Rhode Island has had the highest leap in this year's "Best States to Do Business In" rankings from Chief Executive, going from No. 42 in 2017 to No. 32 in 2018.
While the top spots (No. 1, Texas; No. 2, Florida; and No. 3, North and South Carolina) and the bottom spots (No. 48, Illinois; No. 49, New York, and No. 50, California) have stayed the same in the last four years. However, Rhode Island had the most profound jump out of all fifty states, moving up 10 spots.
The rankings considered taxation and regulation, workforce quality and living environment.
Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor said in-state improvements have been made over time.
“There’s been a series of deliberate and proactive steps that we’ve taken to change the perception of Rhode Island,” he told Chief Executive. “When our administration [Gov. Gina Raimondo's] took office three years ago, the responses we would get from CEOs and site selectors and brokers wasn’t positive. Sometimes the professionals would be puzzled as to why we were even inquiring. They had perceptions of Rhode Island based on past experience or outdated understandings.”
The article explaining Rhode Island's rankings jump also cites the state's robust network of educational institutions, such as Brown University; the forthcoming Wexford Innovation center; and the trend of larger companies, such as Virgin Pulse, making their home in the Ocean State — as opposed to choosing more traditional sites like New York or Boston.
Virgin Pulse isn't the only company to eye Rhode Island. "[CEOs] respond more frequently, and in fact we’re on the receiving end of outreach from companies inquiring regarding making things happen in Rhode Island," Pryor added.
He added that the state of Rhode Island's business community came a long way, thanks in part to the governor's efforts.
"Gov. Raimondo had the courage to tell it like it is: The future of our state was on the line, and she laid out the facts, and ensured that the public had an understanding of what it would take to put us on a strong fiscal footing," he said. "In partnership with the [legislature] we’ve done so, and thanks to them, we’ve been able to place important new tools in the economic-development tool box."
