Rhode Island trying to be a ‘Hi-Tech friendly’ state

In July 1997 the General Assembly
overwhelmingly passed legislation
exempting executives of publicly traded
companies located here from paying a
capital gains tax when they sold stock.
The same legislature also adopted tax
credits for training programs and on
equipment used in certain kinds of
manufacturing – including the
production of computer software
products.
That kind of political support for the business community – and the
high technology community, in particular – impresses Brad Waugh, who
calls Rhode Island’s state legislature “one of the most progressive he
has seen.”
A regional vice president at CBSI in Providence and president of the
Rhode Island Technology Council, Waugh said it makes sense for Rhode
Island to promote high technology companies as a means to strengthen the
economy.
“This is an industry that Rhode Island should continue to push,” said
Waugh. “It is a clean industry. It is a simple, high-paid industry that
puts back into the economy. The average salary now for someone coming
out of college is about $45,000. This is an industry that fills office
space and doesn’t have a real impact on the environment.”
Clark Jordan, president and chief executive officer at Mesa Systems
of Warwick, has only been in Rhode Island for four months. While he said
he is not “up to speed” on the political scene, there are issues that
are always important to the high tech industry, such as being able to
recruit talented professionals.
“We are always asking the questions; ‘How do we get people here to
Rhode Island? How do we induce technically trained folks?,” he said.
In general, Jordan said, if taxes are lower in Massachusetts than in
Rhode Island, “that’s not a good thing.”
Jordan hopes that the lawmakers will continue to pursue legislation
that supports education and training programs.
“Anything that supports the local education infrastructure and
encourages software training at all levels,” he said. “And the retooling
of people from other industries. There are a lot of sales people out
there, for example, but not with the training in technical fields.”
Thomas Mulhearn, newly hired executive director of the Rhode Island
Technology Council, could not agree more.
Mulhearn points out that last year, the University of Rhode Island
graduated 23 students with a computer science major. That was at a time
when studies predict that in 1999, Rhode Island’s high tech community
will need between 1,800 and 2,000 information technology (IT) workers.
“There is a major discrepancy,” said Mulhearn. “The 21st Century is a
year away and our state university is producing just 23 computer science
graduates? That’s a major deficiency. How are we going to compete with
Boston, North Carolina and California? We need a highly trained
workforce.”
Mulhearn said the responsibility for building a more highly trained
workforce falls to the high technology community itself, our schools and
our lawmakers.
“The General Assembly needs to promote funding for workforce development
and we need to provide in the schools the tools that will allow our
students to become IT intelligent,” he said.
In an information age, Mulhearn said, high technology is destined to
drive the economy.
“Economic development in the future is technology,” he said.
Mulhearn has another issue he would like to see the General Assembly
address in 1999 – Y2K!
In some cases, private companies across America are dedicating millions
of dollars to ensure Year 2000 compliance. While Rhode Island officials
may consider the state prepared for the arrival of the Y2K computer bug,
it remains a phenomenon that no one has experienced. For that reason
alone, Mulhearn said, legislative action makes sense.
“The General Assembly may want to establish a Y2K Rainy Day fund,” he
said, “in case something unforeseen should happen.”