I think everyone will agree with me when I say that today’s businesses environment “is not your father’s business environment”.  And although there are still “basics” involved in every business type, even these “basics” are changing by the day.  Let’s take one simple practice – getting three bids for every job purchase – and generally, going with the lowest bid.  Pretty basic stuff.  Not any more!  Now there’s this new way of approaching the vendor/purchaser relationship called “Vested Outsourcing”.  

For anyone who is grappling with today’s business challenges, whether it’s “the basics”, or specifics related to today’s new technologies and innovation, the Fourth Annual Supply Chain Management Summit being held on August 25th at the John H. Chafee Center for International Business at Bryant University is a “must do”.  And while I may be just a little biased, since I’m serving on the Summit planning committee, I have to say, it’s going to be an amazing event packed with current, topical, dynamic information significant to every person in business today.  But don’t take my word for it.  Check out the on-line brochure and register!  I’ll look forward to seeing you there!

“Amazing, awesome, humbling, impressive…”  Those are some of the words I’d use to describe my recent experience at the President’s State of the Union address in Washington, DC on January 25, 2011.  I attended the Address as the invited guest of Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.  Each legislator is issued one guest pass to the event.

Prior to the event, I had the opportunity to sit down, one-on-one, with the Senator at his Washington office.  The meeting was very gratifying; the Senator reinforced his understanding of and his support for manufacturing in Rhode Island.  A position paper recently published by Sen. Whitehouse clearly states his commitment to the sustenance and success of Rhode Island manufacturing, and for RIMES and the national Manufacturing Extension Partnership system.

The Washington visit was an incredible experience!

I attended the 5th Annual "First Tech Challenge" Robotics Competition at New England Institute of Technology (NEIT) this past Saturday, February 5th.  RIMES was one of the event sponsors. It was a GREAT day in which 29 teams of approximately 215 high school students in the state competed against each other. It was wonderful to see so many young people excited about a competition that centered around Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).  The event was also attended by RI Congressman Jim Langevin and RI Education Commissioner Deborah Gist.    

Providence Journal - RI Students Take Part in Robotics Competition
WPRI Eyewitness News (Channel 12) - Students Test Out Robots in Warwick

The students had to design, build, and program a robot that could compete on a small playing field by moving plastic batons into goals both autonomously and by remote control.  Another focus of the competition was teamwork.  Students had to partner with another robotics team to complete some of the tasks during the competition.

Most of the participants expressed interest in continuing their educational career goals in a STEM field as a result of what they learned during the competition.  With the skills gap facing the manufacturing sector, this proved to be a great way to introduce future job seekers to STEM fields.

To be an event sponsor or for information on next year’s competition please contact Erin Flynn, NEIT Manager of Admissions Outreach and Events, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .