PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island economy “bottomed out,” but it’s now making progress in five “advanced industry” sectors such as biotech and data analytics.
That’s the summary that Bruce J. Katz, the man crafting a long-term economic development plan for the state, delivered during Tuesday’s meeting of the state Economic Development Planning Council.
In 2016, Katz, then a part of the Brookings Institution, helped write report that urged Governor Gina M. Raimondo’s administration to focus on five “advanced industry” sectors. Now co-founder of New Localism Advisors, Katz has been hired to update the economic development game plan and report on how the state has done. That report is still in progress, with the full review due by year’s end.
Advertisement
“When we came to Rhode Island in 2015, this was a state that had essentially experienced an industrial collapse unlike any other state in this country,” Katz said. “You fell, you fell hard, you fell deep. You bottomed out, and now you are coming back.”
A chart showed the state’s unemployment rate dropping from 11.2 percent in 2011 to 3.6 percent in August of this year.
But a member of the audience questioned how that shift correlates with the median wage in Rhode Island, and the fact that Rhode Island lags behind most New England states in gross domestic product per worker.
Katz acknowledged Rhode Islanders may be skeptical of the comeback claim, given past struggles.
“That is what you’ve got to love about Rhode Island -- it’s a skeptical place -- ‘Prove it,’ ” he said.
But he said the data show Rhode Island has made progress in the five “advanced industry” sectors: biomedical innovation, cybersecurity and data analytics, maritime technology and manufacturing, advanced business services, and design and custom manufacturing. And he emphasized the comeback is in its “early innings.”
Advertisement
The state should continue to focus on those areas where it’s making progress, Katz said. “That is part of the broader political question here: Can the state accept that there really has been some substantial progress but it’s early days and therefore you have to deepen it, broaden it, amplify it, buttress it.”
Jessica David, the Rhode Island Foundation’s executive vice president of strategy and community investments, asked if the new study will delve into the state’s population trends. “We know we have an aging population and we have an increasingly diverse population,” she said.
While it’s great that the state’s overall unemployment rate has been falling, David said, “I hope we do a deep dive into population groups because there are some disparities by race and ethnicity that have to be addressed and that we really hadn’t gotten into in the first version of the plan.”
Katz said he does plan to look at those changes in the population as part of his work.
While the earlier study was focused on the five sectors, the upcoming one will take a broader view, focusing on more traditional sectors of the economy, he said. And it will focus on the need for investment not just by state government but also by major companies and the federal government, he said.
The update will cost $750,000, with $200,000 coming from the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, $200,000 from the state Department of Labor and Training, and $200,000 from private sources. The new report is due by Dec. 31.
Advertisement
Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor said, “We are very, very pleased with our economic progress in Rhode Island.” He cited the falling unemployment rate and the Wexford Innovation Center, where Tuesday’s meeting took place.
But Pryor acknowledged there is a lot more work to do. “We have only made strides but not yet fulfilled the mission of ensuring that all Rhode Islanders benefit from our prosperity -- that all communities have access to the economic advantages that are developing,” he said.
Pryor said the Economic Development Planning Council will meet again on Oct. 24. Three public comment forums will take place in different parts of the state before the council sends the new economic development report to the governor and the General Assembly.
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @FitzProv.