On Feb. 11, the Ocean State showed the textile industry a little love, holding its first Academic & Textile Industry Networking Fair.
Included in its presenters were Polaris MEP, the manufacturing industry’s public support service for companies still active and successful as manufacturers, as well as the University of Rhode Island College of Business and the URI Business Engagement Center.
But the driver of this event, which had more than 200 attendees from among the 70 textile companies and the more than 2,500 people they employ, was the Rhode Island Textile Innovation Network, a support system founded in 2016 to advance the sector.
An outgrowth of Polaris and underwritten initially by the state’s Real Jobs Rhode Island program, as well as R.I. Commerce Corp., RITIN is dedicated to help the industry build success in advanced textile manufacturing, recruit and train its next generation of workers and facilitate new partnerships.
And in no small measure, it is a sign that public focus on a single industry can help build a more robust future for the state’s economy.