Intertwined with Rhode Island’s economy as a source of food, recreation and power, and as a medium for transportation and defense, the ocean has sustained a considerable amount of industry in the state for centuries.
But now what’s been dubbed the “blue economy” has caught and held the spotlight as a far-reaching sector that’s reached a pivotal point in Rhode Island. Uniting its separate parts and their distant cousins could create a path to progress and a spot at the forefront of innovations in energy, technology and defense, experts say.
A clear definition could be what’s needed first.
While various industries within the state’s blue economy are long-established, there’s been little effort to clarify how their roles relate to the larger sector that’s been valued at $5 billion, according to an economic-development report commissioned by R.I. Commerce Corp.
“Rhode Island’s strengths … extend far beyond the confines of what are currently considered marine industries to include information technology and cybersecurity, as well as suppliers to the offshore wind industry,” according to the report, called Rhode Island Innovates 2.0 and released in February.
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Valuable resources such as the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center already act as the backbone of Rhode Island’s blue economy, but it’s up to the state to create a cohesive sector with interconnecting parts, the report’s author, Bruce Katz, told Providence Business News.
“I think the state is fundamental [as a support system] because in every one of these … areas of the blue economy, the state is a platform for smart and strategic action,” he said.
Among its recommendations, the report urges the state to “bulk up its scientific prowess” and recruit researchers who specialize in a wide range of blue-economy fields; closely track its progress in developing this “super sector”; and assemble an organization to define and unite Rhode Island’s blue economy with a cohesive strategy.
RISING TIDE
Opportunities are already multiplying as the state and federal governments and the private sector create programs and initiatives aimed at boosting the blue economy.
Gov. Gina M. Raimondo is proposing a $10 million bond issue to create Centers for Ocean Innovation and develop Narragansett Bay as a “smart bay” where undersea and maritime technologies can be invented, prototyped and tested. The bond referendum goes before voters in November.
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OYSTER SELECTION: Perry Raso, left, owner of Matunuck Oyster Farm and Matunuck Oyster Bar, both in South Kingstown, and Oliver Dixon, oyster farm manager, sort oysters for size on a barge trip between the farm and the restaurant. / PBN PHOTO/MIKE SKORSKI[/caption]
Narragansett Bay is already functioning as a “smart bay,” with high-tech buoys and sensors monitoring the water’s chemical, electro-magnetic and acoustic properties and sending the data to URI and other universities, according to Pete Rumsey, director of Rhode Island Innovation Campuses at Commerce RI.
“Some of those assets are there already and doing great things and working together. The idea of [Raimondo’s proposal] is to draw them together,” Rumsey said.
Another initiative, called 401 Tech Bridge, seeks to connect the U.S. Navy and the private sector. The partnership between the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport and Polaris Manufacturing Extension Partnership was created a few months ago.
The Tech Bridge – one of six in the U.S. – acts as a conduit between the Navy, businesses, nonprofits and universities, and has already proved fruitful for Goetz Composites of Bristol and Response Technologies LLC of West Warwick. The companies were each awarded $250,000 after submitting proposals to a challenge from the Navy to fix problems with carbon-composite applications.
“Those are the cornerstone projects that 401 Tech Bridge is all about; really connecting Navy challenges into local companies with funding to go solve those problems and then commercialize the outcomes,” said Christian Cowan, center director for both Polaris MEP and 401 Tech Bridge.
The companies will be allowed to sell the solutions to the Navy and to profit from private commercial applications, too. “So there’s incredible blue-economy implications with 401 Tech Bridge,” Cowan said.
Right now, more than 160 Rhode Island textile and composite companies are involved in 401 Tech Bridge, but it’s likely that the scope will broaden. In fact, a Tech Bridge research and development facility is expected to be open on Aquidneck Island by year’s end.
Elsewhere, MassChallenge is courting startups for its first “blue-tech” track with the goal of creating a cohort with “technical competency in the ocean” in ventures “above water, in the water and underwater,” said Hope Hopkins, managing director for MassChallenge Rhode Island.
Entrepreneurs with ideas aimed at oceanography, navigation, renewable energy, aquaculture and coastal resiliency will take part in the accelerator from June through October.
‘If we nurture the blue economy, it’s ... creating a sustainable future.’
JEN MCCANN, U.S. Coastal Program director at the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Center
It’s also hoped that the blue-tech track will open possibilities for technologies that were not originally developed with the blue economy in mind. While those technologies hold untapped potential, they can be difficult to identify, Hopkins said.
“So we were very, very purposeful in sourcing startups with a technical competency in oceanography, autonomy, connectivity and sustainability” – traits that can be applied across numerous industries, she said.
SWEET SPOT
One clear asset is Rhode Island’s leadership in offshore wind, which is expected to create 20,000 to 35,000 full-time jobs on the East Coast by 2028, according to the Innovates 2.0 report.
Rhode Island served as a hub during the construction of the Block Island Wind Farm, and the state is particularly well-positioned to support the operations and maintenance of future ocean-based turbines that have been proposed off the southern New England coast.
In addition, Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind, a subsidiary of a Danish power company that purchased Block Island Wind Farm developer Deepwater Wind LLC, opened an innovation hub at Providence’s Cambridge Innovation Center this month. The venture joins five other wind and renewable energy companies with offices in the same location.
SeaAhead Inc., a blue-tech incubator co-founded by Moran Shipping Agencies Inc. Executive Vice President Jason Kelly, has also found a spot at the Providence CIC in addition to its original location in Boston. The group, founded in the spring of 2018, is a resource for offshore wind, coastal resiliency, sustainable fisheries and other ocean-economy ventures.
SeaAhead added a startup program last April.
So far, it’s attracted 30 members and has been the source of many “untraditional connections,” Kelly said.
ATTENTION-GETTER
The focus on the Ocean State’s maritime sector is likely due to the realization that connecting related industries can strengthen its potential, said Jennifer McCann, director for the U.S. Coastal Program at the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Center.
“I think what people are seeing is that the different silos within Rhode Island’s blue economy are somewhat strong, and by coming together and bringing these different, strong sectors together, we can have a greater impact and greater economy and a greater place to live,” McCann said. “If we nurture the blue economy, it’s taking advantage of our unique features and creating a sustainable future.”
‘There are still a tremendous amount of unknowns. There seems to be a race to generate revenue.’
FRED MATTERA, Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island executive director
Fred Mattera, executive director of the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island, still isn’t sure what that means for commercial fishing. He’s watched as the notion of a blue economy gained momentum, but he wonders if his industry will benefit.
“I don’t hear much from the governor on the blue economy; I hear a lot from the governor on renewable energy. I’m not certain the two can co-exist,” he said.
Mattera acknowledged that the growing sea-to-table movement bodes well for commercial fishing, which employs about 1,700 in Rhode Island, according to one URI report. But he and other fishermen are concerned that thousands of offshore turbines could materialize off Rhode Island’s coast before the effects on fishing and ocean ecology are clear.
“There are still a tremendous amount of unknowns,” he said. “There seems to be a race to generate revenue, but are we really concerned about protecting and preserving the ecosystem?”
Those who are studying the state’s blue economy say sustaining natural resources is imperative.
McCann led a team that authored a new study of the state’s blue economy and identified strategies to grow the sector, which employs up to 9% of Rhode Islanders. “The blue economy globally is really just going to boom. It’s going to boom in sectors that we’ve worked in for many years,” she said.
But while the state is poised to reap benefits, it’s not guaranteed. The key, Katz emphasized, is to take definitive action.
“I think [Rhode Island has] a great starting position, the question is will you leverage it and deepen it and broaden it,” he said.
