$1.5M would partially match federal grant
State officials last week called on the General Assembly to allocate $2.1 million for “innovation” in fiscal 2007, aiming to strengthen Rhode Island’s research capacity and support early-stage technology companies.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
The biggest part of the requested appropriation is $1.5 million to match a portion of a $6.75 million National Science Foundation grant recently awarded to the state through the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program.
The remaining $600,000 would support two key recommendations of Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s Science and Technology Advisory Council, which was formed last year to help determine what Rhode Island’s strengths and weaknesses are in promoting research and innovation.
At a news conference April 10, Carcieri urged the General Assembly to set aside $500,000 for the Rhode Island Wireless Innovation Networks (RI-WINs), a project to make the state the first in the nation to have border-to-border wireless broadband capabilities. The governor also requested $100,000 to support the council in fiscal 2007.
The EPSCoR grant, administered by the University of Rhode Island, will be used to establish a facility for research and development in genomics, proteomics and marine life sciences. Additional funds will be used to hire personnel and train academic staff.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed credited receipt of the grant to a collaborative effort by URI and Brown University. “This represents a very important aspect to the EPSCoR program – the call for collaboration, as well as competition,” Reed said.
The state will receive the grant in $2.25 million annual increments through fiscal 2008. The Rhode Island EPSCoR partnership must report semi-annually on the progress of the projects during the first 24 months of the award.
Also at the news conference were House Majority Leader Gordon Fox, D-Providence, and Sen. William Walaska, D-Warwick, who are supporting the efforts through legislation including:
•S-2988, which would we create a commission focusing on strengthening URI’s research capacity, thereby bolstering the state’s innovation economy.
•S-2995, to create a program dubbed “Tax Incentives for Innovation and Growth,” with tax breaks for Rhode Island entrepreneurs who start and grow businesses in the state. State business and innovation leaders have said it would attract companies to the state.
The incentives would be similar to the state’s historic tax credits, which have helped spur real estate development and the rehabilitation of old buildings, and the newer film and TV tax credit, which has attracted several movie and TV productions to the state.
•S-2997, which formalizes the structure of the Science and Technology Advisory Council, allowing it to continue its efforts.
Last week’s announcement comes as state leaders try to lure pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, the fifth-largest drug maker in the United States, to Rhode Island.
The company recently announced that the state is among four that it’s considering for a new, $660 million biologics manufacturing facility. A decision is expected by June 30.
Walaska said that Rhode Island’s location and quality of life have helped it attract companies such as Amgen, the biomanufacturing giant with a plant in West Greenwich.
As a state, “we have the densest concentration of higher education institutions of anywhere in the nation,” Walaska said. “We are located along the ‘knowledge corridor’ from Boston to New York. The natural beauty of our state is unmatched, and the quality of life here is superb.”
