Rhode Island Receives Top Marks in Two Economic Development Studies
August 1, 2008 | Print this page | Share This | Email this page
Two reports, measuring business cost and economic development climate, gave Rhode Island and Providence high marks in categories such as research and development, education climate and environmental efforts.
The KPMG network’s Competitive Alternative 2008 Special Report, released in July, rated Providence as having a low business cost, when compared to neighboring cities Boston and Hartford. According to the study, which is based on cost data collected between July 2007 and January 2008, Providence “has a lower cost base than either Hartford or Boston, despite its location less than 90 miles from both of these cities.”
The report, complied by Canada-based KPMG LLC, a branch of KPMG International network, measures the combined impact of 27 significant cost components that are most likely to vary by location, as applied to 17 different business operations. Rhode Island also ranked fifth in this study among states and regions worldwide for research and development expenditures.
The Business Facilities Rankings Report, an annual look at the top-ranked localities in the United States, gave Rhode Island high marks for education climate and for being a “green” state. Rhode Island’s education climate was ranked eighth in the United States. The report’s education climate ranking determines the effectiveness of a state's educational system by analyzing its commitment to learning through numerous factors.
Rhode Island ranked 14th in the country in Business Facilities’ greenest states ranking, which analyzes nine eco-related criteria, resulting in one of the most meaningful green state rankings currently available.
