Rhode Island Can Be No. 1 Again

This editorial appeared in today's edition of North East Independent.

Twenty-one year old Englishman Samuel Slater left England in September 1789. Dressed as a farm laborer, he didn’t arouse any notice from the British troops and customs agents guarding the seaports against the illegal export or larceny of valuable manufacturing plans. The most important were plans based on British advancements in the field of water-driven textile machines. The American textile industry was offering bonuses of $100 ($2,510 in 2009) for technical knowledge of manufacturing machinery. Slater arrived in New York City in December 1789.

Though young, Slater had been apprenticed to work in a cotton mill at the age of ten, learning about machines, technology, operations, and factory management. At the conclusion of his apprenticeship, Slater left England to pursue greater fortunes in the land of opportunity. Less than a year later, Slater’s skills, experiences, and entrepreneurial drive led him to Obidiah (Moses) Brown in Pawtucket where he improved and expanded Brown’s fledgling cotton mill. An experienced young man, a skilled merchant and industrialist, and some natural water resources were joined together to establish Rhode Island as the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution. Rhode Island offered the right place, the right people, and the right time. Rhode Island mattered and was a national leader.

Rhode Island still matters and it could be a national economic leader again with many of the same successful Rhode Island keys that drove and supported vital innovation 220 years ago. Here are three things we can do now to make our state number one.

+ First, encourage all students to gain real skills and get practical work-style experience before they finish public school.
+ Second, match successful business owners and managers with the new generation of inventors, scientists, and innovative thinkers.
+ Third, turn every public library in every Rhode Island community into idea and new business incubators.

When we support our state’s most important 21st century resource---people---we can achieve great success and show the world once again that Rhode Island Matters!

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*Adapted from Why Rhode Island Matters! First in Independence, Industry, Art & Innovation (Shoreline Press, 2010), by Ann Marie Marshall, Economic Gardener for Exeter & North Kingstown. She writes the weekly business blog, http://rieconomicgardener.blogspot.com. She is a Republican candidate for House District 31.

NEW INFORMATION STATION: WRIM

Greetings-

There's a new station on the positive information dial----WRIM.

WRIM stands for a new approach to thinking about who we have been as Rhode Islanders and what we could be again.

WRIM is Why Rhode Island Matters!

You'll be hearing about this and the title of my book---WHY RHODE ISLAND MATTERS!---in the next few days and over the next few months.

It was written to remind ALL Rhode Islanders why our state has been a leader in so many areas throoughout history, and why it can be again.

As a native Rhode Islander, I have always been excited and impressed by my state---its natural beauty, its history, its vision in the fields of industry, art and innovation, and most of all, by its people and the families they are part of. I wanted to tell and re-tell some positive Rhode Island stories and share them with everyone.

WHY RHODE ISLAND MATTERS! will be released on August 25th.

The first limited signed and numbered edition of 500 copies of the book is being sold on a first come, first served basis at $10 per book (includes postage and handling to your home) and can be ordered direct by clicking on the BUY NOW button above my photo to the right of this blog or by sending your address and a check or money order for $10.00 to:

Shoreline Press
P.O. Box 555
Jamestown, RI 02835

All of the proceeds from the first edition will help provide free educational workshops on the subject of this book to students in middle and high schools around Rhode Island.

You'll want your own copy of this first edition book for yourself, your family, and your grandchildren.

Order a few copies for your friends in Florida and Arizona too.

If you'd like a copy, please order it today---!! It will be shipped to your home or office upon its release on August 25th.

Stay tuned for a list of presentations, talks and readings I'll be making about the book at venues statewide over the next 6-8 weeks.

Want to reserve a book or need more info?

Call me anytime at 401-667-0971. (Leave a message if I'm out.)

Here's wishing you a successful week-

Ann Marie