Governor Carcieri and RIEDC Executive Director to Tour R.I's Emerging Information, Manufacturing and Green Energy Companies
March 3, 2010 | Print this page | Share This |
Governor Donald L. Carcieri and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) today announced several planned tours of Rhode Island-based small businesses operating in the state’s emerging growth sectors: information technology, advanced manufacturing and green energy. The tours, which will take place during the first half of the year, began today at Newport Biodiesel.
“Rhode Island is home to many exciting companies built on innovation and are leading the growth of our knowledge-based economy,” said Governor Donald L. Carcieri. “These visits are a key component of our public/private outreach efforts to our existing businesses to hear first-hand what we can do to support their needs.”
The tour schedule is as follows (media advisories will be issued prior to each tour):
o Newport Biodiesel LLC – collector of waste vegetable oil, local producer of biodiesel and distributor of biofuel to homes and business. Tour: Today, March 3, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.
o Guill Tool – designer and manufacturer of extrusion plastic tooling. Tour: Friday, March 19, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.
o Cooley Group – manufacturer of advanced polymer coatings and reinforced membranes. Tour: Friday, March 26, 2010 at 8:30 a.m.
o Bioprocess Technologies Ltd. – designer, developer and installer of wastewater purification products. Tour: Friday, April, 9, 2010 at 8:30 a.m.
o Simulia – producer of scalable simulation software solutions for challenging engineering problems. Tour: Wednesday, April 13, 2010 at 8:30 a.m.
These small businesses have successfully accelerated their growth despite today’s tough economy. Small businesses – which represent more than 90 percent of the businesses in Rhode Island and employ approximately 55 percent of Rhode Island’s workforce – are critical to the efforts to turn Rhode Island’s economy around. the backbone of Rhode Island’s economy, small businesses, such as those on this tour, add jobs to the economy and increase demand for goods and services.
“The RIEDC is excited to join Governor Carcieri in supporting and recognizing these companies,” says RIEDC Executive Director Keith Stokes. “We recognize the importance of small businesses in our state and will continue to focus on the development a strong strategy to grow and expand the existing small businesses as part of our economic recovery plan.”
The RIEDC’s mission is to create jobs, help companies expand and develop their workforce, and identify opportunities to bring new companies into our state. RIEDC has supported companies on the tour with economic development consultation and assistance including: financing, site selection, workforce development, manufacturing improvement, government procurement, export training and renewable energy funding. The RIEDC has also connected these organizations, through its Every Company Counts small business program (www.everycompanycounts.com), to other state and private organizations for business support.
