R.I. business community expresses optimism at economic outlook breakfast

MICHAEL A. Lee, executive vice president of commercial real estate at Santander U.S., addresses a crowd of approximately 400 members of the business community at the bank's annual economic outlook breakfast at the Omni Providence Hotel on Tuesday. / PBN NEWS PHOTO/ELI SHERMAN
MICHAEL A. Lee, executive vice president of commercial real estate at Santander U.S., addresses a crowd of approximately 400 members of the business community at the bank's annual economic outlook breakfast at the Omni Providence Hotel on Tuesday. / PBN NEWS PHOTO/ELI SHERMAN

(Updated 4:38 p.m.)
PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island business community is brimming with optimism as it relates to the future of the state’s economy, according to a real-time survey conducted at the Santander Bank and Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce annual economic outlook breakfast on Tuesday.

The business event, held each year for 16 years at the Omni Providence Hotel, included a survey of about 400 attendees comprising members of the business, nonprofit, political and higher education communities.

Initial results show 82 percent of respondents believe Rhode Island’s economy over the next 12 months will be in better shape than it is now, representing a 29-percentage point improvement compared with last year’s survey.

“I run several national businesses for our company, and I have the opportunity to visit many states and cities,” said Michael A. Lee, executive vice president and managing director of commercial real estate for Santander in the United States. “I’ll admit to being biased as a lifelong resident of Rhode Island … but I think there are boundless opportunities here in the state.”

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The annual meeting is held to discuss the state’s economy and gauge the business community’s economic outlook.

Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, who has attended the meeting each year she’s been in office, said the state is on a roll.

“In some ways we’re just beginning, and setting the table for growth,” she said.

Raimondo talked about how the state is attracting some big-name businesses, including GE Digital, a division of General Electric Co., Johnson & Johnson and Virgin Pulse, saying it helps make other companies take notice of Rhode Island. The governor gave a special shout out to a team from eMoney Advisor, a Pennsylvania-based financial technology company, which was approved for state incentives on Monday, and is slated to open an office in Providence and add 100 jobs by 2020.

Despite the optimism, however, the governor is concerned about who will get these new jobs, saying it’s imperative they go to Rhode Islanders. Raimondo then took the opportunity to plug her tuition-free college proposal, Rhode Island Promise, which once fully operational would cost $30 million each year to pay for two years of college tuition for qualifying in-state students attending public institutions.

“We need to make sure Rhode Islanders get these jobs,” she said. “The only way we get that to happen is if we make sure Rhode Islanders have the skills to get the jobs they need. … We have to make college more affordable.”

The real-time, unscientific survey was administered after consecutive speeches, including Raimondo’s, that were filled with optimism. The build-up could have had some influence on responses, but comparing the results year over year does give a window into how sentiment has changed among the business community.

The optimism about the Rhode Island economy exceeded respondent sentiment related to individual businesses, as 68 percent of participants said their businesses would be in better shape over the next 12 months, representing a 1 percentage point decline compared with the prior year.

About 56 respondents said they plan to hire new employees over the next 12 months, representing a 1 percentage point decline compared with last year. About 60 percent of respondents said they believe the United States economy would be in better shape over the next 12 months, compared with 63 percent last year, which somewhat contradicts the near two-thirds of respondents who said they thought the country was heading “down the wrong path.”

The event also featured a panel discussion, which included panelists who talked about various ongoing projects in the state.

Panelists included Iftikhar Ahmad, president and CEO of R.I. Airport Corp.; Tom Dziki, senior vice president of real estate and sustainability at United Natural Foods Inc.; Richard Galvin, president and founder of CV Properties; Sylvia Maxfield, dean of the school of business at Providence College; and Dr. Peter Snyder, senior vice president and chief research officer at Lifespan.

The overall tone among the panelists was positive. Galvin and Dziki, who have both received state tax incentives to grow their respective businesses in Rhode Island, stressed the importance of using tax credits incentives as one tool to spur economic activity.

Maxfield, who is heading PC’s new business school, talked about how important it was to get big names to come to the state, saying others would follow. Snyder advocated for his vision to create a new medical innovation center on the Interstate 195 land in Providence. He is currently raising funds, and is in discussions with various potential partners.

Ahmad, who recently moved with his family from New Orleans to Rhode Island to take the top job at the quasi-public entity that oversees the state’s main airport, T.F. Green, said it’s his mission to connect the region in a meaningful way to the rest of the world.

He shared some initial thoughts about Rhode Island with the crowd:
“While there’s a healthy dose of cynicism [in Rhode Island], which is good and keeps people like me on our toes, there is also this sense of unity,” he said. “I think Rhode Island maybe ought to realize how good they’ve got it. Sometimes just focusing on that is a good thing.”

An early version of this story misstated the number of respondents who said they plan to hire new employees over the next 12 months. It also misstated the number of respondents who said the U.S. economy would be in better shape.

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