KAITLYN ROBERTS, CEO of Providence-based caterer Easy Entertaining Inc., has been named the U.S. Small Business Administration Rhode Island District’s 2025 Small Business Person of the Year. Roberts was the top honoree among the 10 businesses and advocates recognized by the SBA during National Small Business Week in early May.
What does being named Small Business Person of the Year by the SBA mean to you? It means I can survive in adverse environments, rise and, on occasion, thrive. It means I can overcome obstacles I couldn’t have dreamed up years ago, and through it all keep pushing toward our common goal as a company.
Along with your work at Easy Entertaining, what, if any, efforts have you made to further support the state’s small-business community? I am happy to sit on the Rhode Island Small Business Coalition as a board member helping to advance the interests of small-business owners in the state. We work on a legislative level to attempt to make Rhode Island a more friendly state to conduct business within. We also connect business owners to share ideas and efforts. I also enjoy work volunteering for local chambers and schools to help place women in positions of entrepreneurship.
How has your business navigated the partial Washington Bridge closure? Do challenges remain and, if so, what are they? The Washington Bridge closure has been crippling for us on a professional level. The time to venture to the East Bay from our headquarters in central Providence has more than doubled, and in some cases tripled, from what it was before the closure was announced overnight [in December 2023]. This resulted in us having to purchase a new truck to service the East Bay, as we weren’t able to turn trucks anymore. We also have a number of employees who live in the East Bay. They commute about an hour each way, where before they could count on 20 minutes. That means either less time with us at work or less time with their family. Either way you cut it, it’s not good.
What more should the state do to support Rhode Island’s small-business community? What is the state lacking in support that small businesses need to thrive? Rhode Island is known, unfortunately, for being one of the worst states for business. As I close in on my 20th year doing business here, I have an appreciation for why. Fees, confusion, lack of transparency and state-/local-based governments who work against you rather than with you all add up to our spot at the bottom.
I have very little experience in the politics that stand behind the measures dragging us to the bottom of the list, but I can share that when we have failure at work, we like to face it head on. We name it, and we begin to see how others are doing it. I would look at the states at the top of the list. What makes them “business friendly”? What makes them attractive to business owners? How can we bring that vision here to Rhode Island? Creative ideas spur my creativity, and naming an issue sometimes makes it much easier to solve.
