To the Editor:

As University of Rhode Island MBA candidates, we have been faced with a daunting task: to help bolster Rhode Island’s economic growth by encouraging the launch, growth and expansion of local businesses.

It is no secret that the smallest state in the union has recently faced some large business hurdles. In 2015, Rhode Island unemployment rates were the highest in New England, and that same year it was labeled as the fifth worst state to conduct business in by Forbes magazine.

In an attempt to reverse the troubling statistics, our team has been entrusted to redevelop certain public assets to make publicly accessible data more useful for businesses, analysts, and government officials. This data would allow entrepreneurs to analyze and pinpoint the most promising location to launch their businesses. Additionally, existing businesses could be supplied with the data required to expand.

In order to help identify the data that would be beneficial to users, we ask for the cooperation of the business community. Whether you are an entrepreneur looking to start a business, the CEO of an established franchise, or anything in between, your opinion matters to us. Please visit HelpMyRI.com and participate in our one-minute survey, and well do our best to meet your needs.

Looking forward, we hope to see the project expand far beyond the classroom as we all work together to grow, encourage and improve our state. Thank you for your participation in this exciting movement.

Kathryn Johnson, 

Taylor Pickering, 

Charles Tsoumakas