IT careers
Luring youngsters into high-tech educational fields continues to be a tremendous challenge. At a workforce information technology summit last week, designed to explore ways to spark interest in IT careers, it was clear that the number of IT jobs will far outstrip the number of people entering the field.
Carlos Dominguez, a vice president of the giant Cisco Systems, a company that developed a network of Cisco Academies, was here last week urging a partnership among business, government and educational institutions to develop programs that will lead to more youngsters choosing IT as a career.
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While the Cisco Academies have been successful and are growing, and other programs exist, Dominguez said there is no way that these alone will fill the growing need for technology trained graduates. It will take, he suggested, businesses working with schools to help redesign curriculum to meet job needs, along with strong government support and involvement.
The challenge is formidable, to make Rhode Island a center for IT learning and IT graduates, a place where companies know they can look to fill high-paying, high-skilled jobs.
While the summit last week was a good step, in isolation it does little more than explore issues. The summit set a plan – IT image campaign, developing new opportunities for teens, expanding school based information technology academies, and improving math and science instruction. The challenge now will be to further develop and implement the programs.
With a strong partnership it can happen.
No additional room tax
A proposal by some members of the General Assembly to increase the hotel room tax by 1 percent is ill founded.
Last week some legislators were suggesting an increase in the state’s hotel room tax from 5 to 6 percent, with proceeds (expected to be $2.4 million) going to support only two projects – the Heritage Harbor Museum and Waterfire.
The proposal immediately raised concern in the arts community, with organizations like the Attractions Council of Newport County objecting because they felt Newport already receives a disproportionately small share of the tax revenue that is generated, and because funding a private project is simply “not good public policy.”
While we are great fans of Waterfire and are anxious for the construction of the Heritage Harbor Museum, we share concerns about equity for various arts groups, about funding private development, and mostly about adding any further costs to vacationing in Rhode Island.
Last week, as legislators discussed increasing the hotel room rate, AAA Southern New England released a survey that said Rhode Island was second only to Hawaii in vacation costs – the combination of meal costs and lodging costs. Massachusetts was fourth.
According to the survey the average meal cost per day in Rhode Island is $114 (tied for 13th nationally), and lodging costs were third highest nationally at $157 per day. Only Hawaii at $301 a day and the District of Columbia at $217 a day have higher average room rates than Rhode Island.
Massachusetts had a slightly higher meal cost at $117 per day, but a substantially lower lodging cost at $144. The national average, the survey said, was $105 for meals and $108 for lodging.
It won’t take much for Rhode Island to simply raise the bar so high that travelers will turn to states with similar qualities, similar coastlines and opportunities. Let’s leave the costs alone.
Gaming
We’re pleased that the House Finance Committee last week rejected the proposal to put on the ballot the question of allowing a gaming facility in West Warwick. The vote was somewhat closer than we expected (10 to 7), but we understand the enormous pressure that the legislators must have been undergoing during these past several weeks.
The committee made the right decision. Rhode Island is simply too small to support another gambling facility, without risking a change in character from a state with an exceptional quality of life, to one dominated by one-armed bandits and roulette wheels.
