John Berard – RI Future

August 23, 2013August 23, 2013

Fixing RI Part 4: Moving toward A sustainable future

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In this, the final installment of series on how to fix Rhode Island’s ailing economy, I will look at some next steps for moving forward. First, the story so far: I have outlined what Rhode Island’s leaders need to do in terms of transforming our state’s green economy and why we need to move in that direction. Yesterday, I presented a version of what our states green economy might look like.

It is entirely possible that it might not play out exactly like I have laid out. In fact, it probably won’t. But it could, and that would be a good thing for all stakeholders – human and nonhuman alike. Mind you, this is only one person’s vision, created from ideas found in the pages of policy papers, books, blogs, reports, and data I have culled through. I have borrowed from what has worked elsewhere and tailored it to what I know of our state. I haven’t backed it up with any economic data or careful policy analysis – you’ll notice no citations. What I hoped to do is get stakeholders thinking, to start a real conversation, and to encourage the collaborative process to begin.

The comment sections of our local news sites are filled with finger wags and laments for the way things were. There is a lot of blame passed around and a lot of bloviating. Rarely are viable solutions offered. The General Assembly! Unions! Immigrants! They’ve ruined this state! The reality is that the blame cannot be placed on any one single entity. These are bad, non-fact-based arguments. The reality is that each of these stakeholder groups, along with many others, will play important roles moving forward. Vitriolic screeds are not helpful in the least, and they only contribute to divisiveness that hampers efforts at progress. But some people have ideas, good ones in fact. Streamlining the paperwork processes for businesses is a good idea. So is consolidating city services and school districts. Focusing economic development efforts on poaching businesses from other regions is almost always not. Regardless of their efficacy, these are not real comprehensive solutions, and at the end of the day they will not allow Rhode Island to gain any real economic traction.

Instead, a game-changing idea is needed. Metros across the country that have realized this and seized upon a big idea themselves have seen real results. They did not wait for an opportunity to pass them by. They saw that they needed to move to a regional economic approach. They realized that they could never grow that regional economy without seeking global markets. They then developed a big economic idea, one they could sell at home and abroad, and retooled their metro into a connected network of innovation led by a collaboration of government, non-profits, and the private sector. Rhode Island, with Providence as its engine, has this opportunity. I believe our state’s big idea – one that could absolutely bear fruit – is the development of the sustainability economy.

So what is the next step? The next step will be the first step, really. Consequently, it will also be the hardest to take. Leaders from all sectors must begin to work together to develop a bold, comprehensive, and workable vision for the future. Where do we begin, and how do we start? It will take many seats at the table, and it will take compromise. We must begin working towards something because the status quo simply will not work. Too many citizens of our state have suffered (and continue to suffer) as a result of misplaced priorities and chronic inaction So why not this? Why not now?

August 22, 2013

Fixing RI Part 3: What the green economy looks like

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So far, I have looked at three “big ideas” our state’s leaders need to embrace, including changing Rhode Island’s trajectory by moving towards a sustainability economy. Yesterday, I examined some reasons why we should steer our state in this direction.

So what will this new, green economy look like? I have my own vision, but part of Rhode Island’s problem thus far has been that, for the most part one single person or entity has been responsible for determining the direction of the state’s economic development (i.e video gaming was a bad choice). Instead, a network of stakeholders – entrepreneurs, economists, policymakers, land developers, labor officials, academic institutions, bankers and funders, nonprofits, and so on – must collaborate to create a viable solution.

All of these entities will need a seat at the table because cooperation from all will be required. One person or entity or government agency cannot helm an entire economy – it must be a collaborative process to be truly fruitful. State and local governments must put in place policies that spur green business growth. Capital needs to be made available from both public and private sources. Antiquated zoning ordinances must be reworked to allow for high-density, mixed-use developments.

