Laurie White’s first year as president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce brought some important victories, most notably the passage of a Chamber-sponsored tax reform package that included a phased-in reduction in the top personal income tax rate, from 9.9 percent to 7.5 percent this year and 5.5 percent in five years.
Given the magnitude of this year’s budget crisis, no one had such grand ambitions for the 2007 legislative season. But over the last several months, the Chamber has fought hard to preserve its 2006 victories – and on a smaller scale, promoted new reforms.
PBN: What have been your legislative priorities this year?
WHITE: We assessed what our members’ greatest concern was, and it was health care. So we’re working with [House Finance Committee] Chairman [Steven M.] Costantino on a health care plan which I believe will pass this year. … It’s a low-cost, basic benefit health care package.
PBN: Who do you expect to benefit the most from that package?
WHITE: Small employers who have not been able to offer health insurance to their employees for one year or more. It takes this segment of the population and allows them to get back into the private pay system, so it would take pressure off the public systems. It’s priced at a very favorable rate [around $250 per member per month] because the insurers are allowed to write a basic benefit product that’s exempt from mandates.
PBN: What percentage of your members at this point don’t offer health insurance?
WHITE: Twenty-four percent. It’s pretty substantial.
PBN: What else have you focused on?
WHITE: We had two tax bills. One would be to reinstate the SBA guarantee fee tax credit. That had a $1 million [price tag], so I don’t predict that that will see the light of day this year, given the state’s fiscal challenges. And then we had another one which would reduce the minimum franchise tax down from $500 to $350. That issue came up time and again in our focus groups with small business members. … But that has a fiscal impact, so we may have to revisit it next year. … The other thing is we have been very aggressive about preserving the phase-in of the flat tax. Being able to guard that, to preserve that this year has been a very, very important element of our legislative agenda, because we did receive such favorable attention last year from the Wall Street Journal, Fortune magazine … so keeping that is important because right now, it probably doesn’t affect a lot of taxpayers, but as it goes on, it will, and that’s when the real benefit will kick in.
PBN: Let’s talk about work force development. What is the Chamber doing on that front?
WHITE: We’ve been very involved in the Project Hope initiative … to set up mentorships and summer jobs for kids at Hope High School. … We’ve also been very involved in working with the hospital community to find out about what opportunities might exist in the health care field. … And one thing we’re angling on for next year is an effort to better understand the research and development capacity within our hospitals and colleges and universities. There’s a tremendous infusion of federal dollars that go into Lifespan, Care New England, Brown, RISD, URI.
PBN: And it’s increasing, right?
WHITE: It is increasing. So what do we have to do to spin out from these institutions into new taxpaying businesses to really cultivate a technology sector right here in our community? … Because if you think about the land that’s being opened up right now with the Route 195 relocation, there’s really an opportunity for community leaders to think very strategically about the highest and best possible use of the land. … In the next six months, the Chamber, working with the Providence Foundation and the City of Providence, will be doing a major study to understand what the R&D capacity is … and how we can best leverage that … and what are the impediments. … There’s a tremendous amount of interest already.
PBN: How confident are you in the downtown revival, especially in retail?
WHITE: In the downtown Westminster Street area I think there’s something like 62 stores that have come online. … It’s a matter of marketing, and I think more importantly, it’s a matter of people living downtown. That’s why we started the “Live It Up!” campaign a year ago. … I think once that kicks in – and we have some substantial challenges, for example, with parking – I believe the traffic will increase.
PBN: You’re out in the business community every day. How are people doing?
WHITE: I think people are feeling very fragile. I think they’re very worried about the war and what it’s doing in terms of the national deficit and our ability to fund programs on a going-forward basis. I think people are worried about interest rates, where they’re going … and about the price of energy, the price of health care. They see a lot of corporate consolidation. … But then, putting on my other hat, I see people that are endlessly creative and optimistic about the opportunities, about global business, and delivering innovation. … But they’re doing it in a very nontraditional way.
PBN: How?
WHITE: I talked with a woman who owns Angel Photography, and she said, “Laurie, it’s all about nontraditional marketing. It’s all about strategic alliances.” … So she’s a photographer, but she has a gallery and an art collection. She’s brought in other people in a sort of business coalition where there’s a lot of cross-marketing. And there’s this social networking, where people get together from non-competing fields, and they drive business to each other. That’s something we’ve started to do here at the Chamber, leads groups where people gather on a monthly basis, and it’s all about sharing intelligence and building trust. … That works very, very, very well.
Interview: Laurie White
Position: President, Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce
Background: White became president of the Chamber in late 2005. She previously served as Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s executive counselor for policy and communications for 18 months, ending in mid-2004. Before that, she worked at the Chamber starting in 1989, rising to senior vice president in charge of internal and external communications, general programming, policy and events. In 2002, she became a Certified Chamber Executive, the only person in Rhode Island to hold that national designation. Prior to joining the Chamber, White was public information officer for the R.I. Department of Economic Development and assignment editor at ABC 6. She serves on multiple boards, including the R.I. Economic Policy Council, and the Business Development Company of Rhode Island.
Education: B.A. in journalism, 1981, University of Rhode Island; Center for Creative Leadership, Greensboro, N.C., 1995.
Residence: North Kingstown
Age: 47
