I am keenly interested in promoting excellence in public policy to enhance the diversity of Rhode Island’s industries and to promote their competitiveness throughout the United States and abroad. Rhode Island has always prospered through innovation. In the 18th and 19th centuries, we were global traders. In the 19th century, we were leaders in the American industrial revolution. Twentieth century Rhode Island led the world as innovators in keystone precision and machine tool industries. Our economic future calls for renewal of our entrepreurial heritage, perhaps as innovators in today’s electronics and biopharmaceutical high-technology industries.
Building a “green” economy in Rhode Island is key to a bright future for our children and grandchildren. Strengthening Rhode Island’s natural resource-based industries is critical because this industrial base and its related support industries affect the lives of more Rhode Islanders than any other sector of our economy. High-technology, education-dependent industries are also critical to Rhode Island’s overall economic competitiveness. Our support of natural resource-based and high technology industries uses local natural and cultural advantages to build a Rhode Island economy that can lead the world in the emerging fields of materials recycling, innovative energy systems, novel marine industries, and environmental biotechnology.
In my view, the keystone of our economic policy should be the health and well-being of Rhode Island’s workers and their families. This is the foundation of job satisfaction and competitive good businesses, and the root of a thriving economy. I work on initiatives aimed at assuring that Rhode Islanders enjoy the best possible health, from infancy through the golden years.