
Fix these three keys issues and the rest will fall into place. Maybe not quite that easy, but the main stumbling blocks will have been removed and it will make our transition from a voice crying in the night to a world beater. Rhode Island CAN do it. We have the people, the will and the sea port to make it all work.
Will it take us going bankrupt to see that? How many more studies and committees will we have? It’s time to stop those and time to pull, ALL of us, in the same direction.
Mike Hamel
West Warwick