But I digress. I was talking about what such an economy might look like, and as I said, I have an idea. Some people might have better ideas, or will have ideas that build upon my ideas, and that’s the beauty of collaboration. So here goes:

Imagine if you will a linked network of businesses that specialize in specific aspects of the green economy. Larger companies manufacture and sell renewable energy components like wind turbines, solar panels, and smart grid elements to places around the US and the globe. These products can be assembled and shipped directly from the deepwater port at Quonset/Davisville, which becomes THE point of departure for global sustainability products on the east coast. The smaller components that make up these larger assembled units are manufactured by other businesses in retooled factories located in the older manufacturing cities throughout the state, places like Woonsocket, Pawtucket, and West Warwick.

These operations would provide steady, sustainable, working-class jobs for a sizable amount of the population. The rehabilitation of the existing factory structures into efficient LEED-certified buildings means construction jobs, as well as a call for architects, designers, and green consultants.

An economy rooted in the sustainability market cannot rely solely on the development of green energy, though. Small firms in eco-innovation incubators, led by the engineers and scientists educated at Brown, URI, and RIC and funded by grants, loans from local banks, and venture capital, develop new products like energy-efficient paints, environmentally-friendly and efficient HVAC systems, new permeable paving materials, and machines to work in low-emissions manufacturing processes. Collaboration between entrpreneurs and research institutions results in further innovation.

More fair-wage jobs are created as these products become ready for production and move to the mass manufacturing phase. Meanwhile, CCRI gears part of its curriculum to prepare this workforce for the shift towards this new economy. Other firms and/or non-profits specialize in energy-efficient construction consultation, green roof design, and sustainable waste management and recycling, to name only a few market opportunities. Nonprofits help these start-ups find funding sources and develop sustainable business plans.

Public transit improvements, including a two-line light rail system that reaches from Woonsocket to Quonset and West Warwick to Pawtucket and meeting up in Providence as part of the city’s proposed streetcar circuit allow workers to travel freely around the region, from home to work and back again, lifting the barrier of car ownership as a prerequisite for employment and connecting the manufacturing centers of the state with Providence. Workers will be needed to build and maintain this system, too.

Transit hubs located around the region make it so someone looking to travel from the airport to URI do not have to go through Kennedy Plaza first, increasing both efficiency and ridership. The artistic community that Rhode Island is so famous for will see a call for its services as well. Design is critical for marketing and branding of both products and the region itself. Industrial designers will find work as new products become ready to move to the manufacturing stage.

All of this results in aggregate income growth, a probable drop in unemployment, and a strengthening of the middle class. Tax revenues increase as a result – revenue desperately needed by municipalities – but taxes themselves do not. This means more investment in infrastructure, services, and especially public education. Importantly, income disparities begin to narrow. Residual economic growth in hospitality industry and in the form of other small businesses increases. All along, the economy becomes healthy, the environment is considered and natural resources protected, and social equity is increased. Of course, there are so many more pieces to sort out and details to attend to, but this is a start.

August 21, 2013

Fixing RI Part 2: Why go green

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Yesterday, I presented a suite of “big ideas” that Rhode Island leaders need to embrace in order to correct out state’s economic course. To recap: they must realize that Rhode Island is its own economic entity and gear policy accordingly. They must look outward and tap into international markets. And they must develop and steward a unique, exportable product.

This product? Sustainability.

Environmental non-profits like the Sierra Club have been championing this for years. Former Congressional candidate David Segal included this as a significant piece of his platform in 2010, and our current Congressional delegation – our junior Senator in particular – have pushed for environmentally-friendly carbon-reducing initiatives at the federal level. For some reason, though, Rhode Island has not taken to this idea (apparently the governor and the RIEDC have come up with some sort of sustainable development plan, but every link that came up in a Google search was broken and neither the RIEDC nor the governor’s websites make any mention of it). But it could work, and it will take myriad stakeholders working together cooperatively to make it a reality.

