Governor Carcieri to Convene Economic Policy Council
May 20, 2008 | Print this page | Share This | Email this page
Governor to lead business and community leadership in discussion of economic development priorities
Governor Donald L. Carcieri will host a meeting of the Economic Policy Council on May 21, 2008 and lead business and civic leaders in a discussion of the state’s economic development plan and priorities. This is the first meeting of the EPC since the council was consolidated into the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC).
“The turbulence of today’s economy makes it critically important that our state’s public and private sector leadership rally around a common vision for a brighter economic future and stay committed to plans that will help us achieve it,” Governor Carcieri said. “We are grateful to have this prestigious group of leaders participate in a focused discussion about actions we can take today to create jobs and stimulate growth.”
The meeting will be held from 2–3:30pm at the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation’s office at 555 Valley St. in Providence.
In March, Governor Carcieri announced his decision to consolidate the EPC into the RIEDC to ensure closer alignment around a single economic development strategy and sharpen the state’s focus on priority programs.
As an advisory body to the RIEDC, the EPC has an important role to play in the implementation of RIEDC’s 2008 Economic Growth Plan, which seeks to create jobs in key sectors of Rhode Island’s economy and increase the percentage of jobs in Rhode Island that pay above the national average wage of $42,000 from 40 to 60 percent over the next 10 years, with increases each year.
Priority activities set forth in the plan and now underway include programs to increase the availability of growth capital available to Rhode Island businesses, a regional attraction campaign to promote company relocation to Rhode Island, a partnership to leverage property made available through the I-195 relocation, improvements to the state’s expedited permitting program, efforts to increase Rhode Island’s R&D capacity and a program to reduce the regulatory burden faced by our state’s small businesses.
EPC member and RIEDC Executive Director Saul Kaplan will participate in the meeting and present the Council with an update of RIEDC activities associated with this plan. The governor will then lead the EPC in an open discussion of the plan and other economic development priorities.
“The EPC is an invaluable partner in our efforts to accelerate our positioning as a high-wage knowledge economy and an important contributor to our economic development strategy,” Kaplan said. “This next meeting of the EPC will give the Council an opportunity to provide us with candid feedback, suggestions for moving forward and strategies for keeping community leadership more deeply engaged in our efforts.”
EPC council members include: Charles Bush, Robert Carothers, Paul Choquette, Jr., Mayor David Cicilline, Paul Cronin, Michael DiBiase, Representative Gordon Fox, Kimball Hall, William Hatfield, Tim Hebert, Elizabeth Huidekoper, Ronald Machtley, Joseph MarcAurele, Senator Joseph Montalbano, George Nee, John Partridge, Ray DiPasquale, David Rickard, Michael Ryan, Gary Sasse, Steven Sepe, Shivan Subramaniam, Robert Valentini, George Vecchione, Laurie White, and John Hazen White, Jr.
“Difficult economic times call for decisive action,” Carcieri continued. “The private and public sectors must work together to manage a difficult state budget, improve our competitiveness and provide businesses with the tools they need to grow. The EPC is one of Rhode Island’s most important assets in this effort and we look forward to a productive discussion about what we are doing right, and more importantly, what we can do better.”
