PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Economic Development Corporation today announced it is expanding its Regulatory Flexibility program.

RegFlex – an effort to ease the regulatory burden for small businesses – was launched by the EDC in 2005. It is administered by the agency’s Every Company Counts small business services division.

The expansion, kicked off today at an informational meeting for rule-makers at various state agencies, will increase the EDC’s outreach efforts to both small businesses and the state agencies that oversee them.

“Entrepreneurs, innovators and small businesses are the heart of Rhode Island’s economy,” Saul Kaplan, the EDC’s executive director, said in a statement today. “They create new jobs and bring dynamic ideas, innovative services and new products to the marketplace. They are also the most affected by burdensome and over-complicated regulations.

“The expansion of the RegFlex program is an important part of our overall economic growth plan. Making sure that our small businesses have the tools they need to succeed in a knowledge-based economy is one of the most important things we can do to promote economic growth and improve the quality of life for our citizens.”

The RegFlex expansion is ranked among several “top-priority activities” in the EDC’s 2008 Economic Growth Plan. Other priorities include increasing the availability of growth capital, promoting the region as a destination for corporate relocation and expansion, improving the state’s expedited permitting process, and strengthening local work force development efforts.

“Research shows that firms with fewer than 20 employees annually spend 45 percent more per employee than larger firms do to comply with state and federal regulations,” Sherri Carrera, the EDC’s manager of small business services and Rhode Island small business advocate, said in a statement. “Every Company Counts will act as Rhode Island’s small business advocate in this capacity.”

The RegFlex program’s guidelines call for any agency proposing new regulation to first submit an analysis of the impact on small business; Every Company Counts then reviews that analysis and suggests possible improvements.

To help with that review, the agency will form an ad-hoc advisory panel of industry experts, business owners and Chamber representatives, the EDC said. Every Company Counts also is planning a series of workshops with city and town officials across the state.

“RegFlex gives an important voice to small business as it defends us in the regulatory jungle,” Ernest J. “Gip” Cabral, president of Cabco Engineering Co., said in a statement. “I was impressed with the dedication, responsiveness and follow-through …. RegFlex is an important asset for small businesses in this state.”

Every Company Counts submits more than 500 referrals per year to its network of more than 150 municipal, state, federal and nonprofit organizations partner agencies and organizations, the EDC said. More than 3,800 small business owners subscribe to its monthly electronic newsletter.

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. To learn more, visit www.riedc.com.