Politicians running so desperately for seats in Washington, D.C. have been quick to grab onto issues most likely to resonate with voters. Pollsters tell them to talk about abortion and prescription drug plans – and they do. In the recently completed Rhode Island primary elections – where Democratic Senate and Congressional candidates engaged in bitter personal attacks – the abortion issue took center stage. No one talked about rising fuel costs. No one talked about education reform.
And perhaps the biggest economic development issue in the state’s history – the idea of building a container port at Quonset Point/Davisville hardly rose above afterthought status.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
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But Tom Schumpert, executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, is not offended.
Schumpert took over the EDC on June 20, arriving after the forced resignation of John Swen – the result of a controversy involving the misuse of state-issued credit cards.
Schumpert came to the quasi public EDC armed with an impressive resume, one marked by a distinguished banking career and a stint as the director of the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation.
His priorities upon arriving at EDC were clear-cut. Restore the agency’s image – and help the governor get his proposal to build a container port to Quonset Point/Davisville off the ground.
As for the first priority, Schumpert believes he is making progress. Ditto for the second – and he is happy to work on that priority outside of the limelight of the political arena.
“Quonset Point is a business issue that will be – and should be – solved on the basis of its economics,” said Schumpert. “It is a complex issue that doesn’t fit well with sound bites. Quonset Point can benefit all of Rhode Island. It’s not a partisan issue. The debate is not one that should play out in the media.”
Embracing the challenge
Schumpert, a distance runner, likes the challenge afforded by the 3,000-acre former Navy base. While his main office is at EDC headquarters in Providence, each Thursday Schumpert travels from his home in Cumberland to an office at Quonset Point.
It was a conscious decision he made – in part to get a better feel for the place, but also to send the message that he wasn’t going to be a faceless bureaucrat making critical decisions regarding issues of which he had no close ties.
Schumpert understands that for now at least, talk of economic development at Quonset Point will center on a proposal to build a deep-water container port there. He expects that such a port ultimately will be built and it will be built in an environmentally friendly manner.
”We can’t do port development unless it is environmentally friendly,” he said.
Schumpert is not deterred by the magnitude of the project. Nor does he see the melding of commerce and environmental sensitivity as a particularly high hurdle to clear.
”I remember being in San Francisco and I saw both commerce and leisure boating,” said Schumpert. “I remember being in San Diego and I saw both.”
The bottom line for Schumpert is that he is convinced a container port in Rhode Island can work. And he believes the state is now on track to make it work
”I think it will happen,” he said. “It’s about location, location, locationThere had to be a reason the Navy chose this location back when they developed it. The deep sea lane into Quonset is closer than anywhere else on the East Coast – one day sooner “That competitive edge, said Schumpert puts Rhode Island in a good position. He is not deterred by talk of competitors that have long enjoyed contracts with the major shipping lines.
”If we have an asset that is one day closer to the markets in Europe, we can be selective,” he said.
Employment figures climbing
Tour Quonset Point/Davisville with Schumpert and Quonset Davisville General Manager Ronald Patalano and you get the sense that much is happening. There are 115 companies on the site and 6,000 workers, including 600 at Toray Plastics and 1,550 at General Dynamics’ Electric Boat facility. (At its peak, Electric Boat employed about 4,000 workers at Quonset. But that number has slipped to as few as 850 during periods of low production.)
Patalano rattles off facts and figures as if he were about to be tested on them the next morning. He will tell you that the facility’s own steam plant now provides energy for about 25 percent of the entire facility – and has the potential to do much more. He points out there is a concerted effort to bring rail-dependent companies to the park. He mentions the enormous success of SENESCO, a barge builder that has 10 barges under contract. Patalano maneuvers an EDC jeep throughout the property, and with each turn offers another success story. He points to the constantly growing Ocean State Job Lot, and Amtrol – both companies with huge warehouse and distribution operations. And he talks about a soon-to-be -built hotel. It will sit at the entrance to the park and feature more than 100 rooms.
There are millions of dollars being invested in the facility, said Patalano, and yet, few people seem aware of the progress. Along the waterfront, for example, close to $10 million has been invested into its Pier 1 and the area surrounding it. Already the port takes delivery of about 65,000 automobiles per year through NORAD, another growing Quonset Point tenant.
“We’re fully capable of handling a major expansion of automobile imports,” said Patalano. “A facility this size could easily do 350,000 automobiles a year.”
Patalano’s tour brings a smile to Schumpert’s face. With each trip around the park, he said, he gets a better understanding of its size, its scope – its potential.
“I sometimes wonder if people realize that there is already a port,” Schumpert said
Patalano is especially proud of the progress that has been made at Keifer Park, where nearly all of the office and manufacturing space is leased and new buildings are going up.
”If you came here five years ago, it was empty,” he said.
Patalano said advertising efforts – like the Web site – are working. His telephone is ringing. Site selection companies, he said, now have Quonset Point/Davisville on their maps. In recent weeks, the Quonset Davisville Management Board of Directors has approved purchase and sales agreements for 45 acres of land.
”That tells us that the advertising we are doing is working,” said Patalano. “Our message is getting out there.”
Patalano points to the location where the new highway will be coming in, and mentions the Third Rail – a project that will add a freight line to handle freight traffic from Quonset/Davisville and take it in tandem with the existing AMTRAK lines before veering off to join the main freight line north to a link with the east-west lines in central Massachusetts. That project continues to move forward, albeit slowly.
”There is only one direction this place is going,” said Patalano. “That’s up.”
Fatherly advice
Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Schumpert was the oldest of nine children. Talk to him just briefly and you get a clear sense that he will not be overwhelmed by the task at hand.
He expects to hold his job for the next two years and then, when there is change at the governor’s office, he expects to move on to the next challenge.
”I’m going to run this as if it were my company,” he said. “We want to do such a good job that when someone comes in after us, they will find a good place – and will benefit from that.”
Schumpert remembers his days in banking, when sometimes things took longer than expected. The container port proposal brings back those memories – and the approach he took.
”If this were easy, somebody else would already have done it,” Schumpert said.
Maybe Schumpert’s best attribute is the fact that he is not afraid to fail. He never knew he would finish the Boston Marathon, until he ran it in 1995.
If Schumpert has anything to do with it, the port proposal will become a reality – and jobs will continue to grow at Quonset Point/Davisville
It’s like he tells his daughters; “You never know how good you can be until you push yourself to where there is a risk of failure.”
