Projo Biz Blog

About 200 Rhode Islanders, including leaders from business, labor, academia and community groups, gathered this morning at the Rhode Island Convention Center for a summit to discuss ways to stimulate job growth and economic development.

The gathering took place as Rhode Island is suffering through a recession with the highest unemployment rate in the country.

Governor Carcieri opened the session by saying, "I don't need to tell you that we are truly in uncharted waters...There is a lot of anxiety in our state about how severe this downturn will be...My fear for Rhode Islanders is it will bet worse before it gets better."

Carcieri compared the current recesssion to the one in the late 1980s that spilled into the 1990s and the restructuring that took place in the state,

"With challenges come great opportunities. And we're trying to get people together to seize the moment to do more dramatic things," he said.
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