President Ruth Simmons will travel to Houston early next week on a fact-finding trip with Gov. Lincoln Chafee '75 P'14 and other Rhode Island leaders. This is the first of several trips to innovative U.S. cities that the Chafee administration says will inform the governor's plans to enhance Rhode Island's knowledge economy.
Chafee also plans to visit Baltimore, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, according to a press release from Chafee's office. On the Houston trip, he will be accompanied by Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, University of Rhode Island President David Dooley, Chafee's Chief of Staff Patrick Rogers and Keith Stokes, executive director of the Rhode Island economic development corporation.
Developing the knowledge economy means taking advantage of university and hospital resources to create jobs and provide income for Rhode Island citizens, said Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to the president.
"None of us has a formula" for Rhode Island's economic growth, he said. Though the state has many assets, the goal of the trip is to "translate these ideas into an action plan."
These efforts could help strengthen Brown's position as a top-tier research institute, said Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and university relations.
The University has already launched collaborative efforts aimed at jump-starting the state's economy. Through the Ocean State Consortium of Advanced Resources, a coalition of 40 organizations led by Brown and IBM, the University has announced a plan to "green" what government officials have termed the Knowledge District, centered around the Jewelry District downtown. Spies said he expects the trip to illustrate the potential of similar projects.
"I suspect we will see efforts like the (consortium) effort at these other places," he said. Although there will likely be key differences owing to the cities' respective assets, Spies said he expects the group will find programs with the "same fundamental goals" in Houston and the other cities that Chafee visits.
Overall, Quinn said the goal is for these trips to result in "more opportunities" in Rhode Island and for the University to continue to "create a stronger Brown, stronger Providence and stronger Rhode Island."
