Lawrence Dressler

 / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
/ PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

What are the biggest hurdles to starting a business in Rhode Island?

Time is money. One time delay can have a negative domino effect on your schedule, which ultimately affects your budget. Rhode Island’s size can be an asset when starting a small business because you can be at any state, city or professional office in minutes, and in most cases, you can’t beat a face-to-face meeting.

Does Rhode Island have the resources to help companies develop innovative products and services?

The answer is mostly yes. We have been pleased with professional and contractor talent, as well as the students being educated at the local universities and colleges. The R.I. Commerce Corp. has innovation incentives that have allowed us to develop our workforce and facilitate a test-bed relationship with the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Services. Agcore works closely with Dr. Edward Bozzi at URI’s Providence campus, where I am given an opportunity to speak with his biotechnology students about internships and possible employment. Although Rhode Island has many of the necessary resources, they are underfunded compared to some of our neighboring states. But they seem to be improving yearly. This trend needs to continue.

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What industry offers the greatest potential growth through innovation in Rhode Island and why?

I’m bullish on biotechnology because it continues to be a growing international market segment that encompasses so many critical fields with the common goal of improving lives and health of the planet.

At what point in the growth of your company did you encounter a significant operational challenge, and how did you overcome it?

We reduced our energy consumption by using gravity. Flow dynamics is a big part of our process, and our team is adamant about keeping energy costs as low as possible while protecting the quality of our cells. We developed our own in-house harvest system that is fed from our growth bioreactors to our harvest area through gravity. Our custom, elongated reactors and shortened harvest system allow us to harvest at a manageable rate of 300 gallons an hour, per line, without going through a pump.

What advice do you offer young entrepreneurs who are weighing whether to stay in Rhode Island?

Location is a critical component of one’s business, so it might not be ideal for everyone, but being in the Northeast, you exist in a dense, diverse population within a small, manageable area. •

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