Business Facilities - May 2008 - (Page 22)

BUSINESS REPORT Rhode Island By Michelle Janowitz Innovating Big in Rhode Island The nation’s smallest state has been working hard to nurture technology breakthroughs with several ambitious economic development programs. A lthough diminutive in size, there is nothing small about Rhode Island’s efforts to encourage innovation in the state. Over the past few years, Rhode Island has set in motion several initiatives to advance highwage, high-growth industries with much success. One such endeavor is the state’s Science & Technology Advisory Council (STAC), managed by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC). Created in April 2005, STAC is a coalition of business, academic, and government leaders committed to strengthening Rhode Island’s research platform, attracting and retaining entrepreneurs, and facilitating collaborative innovation and public/private partnerships. RHODE ISLAND FAST FACTS Population (2006): 1,067,610 Largest Cities (2006): Providence, 175,255; Warwick, 85,925; Cranston, 81,479; Pawtucket, 72,998; East Providence, 49,123 Targeted Industries: Health and life sciences, information technology, progressive manufacturing, marine trades, defense, financial services Key Incentives: Innovation Tax Credit, Production Tax Credit, Jobs Development Act, High Performance Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit, Research and Development Expense Credit, Job Training Tax Credit To this end, STAC created the competitive, merit-based Collaborative Research Award Program in 2006 to support joint projects that have significant scientific merit and are positioned to receive additional public and/or private funding. This program has encouraged much collaboration within the state’s research community because no one researcher/institution can apply for these awards. The recipients of the 2008 Collaborative Research Award program were announced earlier this year; the funds doled out will support nine projects involving 24 scientists from 14 research organizations across the state. The projects—which span a variety of disciplines, including medicine, police forensics, engineering, chemistry, biology, oceanography, and environmental science—include endeavors to develop better medicines for breast cancer, heart disease, and asthma and technologies that will assist police in obtaining highquality evidence from low-resolution video, to name a few. Since its inception, the Collaborative Research Award Program has handed out nearly $1.5 million in grants for 17 projects involving 56 scientists. Another program proposed by STAC to help companies develop novel technologies is the Rhode Island Innovation Tax Credit, enacted into law by Governor Donald Carcieri and the General Assembly in 2006. The program offers investors in the state’s targeted industries up to a 50% credit on eligible RHODE ISLAND HIGH-WAGE SECTORS & TOTAL JOBS, 2006 $80,000 $70,000 $60,000 $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 $20,000 $10,000 15,035 Jobs Information Technology & Digital Media SOURCE: RIEDC $69,510 $64,123 $63,478 $53,391 $51,852 $48,276 $47,165 33,837 Jobs 12,483 Jobs 29,926 Jobs 37,856 Jobs 21,464 Jobs 47,165 Jobs Financial Marine Trades Industrial Health Care Professional Consumer & Defense Products & Services & Educational Products & Life Technology Infrastructure Sciences Services & Design 22 M AY 2 0 0 8

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Business Facilities - May 2008

Business Facilities - May 2008 Contents First Word Snapshots The UK's Most Lucrative Locations, Pound for Pound Economic Development in a Flash Corporate Moves: Massachusetts Florida: A Ripe Climate for Innovation Innovating Big in Rhode IIsland Retail Set to Ride Out a Recession Corporate Moves: New Jersey South Carolina: A Sweet Spot in the Southeast Endless Opportunities in North Carolina Economic Awakening in the Mohawk Valley Metro Spotlight: Alexandria, LA Where Call Centers Call Home Texas Receives First Business Facilities State of the Year Award Advertiser Index Inside Livexchange

Business Facilities - May 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.