There are more than 130 startups in the Ocean State, give or take. Yet a very small portion of the population knows about them.
The Rhode Island Coalition of Entrepreneurs is hoping to remedy this problem, while at the same time unifying the startup community and fostering an environment that will encourage and assist new companies to launch and grow in the state.
This was the overarching message of a meeting held by RICE last week that celebrated the organization’s one year anniversary and drew a large audience of entrepreneurs, politicians and state officials.
“It [RICE] was originally a place to network, but the more and more we started talking and the more and more we started thinking about it, we started to realize we are a lot more than that,” Pat Sabatino, executive director of RICE, told the audience. “We are an economic force.”
“Here in Providence, we have a really, really special city; a city that in no small way is poised to be a truly shining mid-sized city that the entire United States will envy."
The mission statement of RICE says the organization will strive to be an entrepreneurial catalyst by aggregating resources, talent and networks, as well physical, intellectual and financial capital to assist new companies, which will in turn lead to more employment within the state.
The organization already has the backing from the city of Providence and the state of Rhode Island.
Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza stressed at the event that he believes Providence has the institutional, physical and networked assets needed to become a startup powerhouse.
“Here in Providence, we have a really, really special city; a city that in no small way is poised to be a truly shining mid-sized city that the entire United States will envy,” he said.
Rhode Island’s Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor said the state’s economy is at a point where it should be an attractive place for entrepreneurs and new business.
“We led the nation in reduction in unemployment rate [in 2017],” he said. “In the Northeast, guess who’s leading the way for the fastest pace of GDP growth [in 2017]? Little old Rhode Island.”
RICE also plans to serve as a body that will vocalize the needs of Rhode Island’s entrepreneurial community, and at the event, entrepreneurs had the opportunity to share their ideas and problems.
Sabatino said he would like to see RICE lead an economic impact study of entrepreneurship in Rhode Island and help put together some kind of startup week — similar to what they do in Denver, although likely on a smaller scale.
Andrew Mallon, director of the newly created MassChallenge Rhode Island, said he would like to get the startup community more involved with larger corporations in the state.
Other discussed the lack of available seed funding.
According to Sabatino, Rhode Island ranks last in venture capital funding per capita. Aside from the state-backed Slater Technology Fund, entrepreneurs are typically forced to look elsewhere.
Adam Alpert, associate director of RICE and co-founder and CEO of Pangeamart Inc., a peer-to-peer e-commerce platform, said figuring out the tax implications associated with hiring interns and independent contractors has been complicated and expensive.
Pryor said the state has been working to clear hurdles for entrepreneurs, but that he wants to team up with RICE to help make life easier for entrepreneurs.
“So much is going well, but we need to do so much more,” he said.
Video credit: Bram Berkowitz
