Top News Saul Kaplan: No Silver Bullets for R.I. Economy I have been having flashbacks to a day early in my career. I was a newly minted manager arriving to work at corporate headquarters one morning to the news that the company's lead new product was being pulled from the market for safety reasons. It was a disaster and the firm's survival was a question on all of our minds. The president called his managers into a meeting. You could have heard a pin drop. I will never forget his words. He looked each of us in the eye and said, "It is easy to lead during good times. Now we are going to find out who the real leaders are and who can take this great company forward." We are about to find out who the real leaders are in Rhode Island and who can work together to take this great state forward. We are at a tipping point and today's actions will determine the kind of Rhode Island we leave for our children and grandchildren. Repositioning our economy will not be easy and there are no silver bullets. It will take strong leadership that will not back down in the face of vested interests that prefer the status quo. [more] Quonset Gateway Breaks Ground The New Boston Fund development team broke ground October 29 on the Quonset Gateway, a mixed-use development at the 72.5-acre entryway to the Quonset Business Park. Local residents, community leaders and elected officials celebrated the project, which will create more than 2,000 jobs. [more] Innovation in Action Innovation Tour Revs Up with Three Stops The RIEDC's Innovation Tour made stops at three local companies in November. As part of the tour, Governor Donald Carcieri and RIEDC Executive Director Saul Kaplan visited a2b Tracking Solutions, a U.S. leader in scanning technology, Carousel Industries, a leading national communications technology solutions provider, and Sonalysts, a defense contractor who has taken its internal modeling and simulation talents and merged them with digital media and production studios. [more] Innovator Spotlight: parsonsKellogg Sometimes, innovation is evident in the simplest form. Take local promotional product company parsonsKellogg. In 2001, fresh off a stint as a sales manager for Nike, Rhode Island native Tom Kellogg started parsonsKellogg with a six-color golf logo machine and one employee - himself. Now, with 22 employees, parsonsKellogg is the one-stop shop for big corporate to buy and design their promotional products. [more] EDC in the News Saul Kaplan: The Promise of Financial Services Financial services companies in Rhode Island employ more than 26,000 people - an increase from 21,000 jobs in 1997 - and bring in more than $1.5 billion in wages to the state each year, said RIEDC Executive Director Saul Kaplan in Providence Journal Op-Ed published on November 5. [read the op-ed] We Mean Business Expo Connects Small Businesses On November 5, Every Company Counts, in conjunction with the Rhode Island Secretary of State's office, held the We Mean Business expo, which connected more than 400 small businesses with the right municipal, state, federal and non-profit business organizations to help grow their business. [more] Community Update FM Global Aims to Build Headquarters in Johnston Commercial-property insurer FM Global is planning to build new headquarters in Johnston, next to its current offices located off Atwood Avenue. The new headquarters, a $60-million project, would replace the headquarters built in Johnston in 1973. [more] KVH Named Communications Company of the Year KVH Industries, a Middletown-based mobile entertainment and communications company, was awarded Houseboating Adventures magazine's Communications Company of the Year award - one of the magazine's eight winners of the DIGI Awards. [more] Local IT Firm Forms Subsidiary Lighthouse Computer Services, an information-technology firm providing consulting, integration and maintenance services on the latest hardware and software technologies, has launched a new subsidiary - Lighthouse Security Group. The subsidiary will be responsible for helping organizations protect business-critical systems and data from security risks. [more] Rhode Island Hospital Awarded NIH Grant to Reduce Dangerous Teen Driving The National Institutes of Health has awarded Rhode Island Hospital a $2-million grant to researchers at the hospital's injury prevention center. The grant is geared towards the Reducing Youthful Dangerous Driving program, which targets teenagers who exhibit dangerous driving. [more] Carousel Industries Launches New Business Exeter-based Carousel Industries, a full-service telecommunications and data networking company, formed a new business providing "turn-key" call center services - InteleSource. The new business unit is designed to help organizations easily add or expand call center capabilities. [more] Higher Education URI Breaks Ground for $15 Million Undersea Exploration Center The University of Rhode Island broke ground on November 5 for the construction of a 41,000 square-foot undersea exploration center and for the expansion and rehabilitation of the Pell Marine Science Library on its Narragansett Bay Campus. [more] Brown Researchers Uncover Material That Could Improve Orthopaedic Implants Orthopaedic implants are only as successful as the material that melds the metal of the artificial implant to the bone. Because of work done by a team of Brown University engineers, the success rate of these implants could be greatly improved. The team has discovered a bone-growing nanomaterial that can be used to make more successful implants. [more] Save the Date Shape Up RI Informational Meting When: December 4, 9–11 a.m. Where: Bryant University, Bryant Center, Room 2C, Smithfield. Contact: Bruce Conklin, 401-421-0608, bruce@shapeupri.org Explore the Shape Up RI wellness campaign and explore what can be done by your business to reverse the alarming trend of obesity in Rhode Island. Extensive information on how employees can participate in the team-based competition in 2008 will be provided. RI Nexus Breakfast Event: Creating Next-Gen Working Environments for RI's Info-Tech and Digital Media Community When: December 6, 8:30–10:30 a.m. Where: American Locomotive Works, 315 Iron Horse Way, Suite 101, Providence. Contact: Meghan O'Connor, 401-278-9146, moconnor@riedc.com Join the discussion on creating next generation working environments. Moderated by consultant and Providence Geeks co-founder Jack Templin, developers from Portland to Philadelphia will talk about creating info-tech and digital media working space throughout urban areas in Rhode Island. There will be an open discussion and Q&A session at the end of the panel. Panelists include: Greg Gibson, Gary Brandeis, Sally Struever, Umberto Crenca and J Hogue. *Space is available on a first-come first-serve basis, so RSVP today. Our mailing address is: © 2007 RIEDC. 315 Iron Horse Way. Suite 101. Providence, RI 02908 Our telephone: 401-278-9110 Copyright (C) 2007 RIEDC. All rights reserved.