Financial Services and General Government

April 3, 2009
Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Amount Requested: $800,000
Funding is requested for Brown University and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation to create the Rhode Island Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.   The Center’s mission will be to support the development of an entrepreneurial community by providing a central location for early stage Rhode Island-based ventures to access the collaboration, support and expertise they need to transfer ideas into successful enterprises.  At the Center, scientists, engineers and innovators will be able to select from a wide range of programs that connect them with the resources to commercialize their concepts and build successful companies in Rhode Island that will generate jobs, create wealth and accelerate the growth of new companies. Once the center opens, hard data will be maintained as to number of users, companies launched and new jobs created.   Recipient's address: Brown University, Box 1937, Providence RI, 02912

April 3, 2009
Life Sciences Feasibility Study
Amount Requested: $750,000
Funding is requested for a planning grant for a feasibility, site selection and project economics study to support the creation of the Rhode Island Center for Life Sciences, Research, Development and Commercialization. This center will support research and development in the life sciences, particularly in the areas of human disease research, vaccine and drug development, bioprocess research and related biomedical-oriented life sciences. If the findings of this study are positive, this center has the potential to transform Providence’s Jewelry District into an area of research-driven activity and economic development among the state’s major biomedical and health institutions, possibly becoming the cornerstone of a new knowledge-based innovation economy for both Providence and the state.
  Recipient's address: City of Providence, 400 Westminster Street, Providence, RI 02903

April 3, 2009
Partnership for Sustainable Design
Amount Requested: $1 million
Funding would be used to create the RISD Partnership for Sustainable Design, which will create opportunities for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and early-state product developers to participate in collaborative design projects that will connect them to RISD’s art and design expertise in areas of renewable energy, alternative materials and processes, and environmentally sustainable product design.  This partnership would also allow RISD students and professors to work with small businesses to work out design challenges in the emerging green economy.  The RISD Partnership for Sustainable Design also aims to establish a center for aggregating expertise on sustainable design and its relationship to public policy that will serve as a local and national resource.   Recipient's address: Rhode Island School of Design, 20 Washington Place, 4th Floor, Providence, RI 02903