So why the green economy? And why now? Overwhelming scientific evidence suggests that climate change is real and will affect our quality of life in the near future. This new reality has resulted in the development of a worldwide market for technologies to address this situation, with a huge potential for economic growth for those who are able to seize on this opportunity. The US as a whole has been relatively slow to pursue this avenue – in fact, as we all know, there exists more than a handful of members of Congress who deny that climate change is real. National energy policy will remain focused on coal, oil, and natural gas with a token nod to the renewable energy sector. Therefore, it is up to us at the local level to invest in the future. Rhode Island can’t afford to wait to do so, either. Portland, Oregon has already decided to bill itself as the sustainable capital of the West, and its economic development and comprehensive plans both reflect this. By focusing heavily on innovation and collaboration in this sector, it is positioning itself to be a global leader in the “green” market. It is only a matter of time before some metro region on the East coast decides to do the same. There is no reason why Rhode Island cannot be the sustainable capital of the East. Stakeholders should be convened to discuss and develop a collaborative plan to harness the state’s vast idle resources and together create a new sustainable, outward-looking regional economy.

Tomorrow, I’ll explore what this kind of approach might look like, and why we need to act now.

August 20, 2013August 20, 2013

Fixing RI, Part 1: Collaboration that goes green and global

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A recent post in GoLocalProv outlines three “big ideas” from several city councilors that they felt would move the city in the right direction.

While several of the ideas presented were very good (improvements to infrastructure and the city’s public schools, oft cited as pressing issues, and rightfully so) and other still were not (sports facilities have generally done little to drastically alter the economic trajectory of a metropolitan region), I couldn’t help but think that these ideas weren’t really that big. What our leaders need to do is to really think big in three ways: the local geographic sense, the global geographic sense, and the economic sense.

As so often happens in our little state, the suggestions outlined by the members of the Providence City Council are colloquial in nature. To be fair, this is their job. They have been tasked by voters with addressing the immediate needs of their wards and the city as a whole. Providence cannot cure its ails on its own as it has so often tried to do, though.

First, what our leaders – both within Providence and without – need to realize is that they exist not in these tiny economic and municipal bubbles, but in a great regional metropolitan economy that encompasses nearly the whole entire state. The boundaries between our cities and towns are arbitrary as far as the economy is concerned. The interconnectedness of our state’s economy cannot be denied, and thus in order to fundamentally alter the economic path of the city of Providence, city leaders need to collaborate with surrounding municipalities.

This does not just mean elected officials, either. This includes all stakeholders: representatives from the business community, non-profits, academia, and capital firms, to name a few, must all have a seat at the table. Changing this paradigm regarding the way we do business is essential for growth. It’s a big-tent philosophy, and while at first it may seems daunting to think about getting everyone inside, those metropolitan areas (think Denver and Cleveland) who have managed to do so have seen results. Providence will still be the hub of this metropolitan region, but it must make use of the resources of the communities surrounding it to truly alter its current economic course and thus the economic course of the state.

Second, it must look beyond its borders. Metropolitan regions who have seen changes in their economic fortunes have done so by exporting goods and services across the oceans and not relying solely on American markets. Tourism and hospitality, the marine trades, defense, and financial services, to name the biggies, are the current drivers of our local economy. These sectors are critical for our economic health, but they are not enough. The state relies heavily, for the most part (there are exceptions, of course), on domestic consumers of its wares. This leaves the rest of the global market essentially untapped. By building trade relationships with overseas markets and producing exportable products, the Rhode Island economy can grow far beyond its current size.

The third part of this new mindset involves thinking big economically. The state needs an exportable product that no one else seems to be providing on a massive scale. Boston, Baltimore, and Cleveland, among others, are all massive biotechnology hubs with whom Rhode Island cannot compete. While we absolutely should not abandon our “eds and meds” initiative, it will not be the savior of our economy. We are too close to Boston and lack the institutional capacity to be truly competitive on a global basis. Again, that does not mean we should stop innovation in this sector, it just means we need to find something else to set us apart.

We also have a tremendous tourism and hospitality sector. We have some of the finest restaurants in the world and our natural resources are second to none. We can’t, however, ship Misquamicut Beach or a Farmstead cheese plate across the Atlantic. So what do we do, then? What’s the answer here? My big idea is not a new idea. It is one that has been out there for many, many years. The answer: developing the sustainability economy.