In her weekly video address heading into Labor Day weekend, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo touted the significant job gains in the state since she took office in 2015. The state’s unemployment rate has dropped by more than one-third and 17,000 new jobs have been created, according to the governor.
The following week, the 93-year-old Rhode Island-based Benny’s retail chain announced it would be closing all 31 stores in southern New England by the end of the year. An estimated 715 workers will lose their jobs, including 400 Rhode Islanders.
Days later, Alexion Pharmaceuticals announced it was closing a Smithfield manufacturing plant and moving its Connecticut headquarters to Boston. The cost-cutting move will eliminate nearly 600 jobs, including 250 in Rhode Island.
The announcements are a sobering reminder it is the private sector, rather than government, that controls job creation.
There was little state leaders could have done to save the local jobs. The owner of Benny’s cited competitive challenges in the shrinking retail sector.
Alexion last year broke ground on a $200 million expansion in Smithfield that Gov. Raimondo hailed at the time as an example of government and a company working together. But a corporate restructuring now has Alexion planning to complete the expansion and sell the property.
State agencies will help affected employees in both cases with re-employment opportunities. Beyond that, state leaders must continue working to improve the business climate, and leave it to employers to create the jobs.