Gov. Raimondo: Rebuilding manufacturing in RI
Back when I was a kid, the deal was simple: if you studied, worked hard, and earned a high school degree, you could get a good middle-class job after graduation. You could earn a good wage and provide for your family. You could buy a house and take a modest vacation – maybe not every year, but more often than not.
Back then, 40 percent of the jobs here were in manufacturing – and they were good jobs. My own father worked at Bulova Watch Factory. Over the last 35 years, though, the economy – nationally and particularly in New England – has changed a great deal. Many of those factory jobs were automated; others, like my dad’s, moved overseas. Since 1980, the number of Rhode Islanders working in manufacturing has declined from nearly 130,000 to just 41,000. Factories shut down and people had the rugs pulled out from underneath their feet.
Working-class Americans and Rhode Islanders are anxious. They’ve seen the economy change, and many feel like they’ve been left behind. Traditional manufacturing jobs may be gone, but Rhode Islanders still have the same grit and determination. So let’s tap into that to rebuild and reinvent manufacturing for the 21st century here in Rhode Island.
That’s exactly what I’m trying to do in partnership with leaders from our busi- ness, labor and education communities.
The budget I submitted to the General Assembly includes support for the Rhode Island Manufacturing Initiative. This comprehensive proposal invests in manufacturing training for our high school students. It helps smaller manufacturers – from craft breweries to jewelers to precision manufacturers – invest in new equipment. And it makes it easier for manufacturers to train and hire Rhode Island workers.
Key components of the Manufacturing Initiative include:
•Investments to help the William M. Davies, Jr. Career and Technical High School create a Center for Advanced Manufacturing and modernize equipment at the state’s leading career and technical high school;
•Support to help manufacturing companies hire and train more Rhode Islanders for jobs in advanced manufacturing.
•Credits to help manufacturing companies – particularly small manufacturers – invest in new equipment; and
•An expansion of the Qualified Jobs initiative to include manufacturing companies.
When the economy started changing, our neighbors in Massachusetts made the choice to retrain workers and embrace the shift from traditional manufacturing to more advanced, innovation-driven manufacturing. But Rhode Island leaders in business and government missed an opportunity and sat back, hoping the jobs would return and the factories would reopen.
Today, I believe we have an opportunity to invest in the most important commodity we have: our people. I believe we can replicate some of the success in Massachusetts and spark a revitalization by supporting workforce training and higher education and by creating a business environment that fosters innovation and growth.
We can’t afford to miss this chance. We’ve come so far in just the last couple of years. After competing for the dubious honor of highest unemployment rate for most of 2014, we are finally below the national average for the first time since 2005. Employment in our state is near an all-time high. And a recent study by Boyd found that Rhode Island is the most cost-effective state in the Northeast for manufacturers.
Businesses are creating jobs in Rhode Island, and I want Rhode Islanders to get those jobs, whether in manufacturing, IT, health science or construction.
I know we can make things in Rhode Island again, and I’m determined to see it happen.
Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, is Governor of Rhode Island. For more information on the Rhode Island Manufacturing Initiative, visit www.CommerceRI.com.