Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, once said, “Every silver lining has a cloud.” Not to be outmatched, P.T. Barnum once said, “Every crowd has a silver lining.” Which one of them captured the essence of the “silver lining” metaphor better? I believe they both do as they collectively speak to the issues of reality and hope which are inextricably linked. 

In Friday’s Providence Journal, I was struck by the interesting juxtaposition of two seemingly unrelated stories — R.I. jobless rate soars to 7.2%, the highest rate in 14 years AND R.I. makes top 10 in tech index. Which of these two headlines captures the essence of current state of our economy better? The answer is that they both do.

The fact is our state’s economy is at a transformational crossroads. Last year, Rhode Island was cited as one of the "Top Five Movers" in economic transformation in the 2007 State New Economy Index, a report published by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). The Kauffman Foundation/ITIF Index contained state-by-state analysis of how state economies are transitioning away from economic development strategies that focus on big company relocations toward strategies that focus on the creation and retention of high-wage jobs in growth industries. The silver lining in the jobless rate is that health, education and the info-tech & digital media (ITDM) sectors actually saw an increase in employment while other sectors shrunk. More and more ITDM companies are seeking talented staff, and good-paying positions currently available are left unfilled because we need even more talent in this growing sector.

As Rhode Island continues to move in the direction of establishing a stronger knowledge-based economy, we may go through some transformational pains, but in the end our workforce and talent retention will be stronger than ever. Rhode Island’s silver lining lies in our aligned approach to create the best entrepreneurial ecosystem possible. There are numerous endeavors looking to progress this vision and no one entity or person can get us there, but one fact is undeniable…the Ocean State is home to incredible assets, talent and opportunity and we need to be actively engaged in those efforts which will retain our talent, bring new talent here and foster new company creation.

If you're interested in learning more about these efforts, feel free to contact me - I'd love to hear from you.