PBN Innovative Companies 2022
INNOVATIVE COLLABORATION: Rhode Island CEO Council
THE NEWLY FOUNDED Rhode Island CEO Council may only be less than 1 year old, but founder and CEO Robert Fiske draws upon more than a decade of experience creating exclusive consortiums, providing a space for some of the top business leaders in the state to learn, grow and talk shop.
Fiske founded the Chief Executives Club of Rhode Island in 2006, which he ran until 2012 before moving to the West Coast. When Fiske moved back to Rhode Island during the COVID-19 pandemic, he turned once again to his experience and interest in cultivating a community for top business leaders. Amid the pandemic, Fiske drew from conversations he had with other local CEOs about what they were needing most at that time.
“We’ve been isolated. We need these conversations,” Fiske said. “Everything is changing. We have the issues of: How do I recruit? How do I retain employees? We’re all dealing with major issues there. How do we deal with office or remote?”
Inspired by these issues, Fiske founded the Rhode Island CEO Council in Cranston, which invites CEOs of large and smaller-scale organizations throughout the state for presentations, roundtable discussions and community.
Through the council, local business leaders who are council members have a sanctuary to have candid discussions about a myriad of challenges, such as workforce and supply chain issues brought forth by the pandemic.
Fiske also treasures the sparks of conversation and inspiration that he says happen at the meetings. “I hear the conversations, I hear the ideas [and watch] how people get enthused, go back to the office, they go, ‘I’m going to solve this problem,’ ” he said.
Fiske says the CEOs run the companies that pay everybody’s paychecks, that stimulate the economy, that determine what the employment rate is in the state. But his mission extends beyond just helping CEOs do better work.
“If we can help them improve the way they lead businesses, both economically and culturally, we can change the state and make everybody happier, with a thriving economy in the state,” Fiske said.
