RI Biz Winners and Flops
Monday, May 28, 2012
Winners:
The State Budget – while much is grim in Rhode Island, the revenue numbers came in higher than Governor Chafee's original forcast. The result: Most of Chafee’s budget balancing revenue proposals can be eliminated and a flat budget can be achieved without new taxes.
• LIN Media – owners of both WPRI 12 and Fox 64 – scored a strong 1st quarter. They achieved a net revenue increase 15% to $103.2 million, compared to $89.7 million in the first quarter of 2011. And, local revenues, which include net local advertising revenues, retransmission consent fees and TV station web site revenues, increased 16% to $67.7 million, compared to $58.3 million in the first quarter of 2011. This was a stark contrast to A.H. Belo’s Providence Journal.
• 38 Studios will continue to be one of the most controversial decisions ever proposed by a Governor or the decision-makers at the Economic Development Corporation, but some people got it right – candidate Linc Chafee, Ken Block, the Providence Journal Editorial Board, candidate Angel Taveras, EDC Board Member Karl Wadensten, and URI Dean Ed Mazze.
• Forbes points out that 38 Studios collapse can be the spring board to a number of opportunities for RI. The failure of 38 Studios could be the launching pad to numerous start ups, “Boston-area Looking Glass Studios fell apart in 2000. But its alumni either created or went on to work for other games companies in the same area. An incomplete list includes Irrational Games (Bioshock), Harmonix (Rock Band), Mad Doc Software/Rockstar New England (Empire Earth), and Floodgate Entertainment (casual games).”
This past month also showed a number of major business flops.
• Massachusetts’s unemployment rate has now dropped to 6.3% in April. Rhode Island’s unemployment rate is 11.2%. This difference seems impossible.
• RI’s business rankings – again this month RI found it being ranked among the worst state in the union for business to conduct their operations. More than a half dozen separate business publications using a range of methodology all rank RI in the bottom quintile. There needs to be some urgency to turn this around – both the reality and the perception.
“If consistency counts, then the states that ranked as the Pollina Corporate Ten Worst States for Business deserve to be given awards,” says Dr. Ronald Pollina, Chairman of the American Economic Development Institute (AEDI) and President of Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Inc.
AEDI and Pollina Corporate have joined together this year to produce the Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States, which is known as “Gold Standard” for evaluating the pro-business status of each state. The annual study found that the lowest ranked states last year were Wisconsin, Illinois, Maine, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Vermont, West Virginia, New Jersey, Rhode Island and California.
For business rankings, the condition of the Economic Development Corporation, and employment, the only option is improvement. We hope.
Comments:
Gary Arnold
7:57am on Monday, May 28, 2012
Where are the winners after the two mentioned, the loser list is a lot longer than 38S.
The truth is in the rating of RI, our political leaders are NOT leaders, just empty suites collecting a pay check and multiple retirement packages. Change starts with flushing the GA toilet.
dis gusted
8:19am on Monday, May 28, 2012
right on, Gary....
This is why the voters have to
remember in November and throw out the lawmakers...
all of the incumbents need to go
But you know as well as I, that many RI voters won't do it..they are clueless as to the damage done by the Gen ASSembly....they are incompetent voters if they vote the same people back in..they have no balls to change ....they don't care and the rest of us intelligent constituents will suffer with higher taxes paid to the state for the disaster created by the lawmakers and none of them will be prosecuted either.
They can't even get Carcieri to an interview to talk and it was he who started the ball rolling with his mtg with Schilling and then pressuring Stokes,,,,,
Cara Mella
12:44am on Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Dear Go Local,
Let's not start giving Mayor Taveras freebies like the ones that were given way too many times by the media to a former Mayor.
I'm hearing this same story too often ...so set the story straight on "the people that got it right" . Candidate Taveras never gave a straight answer along with Costentino during any of the mayoral debates regarding being for or against 38 Studios. It was John Lombardi and maybe even Young that had an answer of NO, this is not a wise move.
Mike Hamel
1:28am on Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Month after month, year after year R.I. comes in at the bottom of worst states to do business in. I would have thought, by now, that statistic would have changed. Is there a reason, NOT an excuse, why it hasn't.
There are no shortage of experts pointing to what the problems are, yet we seem reluctant to tackle them head on. Are we going to wait until unemployment passes 20% or more? How many more people do we need to be broke, homeless and in receivership of some kind?
I think our elected officials need to spend time living from pay check to pay check, like we do. I think they need to miss a few meals or go without health care, when they are suffering from a serious illness.
I think they need, badly, to feel the pressure and pain the ordinary citizens, of this state are feeling 24/7/365, because of all we must do without due to the mismanagement of the entire state.
There are far too many, of our citizens, who worry constantly if they can pay the rent, or the utilities or their taxes or the ever rising cost of insurance and eat too.
Mismanaged cities and towns turn to their citizens for help. Tell me, WHERE DO WE TURN???? WHO WILL HELP US??????