Small Business Economic Summit addresses issues faced by R.I. small businesses

THE 2017 Small Business Economic Summit was held Friday at Bryant University in Smithfield. / PBN PHOTO/EMILY GOWDEY-BACKUS
THE 2017 Small Business Economic Summit was held Friday at Bryant University in Smithfield. / PBN PHOTO/EMILY GOWDEY-BACKUS

SMITHFIELD – The Rhode Island branch of the U.S. Small Business Administration held its 2017 Small Business Economic Summit Friday at Bryant University in which small business owners, led by local economic, community and government experts, gathered to discuss major issues faced by companies in the Ocean State.

The 10th annual summit was launched by a panel of three local experts; Leonard Lardaro, a University of Rhode Island economist; John Simmons, executive director of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council; and Neil D. Steinberg, president of the Rhode Island Foundation. It was moderated by Susan Rittscher, president and CEO of the Center for Women & Enterprise.

A child of small business owners, Lardaro said Rhode Island has rebounded from the Great Recession, but not all the way and has neglected an opportunity to prepare itself for future economic instability.

The state should, “use this time to reinvent ourselves … in a positive way. We have several years before the next recession and we’re not ready,” said Lardaro, who argued Rhode Island needs to adopt a crisis mode and put it into motion now.

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“We’ve got a lot to do before the next recession,” said Lardaro, who listed creating legislative panels and groups of experts to perform a “very in-depth analysis … to find what’s obsolete” as top priorities.

In terms of helping small businesses survive and grow in the coming economic environment, Lardaro added, “the best thing we can do for small business in our state is grow.”

A major topic spoken about at length during the initial panel was education and the skills gap in Rhode Island.

Steinberg posed the question of how to create an ecosystem in Rhode Island “where companies can compete, grow and thrive.”

His solution was to close achievement gaps because, in terms of hiring trained employees, “there’s a lot of mismatch … there’s been a lot of efforts [matching skilled workers with companies,] but we need to accelerate that.”

The root of the problem, explained Steinberg, is the state’s education system.

“No matter what city you come from you’re not competitive nationally,” in terms of education, he said. “We are middle-of-the-pack in the industrialized world with K-12 education. What was good enough for a lot of us ages ago is not good enough for our kids,” he said.

Rhode Islanders, Steinberg said, need to aim higher and stay the course rather than shifting curriculum standards or education goals every two or four years.

Simmons said the constant need to compare education in Rhode Island to that in Massachusetts is unnecessary and said a better use of Rhode Island’s time would be to create a universal curriculum for students across all cities and towns.

“We don’t align [how we teach]” the same subjects in different cities and towns, he said.

The schedule for the half-day-long summit included breakout sessions that addressed economic development, workforce development, Main Street issues, taxes and budget, health care, regulations and emerging markets.

After two hours of discussion between moderators and business owners, a list of top issues and solutions were presented to a panel including Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, Lt. Governor Daniel McKee and House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello.

Raimondo arrived while the solutions were being presented. She addressed the summit’s attendees, saying: “It’s great to reaffirm our commitment to Rhode Island … and make progress to tackle some of these issues.”

She mentioned year-over-year progress since last year’s summit, including shortening the time it takes to receive a certificate of good standing as well as streamlining the process to become a minority business enterprise.

“The people that benefit when we work together are the people of Rhode Island,” she said.

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