Efforts to grow jobs in Rhode Island are all around us. Some are more visible than others but all are important, as two stories in this week’s PBN illustrate.
At the highest levels of state economic-development efforts, The R.I. Economic Development Corporation has announced a trio of initiatives aimed at increasing available capital for businesses and more aggressively marketing the Ocean State.
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One new alliance announced by the EDC will make available more than $200 million to finance business growth. We agree with Saul Kaplan, the EDC’s executive director, who told PBN that now is “exactly the time … to play strong offense” to attract and grow businesses.
At the opposite end of the job-growth spectrum, a Met Center program to encourage young entrepreneurs reminds us that no effort in this area is too small to warrant attention and encouragement.
Through the Providence school’s Met Entrepreneur 360 program, four students convinced investors to give them $3,000 to launch startups that include a record label, nonprofit community theater, a concession business and a maker of satchels.
Such education programs prepare tomorrow’s business leaders to run the kind of successful businesses on which our economy depends. •
Hattie Bryant invites you to
watch a one- to four-minute video tip each day about best business practices from
the weekly television show, Small Business School.
