LEADERS FROM BUSINESS, HEALTHCARE, AND EDUCATION, AND ENTREPRENEURS UNVEIL ROADMAP FOR A KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY IN PROVIDENCE
Roundtable discussion focused on “market drivers” for transforming the area’s economy
(October 8, 2008) – The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce along with several partners today announced a firm commitment by business leaders, higher education, medical science, and innovators to work together in a strategic, coordinated effort to create a Knowledge Economy Roadmap and Implementation Strategy to grow the 21st-century economy of Providence and Rhode Island.
“Today’s briefing marks an important turning point for the city and state,” said Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce. “As a community, we have connected the dots in a way that has never happened before. By fostering academic-industry collaboration, building entrepreneurial capacity, and facilitating the commercialization of technologies developed by local universities, companies and start-ups, we bring together the region’s most promising strengths to create a stronger and more vibrant economy.”
The Providence Knowledge Economy is based on four overarching themes the group calls “market drivers” that are identified as keys to the success of the initiative.
• Providence Knowledge Collaboratory – building upon the community’s collective resources and institutions in targeted areas of opportunity
• Innovative Workforce Partnerships –retaining highly skilled young talent in the region by connecting people today with the training they need for the jobs of the future
• Strengthening Entrepreneurial Connectivity –developing a 21st century local business community that achieves the necessary connections between ideas, institutions and investors
• Unleashing Youth and Student Innovation -- engaging the next generation of entrepreneurs and leaders now.
“There is a tremendous wealth of talent in and around this great city of ours, from biomedical research and life sciences to medical device design to environmental sciences to product and industrial design” said Providence Mayor David Cicilline. “My primary goal for this project has always been to unleash and commercialize the untapped talent in the region, boosting productivity, creating jobs and wealth, and increasing the tax base of Providence and the region.”
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The Knowledge Economy initiative began in 2007 when a team of civic, academic, and business leaders, were brought together to develop a plan to strengthen and grow the region’s knowledge economy sectors – healthcare, technology, research & design, and alternative energy – by identifying, coordinating and supporting regional assets, competencies, and networks.
“Through this process, we have developed a unified plan for economic development over the next 10 to 20 years, which will position Rhode Island as an international leader in healthcare, technology, renewable energy, and product design,” shared Bill Hatfield, president, Bank of America- Rhode Island. “It is a vision that relies on deep collaboration among industry and institutional partners to energize the research base and next generation of entrepreneurs.”
The briefing featured two panel discussions, one with business leaders and the second with municipal and state leaders. The focus of the discussion was the need to bring attention and energy to the most promising economic opportunities in the state, creating the workforce, at all skill levels, required to sustain and expand these industries, as well as continuing to nurture the entrepreneurial spirit of the city that created this environment and which will be required to build the local economy.
“The number of nationally and internationally renowned academic and hospital based research institutions in and around Providence provides tremendous opportunity for us to leverage and engage young people in this endeavor,” said Connie Howes, president and CEO of Women & Infants Hospital. “We have an opportunity to create centers of excellence around these disciplines and truly drive a thriving economy.”
The importance of capturing the economic potential of current students and recent graduates was echoed by Saul Kaplan, director Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.
“The region’s younger generation is an under-utilized resource and must be better leveraged in our efforts to create a high-wage knowledge economy in Rhode Island,” said Kaplan. “A central piece of this effort is the development of a multi-university coordinated internship program and related online portal. Another element is a ‘Dormcubator’ and targeted Microseed Fund that will facilitate the development of small-scale businesses by students. Programs of this type are vital to attracting and retaining young talent, and in turn, fuelling growth in high wage, innovation-based industries across our state.”
Kaplan stated that RIEDC and the Chamber will partner on an integrated implementation of the knowledge economy study outputs to ensure that economic development efforts are fully aligned.
Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, challenged participants to roll up their sleeves and get to work, citing forthcoming plans for centralized space for entrepreneurial activity, additional wet lab space for researchers, seed capital funding for entrepreneurs, a design catalyst incubator, and more that will be be launched in the coming months as part of this project.
Today’s event was collaboration between Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, working with The Providence Foundation, Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island, Innovation Providence and Implementation Council, Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, Providence Economic Development Partnership, and the office of Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline.
The Innovation Providence Implementation Council is chaired by Connie Howes, president and CEO of Woman & Infants Hospital. Vice chairs are Bill Hatfield, president of Bank of America-Rhode Island, Saul Kaplan, director of RIEDC, and Richard Spies, executive vice president at Brown University.