SCOTT WOLF, executive director of Grow Smart Rhode Island, was recently named Leadership Rhode Island's 2017 Community Service Award recipient, highlighting Wolf's commitment to serving the community for more than four decades.
You dedicate much of your time to community groups seeking information and perspective about key issues facing Rhode Island. In your opinion, what should the state prioritize in 2017 to continue to grow the economy?
We need to develop a more user-friendly, versatile and integrated public transportation system to capitalize better on our compact development patterns and to accelerate our recent positive momentum in attracting cutting-edge employers and employees. To play effectively to another key strength – our nationally renowned collection of historic buildings and neighborhoods – we also should recapitalize aggressively our highly successful State Historic Tax Credit program.
What are some of the key initiatives that Grow Smart will pursue this year?
Beyond those mentioned above, we are advocating adoption of a competitive grant program similar to the acclaimed MassWorks initiative to assist municipalities in financing urban and town-center infrastructure improvements critical to spurring private economic development. We also want to continue making the Rebuild Rhode Island Tax Credit program more user-friendly, predictable and catalytic. And we will provide more land-use training for local officials, as well as technical assistance to five towns on how to make their land-use regulations more farm- and forest-friendly.
How do you predict the new administration in Washington will impact the economy here in Rhode Island?
It's hard to say at this early juncture, but I am concerned the new administration and Congress are contemplating a number of anti-urban initiatives – from reducing federal funding for public transit to eliminating key urban revitalization tools such as the Federal Historic Tax Credit, the New Markets Tax Credit and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. As the second-most urbanized state in America, R.I. would take a significant economic and community-revitalization hit if these actions materialize. •