Untapped Resources | SMALL BUSINESS
IMPROVE OUR BUSINESS CLIMATE IN
RHODE ISLAND Gordon D. Fox Speaker, Rhode Island House of Representatives
The General Assembly is focusing a great deal of attention in the 2012 legislative session on efforts to bolster the state’s economy. In order to improve our business climate in Rhode Island, we must create more job opportunities and get people in good-paying jobs. One of the great untapped resources existing in our state is the potential to expand our port facilities. As Speaker, I joined with Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed in appointing members to a Joint Legislative Commission that has been studying this issue for nearly three years. The commission recently issued a final report which shows that development of port infrastructure and growth of maritime industries can result in 1,000 new jobs, $70 million in personal income, $127 million in business revenue, and $8.1 million in state and local tax revenues in the near future. To shore up Rhode Island’s economic future, we need to build upon our state’s strengths, and one of our strengths is our maritime industries. I am committed to giving the ports the tools they need to compete in this global economy and to create jobs.
narragansett bay has the potential to be a major economic engine for the state Among its findings, the commission wrote in its final report that the state’s ports do and can provide economic opportunities for both new and existing businesses, but called on “local and state economic development agencies to devote additional resources to small-business and middle-market loan guarantees in order to further facilitate job creation in this segment of the economy.”
The commission also listed several other findings and recommendations: • The Economic Development Corporation should create a Governor’s Port Economic Policy ombudsperson so that the state can move forward toward creating more than 1,000 new maritime related jobs. • It is critical to address the lack of coordination between various governmental and non-governmental stakeholders with respect to marketing and infrastructure development of the state’s ports, related facilities and maritime trade. • Development of a “Marine Highway System” hub in Rhode Island in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation. • Explore public / private partnership opportunities to further infrastructure investment and business development of Davisville. Rhode Island is already one of the major ports of entry for autos in the Northeast and that Narragansett Bay has the potential to be a major economic engine for the state because it is one of the nation’s largest protected waterways and is close to the most densely populated regions in the nation. During the past six decades, the state’s port and marine activity has fallen behind others along the Atlantic coast. Despite that, the state’s port-related economy today employs more than 3,600 people, generates more than $320 million in economic activity, and provides annual tax revenues exceeding $25 million. The commission’s final report projects that full development in several identified areas – auto import/export, offshore wind farms, container feeder and break bulk – could result in significant growth in new jobs and business and state/local tax revenue. I’d like to thank the co-chairs of the commission, Representative Deb Ruggiero and Senator Bill Walaska, and all the commission members, for their hard work. They have laid out a great roadmap to help Rhode Island take a good step forward in improving our economic climate.
www.risbj.com | volume one issue two
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