Cranston Mayor Kenneth J. Hopkins got what he wanted after voicing his anger this month over the proposed name of a massive golfing complex under construction in that city, but the dustup highlighted long-standing sensitivities in the state and could run the risk of feeding into Rhode Island’s reputation for having an inclement business climate.
Topgolf had planned to call its newest location “Topgolf Providence” even though the multilevel sports and entertainment facility slated to employ around 400 people is under construction at 120 Sockanosset Cross Road in Cranston.
That decision quickly drew the ire of Hopkins, who fumed that he wanted it to be named either Topgolf Cranston or Topgolf Rhode Island, or the business could move. After a few days of pressure, the company capitulated, announcing on July 14 that the location would be called Topgolf Rhode Island.
While relatively short-lived – Hopkins released a statement the same day, thanking Topgolf for the name change – the conflict highlights a deep-seated mentality among many in Little Rhody.
“Rhode Islanders are loyal to their communities and have very strong local allegiances,” said state Rep. June Speakman, D-Bristol, who is also a professor of political science at
Roger Williams University. “It’s been that way since the founding of the state.”
Hopkins’ concerns echoed another instance in which lawmakers debated whether
Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport, which officially had the state added to its name in 2021, should instead lean on Providence in its name, she says. (Also, Warwick officials have long been miffed that many travelers are led to believe the airport is located in Providence.)
Speakman was “not at all surprised” when Cranston took issue with Topgolf’s naming, noting that a Cranston homage would help to raise the city’s own business development profile. But Topgolf’s reasoning made sense too, she says, with marketing professionals traditionally gravitating toward better-known cities such as Providence and Newport for organization names.
Mike Raia, president of
Half Street Strategic Consulting LLC, a public relations and communications firm, says municipal officials needed to view the matter less parochially.
“If anything, I think calling it Topgolf Cranston would have done a disservice” to both sides, Raia said, adding that the Cranston name itself doesn’t have the brand power to optimize search engine results – key to drawing new customers – for area Topgolf locations.
New customers are more likely to find Topgolf locations by searching the company name and the best-known nearby city, or a particular state, Raia says. And the more customers Topgolf attracts, the more meal and beverage tax revenue Cranston gains.
While Raia predicts the naming decision will have a positive impact on Topgolf and Cranston itself, will the conflict have the opposite effect on future economic development?
Probably not to any extremes, Raia says, though it may leave some companies unfamiliar with the state’s culture not repelled but left “scratching their heads.”
“I think that we get in our own way sometimes, but I don’t think that’s necessarily reflective of the broader business community,” Raia said. “I do think it’s a good opportunity for us as a state to do a little bit of soul-searching and reflection.
“Rhode Island is a place where people come for quality of life, higher education offerings, increasingly for job opportunities in different industries,” he said. “But we find ourselves getting stuck in local, parochial mini-battles that don’t matter to the broader swaths of the population.”
Agree 100%, this was a pointless battle. If anything it’s worse off now.
Exactly. Local politicians and citizens have no clue of the larger reality that the core city of a metropolitan area is the anchor and the core name recognition. Perhaps because so few travel nationwide or internationally.
“Providence” – given its size, economic, political, governmental, cultural, entertainment, culinary, tourist, convention, corporate, educational, and transportation center of New England”s second largest metropolitan area – has more national name recognition than “RI”.
Visitors do not care about a city line on the ground – it’s Providence for all intents and purposes. This incident and the abomination of the airport name are perfect examples.
We must use the powerful name PROVIDENCE to our advantage!
Kudos to Hopkins. Cranston has been better run than Providence for 2 decades.
I agree 100% with Mssrs. Torti and Castiglioni. I would also proffer that Rhode Island, also known as the “City State”, is far too small to have 39 cities and towns. Consolidation should reduce that number to promote cost savings and efficiencies, at least with regard to Providence County. I propose that the City of Providence should be organized such that Providence, Cranston, Johnson, North Providence, Pawtucket and East Providence become six boroughs comprising the City of Providence, much in the same way that Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island are the five boroughs comprising the City of New York. Similar consolidations should occur in Kent, Washington and Bristol Counties.