Needed Salve For Our Deep Wounds

By: Ed Cooney
Donna Cupelo
Laurie White
America’s cruel economic times are even crueler in Rhode Island. The state’s unemployment rate is the highest in the nation while sub-prime mortgage foreclosures are the steepest in New England. People are hurting and confidence is brittle.

Continued volatility in the global equity markets, coupled with uncertainty in the worldwide credit markets, has set off a financial crisis that will take years to unwind---not just here in Rhode Island but throughout the country.

Passage by Congress of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 is an important first step toward restoring confidence and getting credit flowing again to consumers and businesses.

Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation was at the forefront of the debate on Capitol Hill and brought the concerns of Main Street to the table with precision and passion. Through ongoing meetings with the small businesses that form the bedrock of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce membership, Senators Reed and Whitehouse and Representatives Kennedy and Langevin understood how the crisis was reverberating at home. Each of them was attuned to the fact that everyday transactions ranging from student loans to inventory lines-of-credit were in danger of being choked as a form of “gridlock” took hold. Make no mistake about it: the financial rescue plan as finally drafted by the federal government is dramatic in its scope. But, hopefully, its power as a salve to our economic wounds will be equally dramatic.

In the wake of all this upheaval, the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce and its member financial institutions are committed to energizing and rebooting our economy. The Chamber will bring together representatives from local financial institutions for a seminar focused on “How Small Business Can Access Credit in a Challenging Economy,” Wednesday, October 29 from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m.

The interactive panel discussion, moderated by Richard Horan, senior managing director of the Slater Technology Fund, will cover topics ranging from access to capital to how to best position a small business to ride out economic ebb and flows. The fourm will also touch on cash management and maintaining an optimum credit profile. Despite tightening lending standards, it is important to emphasize that there is capital in the marketplace for Rhode Island’s small businesses.

Panelists will include senior representatives Citizens Bank, Sovereign Bank, The Washington Trust Company, Bank RI, Webster Bank and Bank of America and Coastway Credit Union. Representatives of the US Small Business Administration will also be on hand to offer guidance on loan guarantees offered by the federal government. One-on-one consultations will occur at the end of the session.

No, the economic rebound won’t be instantaneous. It will take time. And, yes, there will be plenty of opportunity to plug in needed reforms to prevent the recurrence of such calamaties. But in the meantime, Main Street must continue to plug away, to innovate, and to compete. Forums like this will help. We have no choice.

Ed Cooney is chair of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, Donna Cupelo is chair of the Chamber’s Federal Affairs Committee, Laurie White is president of the Chamber.