PROVIDENCE – When Tom Giordano arrived in Rhode Island in 2017 to lead Partnership for Rhode Island, then a newly formed nonprofit CEO roundtable, he found out rather quickly there was a disconnect among top executives across the state.
Giordano on Thursday told Providence Business News there were some company CEOs that “never met each other before” eight years ago. Some executive leaders among the state’s top companies had not figured out how to collaborate or share best practices with one another, or even “sit for a meal” with one another, Giordano recalled.
Over time, Partnership for Rhode Island and the CEOs found commonality on how to improve the state’s business climate, particularly through helping obtain grants and building workforce pipelines between education and industries. Now, as
he soon walks out of the nonprofit’s office for the final time as its executive director, Giordano hopes the Ocean State can attract new businesses through Partnership for Rhode Island to build up the local economic climate.
“There are amazing companies that are growing and doing big things here,” Giordano said. “We want to help tell those stories and use things like the [Interstate] 195 land … to tell the Rhode Island economic development story that says, ‘Hey, if you want to be in the Northeast, there’s no better place than Rhode Island.' ”
Giordano confirmed to PBN he will soon be working in the private sector within Rhode Island after leading Partnership for Rhode Island for eight years. But Giordano declined to comment on where he is heading next.
Giordano
helped form Partnership for Rhode Island in 2017 under then-Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, who, seeing other states successfully launch similar initiatives, gathered CEOs from the state’s largest employers with a challenge to look beyond policies and bills for more ways to drive infrastructure improvements. Organizations in the partnership include AAA Northeast, Amica Mutual Insurance Co., Bank of America Corp., Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, Brown University, Citizens Bank N.A., CVS Health Corp., FM, Gilbane Building Co., Hasbro Inc., International Game Technology PLC, Providence Equity Partners and the Rhode Island Foundation.
Giordano told PBN that Partnership for Rhode Island spent the first four years focused on K-12 education – or kindergarten through 12th grade – and workforce development. It was because, Giordano says, employers need both better K-12 schools across the state and better alignment with training programs provided by colleges and universities.
He said skill sets that companies are seeking from prospective employees are actually quite common across multiple business sectors. From there, common skills could be taught across the board to benefit every company in every sector.
“It’s an outdated term to talk about ‘soft skills.’ But you need some customer service skills,” Giordano said. “You find that whether you’re a retail pharmacy or a bank or health care entities, they’re all looking for the same skill sets. We found that a number of [companies] had what seemed to be very specific needs but actually were a common thread across organizations.”
Giordano says he's proud of Partnership for Rhode Island spearheading CompeteRI, a program that assists local leaders in all sectors, both for-profit and nonprofit, and other Rhode Island institutions with grant writing for opportunities to seek federal funding. Giordano said CompeteRI and his organization “saw the moment early” during the Biden administration, especially with Raimondo as U.S. commerce secretary at the time to go after the funding with “all of its might.”
CompeteRI proved successful. It helped the Ocean State be eligible for more than $700 million in federal grants from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act. One example Giordano noted was the state getting a $17 million grant to help with structural improvements to the Mount Hope Bridge in Bristol.
Giordano said Partnership for Rhode Island obtained grant writers from wherever it could to help tell the historic bridge’s story and build a competitive application to attract federal leaders. He also complimented the Gov. Daniel J. McKee administration for understanding what this influx of federal funding could mean for the state.
“We worked closely with [the McKee administration] to help bring this money home,” Giordano said.
Giordano also said he heard from other CEOs from outside of Rhode Island’s borders inquiring about CompeteRI and its effectiveness, looking to create a similar initiative on their own.
Now, making the Ocean State attractive to businesses, both new and established, will be Partnership for Rhode Island’s top focus for this year, Giordano said. He says the board – which will lead the search for a new executive director – is “very committed” to helping the state attract new companies and help current businesses grow.
“We have a different conversation with site selectors and with companies looking to come into the state than a state agency can,” Giordano said. “We can open those doors [for businesses] rather quickly. If we can be that open door and be that nice first impression, the governor and R.I. Commerce Corp. can just close the deal. We want to be that business-forward face that allows for us to sell this state as a great place to do business.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
