Certainly it was good news when Rubius Therapeutics Inc. announced its intention to open a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Rhode Island.
It didn’t have to work out this way. But when it became known that Rubius was looking for a place to create a new class of medicine, the Raimondo administration jumped in, armed with its economic-incentive package and the lure of a just vacated state-of-the-art life science facility, courtesy Alexion Pharmaceuticals (the likely location for Rubius).
Gov. Gina M. Raimondo is taking a lot of political heat these days over the use of incentives. But to those who oppose them, it’s time to pull your heads out of the sand.
Yes, it would be better to make the overall economic climate so good that no company would feel compelled to compare one state to another. But which state is willing to disarm first?
So until that day comes – if it ever does – it makes sense to be armed with smart and effective programs that make the difference without bankrupting the state. And that is what Gov. Raimondo and her economic-development team have done.