Rhode Island is Notorious for its Business Climate and New Jobs

The thirty nine cities of Rhode Island have always been very independent – to the point of ferocity; so much so that each one has its own rules about pitching party tents. This makes business tough for William Corcoran who is the owner of a tent company.

He takes on assignments for 2,000 events per year in Rhode Island but for a permit he has to go on merry-go-round visits to the police department to the fire department and then back again to the department from where he started. In the recent past he was asked to appear before Warwick’s planning board to get the green signal to set up a tent covering three days for nothing more important than one dog show!

Corcoran of Newport Tent Company who has been running the show for the last four decades, bemoaned, “A lot of my time is spent not putting up tents but dealing with regulatory process”. Apart from fighting wind and rain he has to battle officialdom to hold on to his business.

For modest business entrepreneurs who comprise the backbone of Rhode Island’s economy as elsewhere, red tape is not merely frustrating but damaging to their concerns. Understanding the maze of rules and complying with these eat up time as well as money. According to Small Business Administration the federal rules eat up $1.75 trillion of the economy annually – the burden from the states not being counted in this calculation.

In 2010 the General Assembly gave the nod to a bundle of bills trying to make it easier for companies doing business in Rhode Island. Donald Carcieri, the former governor signed an order that set up an office for improving regulatory processing and help the business houses to navigate through these.

Keith Stokes of Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (executive director) said, “We are hearing a consistent outcry that we need to do a better job of streamlining our system. Small businesses were just lost out there”.

Rhode Island ranks third in unemployment numbers in the country at 10.9%. New jobs are entering at the speed of a glacier. The state is notorious for its business climate. According to CNBC the state ranked last – number 50, among the best regions for doing business. Virginia ranked first. Alaska ranked 49th.