RI Biz Winners and Flops

RI Biz Winners and Flops

RI Biz Winners and Flops – a review of the people and companies that make RI’s economic engine go or slow. This fall has gotten off to a mixed start with some big wins and some good signs, but the lack of urgency on job creation continues to be the threat to the national economy and a much needed Rhode Island recovery.

Winners:

Congrats to Washington Trust and the Guerra family - Washington Trust's Commercial Real Estate Group recently provided financing to the Foundry Associates for the Foundry Complex – the 26 acre-former Brown & Sharpe Complex. Mr. Guerra had the vision to purchase that property in the 1960’s and has painstakingly restored it to be one of the City’s largest hubs of commerce. These buildings are 95% occupied with prominent national and regional tenants such as Northwest Mutual Life, Pitney Bowes, AT&T, Robert Half and Associates, Women and Infants Hospital, and Sullivan and Company.

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Jim Bennett scores – his effort to bring the 2013 NCAA Regional Hockey to Providence. This event will be a boon to Providence and will deliver millions to the economy. Bennett, the former Brown star and father of NHL hopeful Mac Bennett, is the perfect host for an event that is sure to bring in folks from places like North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Maine.

MEDport – the Rhode Island makers of the Fit & Fresh brand have created a vibrant growing company in the state that is growing.

Mayor Taveras – for extending business hours to 7:00 pm to make them more flexible for residents and businesses each first and third Wednesday of each month.

City of Cranston’s Bond rating gets re-affirmed by Fitch. In this environment, that is a big win.

Get Motivated at the Dunk – any event that brings 10,000 plus to downtown with Bill Cosby, Colin Powell and Lou Holtz to Providence is big plus.

Flops:

The Rhode Island economy – while issues like compassion centers and immigration dominate the headline, Rhode Island’s leaders need to focus on job growth, period.

Wall Street – the occupy Wall Street effort isn’t going away. While the movement may sometimes being ill defined, the resentment against Wall Street is real.

The Red Sox – they look more and more like the evil empire : lack of loyalty, over-priced talent and underperforming.

Owners of the Arcade -- the lack of security and maintenance was disclosed by GoLocalTV. Their lack of upkeep is an embarrassment. 

RI EDC -- in identifying the state's core growth sectors the EDC Board identified tourism as a critical part of growing the state's economy.  This past month, they announced they were closing the Welcome Center in Richmond, RI - the only visitor center on Route I-95 entering the state - travelers from CT, NY, NJ and beyond.  All the places Rhode Island is trying to attract tourists from.