Investment capital is not a problem, nor a shortage of expertise or bright ideas.

But if business leaders fail to promote Providence, no marketing campaign will succeed in building the city’s economy, according to Richard Seline, a consultant who is leading a major study of the local business climate.

Seline, the chief executive officer of New Economy Strategies, a Washington, D.C.-based firm, has been interviewing entrepreneurs, business and political leaders and executives at universities and hospitals as part of a study commissioned in November by the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce...

...“It’s not the ingredients, it’s the recipe. That’s the challenge in Providence,” Seline said at the annual meeting, attended by Governor Carcieri, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, as well as a bevy of business leaders who sit on the foundation’s board. “The scientific and technological capacities exist in this region.

“It’s not all in Boston,” Seline said. “There are places in the United State that would beg to have these assets.”...

...In Rhode Island, Seline said, the Providence Geeks have provided a model for professional networking. The new association of technology entrepreneurs hosts monthly gatherings where, Seline said, members trust one another to give advice and not steal ideas.

“They’re the next generation of leadership that needs to be monitored and revered,” Seline said. “They love it here. They can live anywhere in the world."