Stefan Pryor ?accepts stout ?challenge

Rhode Island’s new commerce secretary, Stefan Pryor, faces a daunting challenge: how to stimulate economic growth on a major scale without many resources to use for that purpose.

So far, anyway, he seems to understand the nature of his job, and has made a positive impression on the state’s business leaders. But judgment can be swift on matters as important as this. So fair or not, Mr. Pryor will need to show some success stories soon.

His track record is impressive, and in many ways, appropriate. Leading a public body charged with attracting development to lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11 attacks, and then working as deputy mayor in Newark, N.J., overseeing economic development and housing in a city that had success in neither for a long time, Mr. Pryor was able to bring a focused approach that yielded results. His challenge here is no less monumental.

Gov. Gina M. Raimondo has made clear that her overall approach and that of Mr. Pryor will be disciplined and relentless. Rhode Island needs nothing less than that. •

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