PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND: BusinessFirst, a new service offering companies prompt, accurate, free or low-cost business information, made its official debut as the state’s premier resource for delivering customers streamlined, professional, toll-free business assistance. By calling a BusinessFirst representative at 1-888-384-9704, customers save time and money by quickly learning which of 17 partner organizations throughout the state are best suited to answer their business questions and provide specialized, free or low-cost assistance. A wide array of services are available through the program and cover financing options, training grants, export assistance, site location help, quality management, plant production assistance, patent development, marketing, environmental protection, employee recruitment and employee retention.
“Obtaining sound business assistance in a timely, cost-effective fashion is critical to many Rhode Island companies and BusinessFirst is one more way to help them get ahead and achieve success,” said Governor Lincoln Almond. “I congratulate the Rhode Island Human Resource Investment Council and participating business organizations on their efforts to come together and provide this essential program to the business community.”
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
“The BusinessFirst program is a truly unique national model,”said BusinessFirst Program Manager and Representative Rachael Kitchell. “No other state has a ‘one-stop-shop’ solution for the delivery of business services, and BusinessFirst is ready to connect customers to the answers they need fast. As a member of the BusinessFirst team, I look forward to helping customers reach their business goals more quickly and efficiently than ever before.”
“The BusinessFirst partnership enhances the Department of Environmental Management’s ability to provide businesses with environmental assistance through a coordinated, streamlined approach,” said DEM Director Jan H. Reitsma. “This innovative program offers a fast and efficient way for our agency to respond to inquiries from business customers on such issues as how to reduce pollution and save money; what environmental permits may be needed to begin or expand a business and how to obtain them; and what is the environmental history of a business or proposed site.”
BusinessFirst is funded in part by a one-time $100,000 grant from the HRIC and is staffed by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC). Partner organizations include the Rhode Island Export Assistance Center, the Rhode Island Small Business Development Centers, the Rhode Island Manufacturing Extension Service, the Rhode Island Technology Transfer Center, the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, the Rhode Island Small Business Administration, the Center for Design and Business, RACE for Quality Management, the Rhode Island Human Resource Investment Council, the Providence/Cranston Workforce Development Board, the Workforce Partnership of Greater Rhode Island, netWORKri, Office of Rehabilitation Services, the Rhode Island Department of Human Services, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and the First-Stop Business Information Center.
Awareness about the hotline is being raised by print advertisements in Rhode Island newspapers, a billboard campaign (“Life’s full of questions. Ask us the business ones”), an informational brochure and a comprehensive web site at http://www.BusinessFirst.org
