EDITORIAL: 20 Reasons Why We Should Be Optimistic About 2020

EDITORIAL: 20 Reasons Why We Should Be Optimistic About 2020

Here are 20 reasons why Rhode Islanders should be optimistic about 2020. 

 

1. Most everyone in Rhode Island has a job. The unemployment rate is 3.5 percent. Not long ago it was over 10.5 percent in Rhode Island. They may not all be great jobs, but folks are working.

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2. Rhode Island's big employers are buyers and not sellers —CVS pulled off a $70 billion acquisition in 2018 and the integration went smoothly in 2019 creating a bright future in 2020. Hasbro just completed a $3.8 billion buy of UK-based Entertainment One, and Electric Boat has won billions more in defense contracts.

 

3. It is nearly mathematically impossible for Providence schools to get worse. 2020 has to be better.

 

 

4. It may be one of the most fiscally mismanaged projects in Rhode Island history, but at least the $22 million pedestrian bridge in Providence is beautiful. Actually, it is spectacular.

 

 

5. Rhode Island continues to be one of the most livable states. It is easy to get to where you are going -- and enjoy it.

 

 

6. T.F. Green really is one of the best airports in the country.

 

7. Some top tech execs tell GoLocal that Rhode Island has never been in a better position for growth.

 

8. We love to self-flagellate over poor rankings, but Rhode Island is one of the best states in the country for healthcare. According to a recent study completed by WalletHub, Rhode Island is the third best state in the U.S. for healthcare behind only Minnesota and Massachusetts, who rank first and second respectively.

 

9. We really don’t have traffic -- well, compared to Boston, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles -- you get the picture.  We get points for that.

 

 

10. Newport, Block Island, and Little Compton are three of the most beautiful places on earth.

 

 

11. Wind and solar are expanding offshore and onshore giving Rhode Island a tad bit of energy independence.

 

12. Rhode Islands's beaches and entire coast are amazing, and now people are actually building cool things to experience the water of the "Ocean State" — a popular ferry service, pedestrian bridge, and maybe a soccer stadium and a 46-story tower.

 

13. In science and health, there are big things happening in Rhode Island led by Brown's Stephen Salloway and Vincent Mor — the two have attracted hundreds of millions in funding.

 

14. The Hasbro acquisition of Entertainment One also includes the rights to the catalog of defunct hip-hop label Death Row Records. Will there be any synergies? Stay tuned!

 

 

15. The car tax is scheduled to get cut again in the phase-out. One of the most regressive taxes is slowly going away.

 

 

16. Somebody must think Rhode Island is pretty good and getting better. Chase Bank moved into Rhode Island and BankNewport is expanding all over the state. Money can go anywhere -- and banks are choosing Rhode Island.

 

 

17. Many of our problems can be fixed -- the education system, homelessness and panhandling, job training -- they can be corrected, they just take leadership. Other states have made progress. Maybe this will be the year.

 

 

18. Rhode Island is a place of opportunity. With a good economy and cheap money, many Rhode Island entrepreneurs are winning -- see Eric Zuena's ZDS, Virgin Pulse, or Dr. Eugenio Fernandez Jr.'s Asthenis Pharmacy.

 

 

19. The University of Rhode Island has never been better. The building boon has given it the tools to attract more research dollars, and there is more to be done for sure. A successful state flagship research university lifts tides.

 

20. Rhode Islanders can be at times passionate, opinionated, rude, supportive, tough, demanding, loving and independent. And, in 2020 they will be even more so.