PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Economic Policy Council will cease to be a standalone entity, becoming instead an advisory council to the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, under an initiative announced today by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri. Saul Kaplan, the EDC’s executive director, will remain a member of the council “and will assume responsibility for providing staff support,” the governor’s office said.
The goal, the governor said, is to tighten the focus of Rhode Island’s economic development efforts while also reducing state spending. Much of those savings will come from the termination of Kip Bergstrom – the EPC’s executive director since May 1998 – and the other three members of the council’s paid staff, according to Melissa Withers, director of communication for the EDC.
“The budget has been eliminated for this program,” she told Providence Business News in an e-mail interview. “The decision has been made to eliminate the current EPC staff positions, which will take effect in early April.”
Not immediately clear was what might happen to the council’s headquarters, at 17 Gordon Ave. in Providence, where the organization moved last March. “We will be working through the transition over the next few weeks,” Withers said. “During this time we will evaluate all issues related to the consolidation of EPC into RIEDC, including any outstanding lease obligations. The state does not own the EPC building.”
The council’s state budget appropriation “has been a little more than $300,000 annually,” she added. “These funds will not be requested moving forward and RIEDC will manage the council within its current budget.”
Bergstrom did not immediately respond to the PBN’s requests for comment.
The 30-member R.I. Economic Policy Council has been a nonprofit corporation deriving its support equally from the private sector and the State of Rhode Island. The council itself includes members from business, labor, higher education and government, including the governor and leaders in the R.I. General Assembly.
Its goal has been to provide objective analysis of challenges facing the state’s economy, create new economic development initiatives, and mobilize the public and private resources needed to put those initiatives into practice.
The council “is an important body of the state’s business, university and government leaders, and plays a key role in shaping and actively communicating a clear economic development vision for Rhode Island,” Carcieri said in a statement this afternoon. “I will ask the council to lead the private sector effort to improve our business and tax climate and to accelerate our positioning as a high-wage knowledge economy.”
“I believe that every Rhode Island company and every Rhode Island worker can successfully transition to a 21st Century innovation economy that provides higher wage job opportunities for all Rhode Islanders,” the governor added. “To achieve this vision, the EPC will support the RIEDC in implementing the key strategies of its Economic Growth Plan.”
In that plan, the EDC sketched out a six-point strategy that calls for:
• Increasing the number of high-wage jobs in targeted industries across the state.
• Increasing the availability of growth capital to Rhode Island businesses.
• Increasing the availability of office and commercial space across Rhode Island.
• Increasing the skills and experience of the Rhode Island work force.
• Increasing the level of research activity and new-company creation across the state.
• And decreasing in the tax and regulatory burden facing Rhode Island businesses.
“This is an important time for Rhode Island’s economy,” Carcieri said. “We are at a tipping point and must move forward confidently to create a stronger economy. RIEDC has developed a good plan to accelerate growth and create jobs. It is time for Rhode Island’s public and private sector leadership to rally around a common vision for a brighter economic future and a specific action plan to achieve it.”
Paul J. Choquette Jr. – chairman and CEO of Gilbane Inc. – will no longer co-chair the policy council with Carcieri, as he has for the past six years, the governor said. Instead, Carcieri himself will assume sole chairman honors, although Choquette will continue to serve on the 30-member board.
“I have asked Paul to remain on the council and continue to provide guidance and input to our economic development effort,” Carcieri said, adding: “I also want to acknowledge the 10 years of service that Kip Bergstrom has provided to the EPC.
“Kip and his team have conducted numerous studies, and completed several important research projects, that created a strong foundation for our discussions about economic development across the state. [The policy council’s publications are available online at www.ripolicy.org.] I am confident that this work will continue to add value to our efforts for many years to come.”
Kaplan and his staff at the EDC “will oversee the consolidation process and will immediately begin work to merge the two organizations,” the governor’s office said.
“Supported by an economic growth plan that increases growth capital, strengthens our infrastructure, supports entrepreneurs, and makes the road a little easier for small businesses, Rhode Island companies can – and will – create good jobs for our citizens,” Kaplan said in a statement this afternoon.
“RIEDC is working closely with our public- and private-sector partners to aggressively move toward this vision and to implement our Economic Growth Plan. The Economic Policy Council’s membership is an important partner in our economic development strategy, and we look forward to better integrating the council into our efforts.”
The R.I. Economic Development Corporation is a quasi-public agency established to promote business development, preservation and expansion in the state and undertake port projects in Rhode Island. For more information, visit www.riedc.com. To learn more about the R.I. Economic Policy Council, visitwww.ripolicy.org.
