By Kevin Shalvey
PBN Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE – During 2008, the economic vitality of Providence will depend on the increasingly-important role of its hospitals, its ability to attract outsiders and the extent to which the Ocean State embraces its “geek” population, business leaders told a crowd of about 500 at the 2008 Economic Outlook Breakfast this morning at the Westin Providence hotel.
In health care, Providence’s increasing importance as a regional hub for research and care could be furthered by this year’s proposed merger between Care New England and Lifespan, said Constance A. Howes, president and CEO of Women & Infants Hospital, a Care New England facility.
“With the school of medicine here at Brown University, we’ve been able to attract a tremendous number of very highly-qualified, smart, cutting-edge physician providers,” Howes said. “And those people have actually given us the capacity to serve and be as renowned as those health care providers to our north.”
Richard Seline, CEO and principal of New Economy Strategies, a Washington, D.C.-based consultant, has been compiling an economic outlook study for the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce during the last three months. The “knowledge-based” economy is strong in Rhode Island, he said, likening its possible 2008 effect for Rhode Island to the IT economy in California.
While all the elements are in Rhode Island, it might be a struggle to find space for them, said Charles T. Francis, president and partner of CB Richard Ellis/New England.
“Again, we need a very large research building,” he said. “We need a 400,000-square-foot building in this city that would attract research and development in this city.”
Francis said the commercial real estate market hasn’t been much affected by the residential market’s downturn.
An annual Sovereign Bank survey – one of 11 regional surveys that the bank administers together throughout New England – showed that average household income in Providence is on the rise, at an annual 12 percent rate and should, by 2012, reach $74,531.
Business owners and consumers both ranked “Overall Quality of Life” as the Ocean State’s top strength for 2008. The cost of oil is consumers’ top concern and taxes are the largest business concern, according to the surveys.
The 2008 Economic Outlook Breakfast is annually sponsored by The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce and Sovereign Bank. To learn more, visit www.ProvidenceChamber.com.
