Creating high-wage jobs in R.I.

To the editor,

I believe that every Rhode Island company and every Rhode Island worker can successfully transition to a 21st-century innovation economy that creates higher-wage job opportunities for all Rhode Islanders. This is an important time for Rhode Island’s future. We are at a tipping point and must confidently move forward with a common vision and actionable plan for strengthening our economy.

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Over the last few decades Rhode Island’s economy has changed in fundamental ways. Like the rest of the nation, our economy has shifted away from a reliance on machinery and equipment to “knowledge workers” who generate ideas and information. We must now compete in an economy where innovation and knowledge are the primary drivers of economic growth. Though daunting, the transition to a new, global, innovation economy offers Rhode Island an opportunity to achieve greater prosperity now and in the years to come.

Many factors will affect our success in repositioning Rhode Island’s economy to create higher- wage job opportunities for all Rhode Islanders. It is essential that Rhode Island continue to improve its business and tax climate. Recent changes to create a flat-tax option, lower capital-gains taxes, cap property-tax increases, and phase out the car-and-inventory tax are good steps. We must not lose ground on the progress we have made to become more competitive.

The R.I. Economic Development Corporation has completed a comprehensive review of its activities and programs and has aligned its entire effort to the vision, goals and strategies of [its recently unveiled] Economic Growth Plan. Central to this review and repositioning are ongoing efforts to modernize the agency’s programs to reflect the current needs of Rhode Island companies and better support companies that are well positioned to grow and create higher-wage innovation-economy jobs.

RIEDC has become a more client-facing organization and staffing has been restructured so that our entire team is active in the marketplace working with companies to understand growth requirements and provide access to the land, labor, capital and government support they need to grow. In 2007, the RIEDC business development team made 4,200 calls on Rhode Island companies and in 2008 a goal of 5,000 calls has been established.

We can build a 21st-century innovation economy that creates more high-wage jobs for Rhode Islanders. Our plan is starting to work. Staying on strategy will require decisive leadership, deep collaboration and the courage to forgo short-term fixes. It will be difficult but, for the sake of our state’s future, we cannot afford to fail.