Hero of 38 Studios Collapse Wadensten Urges Raimondo and Neronha to be Cautious in Partners Deal
Hero of 38 Studios Collapse Wadensten Urges Raimondo and Neronha to be Cautious in Partners Deal
Wadensten, the President and CEO of VIBCO Vibrators in Pawtucket, joined GoLocal News Editor Kate Nagle on GoLocal LIVE to share his concerns.
“My antenna goes up every time we try and rush things here in the state — and generally it's done behind the scenes. This is a little bit more transparent, but well, when we rush things in the state we get outcomes that are a mixed bag and I'm really concerned as a manufacturer and a consumer,” said Wadensten. “We have over a hundred people in our organization so I consume healthcare — you consume healthcare — so to do something like this it changes the landscape of Rhode Island.”
“I get nervous that not enough people are really understanding what the impact could be. This could be the best thing to hit Rhode Island — I’m not saying it’s the worst, but it could be the best — or it could be death by a thousand cuts. So we better get in the game and start figuring it out,” said Wadensten.
Big Picture
“Sometimes the big guys coming in are a great thing, and sometimes they’re a bad thing,” said Wadensten. “As a manufacturing guy, just this year a big guy came in and took over my supply chain partners, and all of a sudden six months later they looked at the numbers and said we’re shutting down that supply chain partner and when that shutdown happens it’s very traumatic.”
“The direction under Rhode Island under Governor Raimondo has been “meds and eds,” said Wadensten. “So does this partnership or merger or acquisition or whatever you want to call it -- does it help the bigger Rhode Island with meds and eds or do we start competing — and dicing and slicing?”
“What we hear in the press is we want to beat Boston. We’re inviting Boston into our backyard!” said Wadensten. “And we still don’t have a clear runway as to what they’re going to do in our backyard.”`