Rhode Island business leaders are eager to find out how President-elect Donald J. Trump's pro-business, anti-immigration campaign rhetoric will translate into actionable policies.
"On the positive side, anything related to infrastructure or defense spending in Rhode Island is going to get its fair share," said Edward M. Mazze, distinguished professor of business administration at the University of Rhode Island.
During his campaign, Trump largely focused on three economic-related policies: Immigration, tax reform and trade. The latter, of course, is an ongoing issue in Rhode Island, as the state has lost manufacturing jobs over the last decade.
Mazze doubts Trump will bring many of those jobs back to Rhode Island – largely because of the high cost of doing business in the state – but believes the South, along with some of the rust-belt states that were instrumental in delivering the election for Trump, could realize growth.
Bill McCourt, president of the R.I. Manufacturers Association, says it'll take more than just bringing back jobs to boost prospects in Rhode Island, because "regulatory structures we have in place will end up running these companies out of business."
Several business leaders contacted by Providence Business News were reticent when asked to comment. Some said it was too soon. Others declined.
Robert Manning, chairman of the Cherrystone Angel Group, an angel investment group, however, sees Trump's victory as the ushering in of a pro-business government, especially for early-stage technology and bioscience-related companies.
"President-elect Trump is a very experienced investor and fully understands the many legal, tax and regulatory hurdles that early-stage companies need to overcome in order to grow and prosper," Manning said.
Bruce Van Saun, chairman and CEO of Providence-based Citizens Financial Group Inc., sees potential for a pro-growth economic and regulatory platform that could benefit the financial-services industry.
"The pro-growth elements of Trump's platform, such as lowering individual taxes, corporate tax reform, reduced regulation, infrastructure spending, immigration reform and better trade deals have the potential to benefit [the overall economy]," Van Saun said.
Trump's rhetoric during the campaign also evoked outrage among many concerned about how a Trump presidency will impact social issues moving forward.
"We will have to see if the president-elect's campaign rhetoric of not helping minority businesses matches his actions," said James Vincent, president of the Providence NAACP. •