Leadership Quote by Donald L. Carcieri

To declare tiny Rhode Island "where the action is" is to perform a kind of civic magic trick: shrink the map, enlarge the ambition. Donald L. Carcieri, speaking as a politician and booster-in-chief, isn’t just praising his state; he’s attempting to rewrite its brand in a single, punchy line. The construction matters. "The place of exciting innovation" borrows Silicon Valley language, then the dash interrupts like a stage whisper: "where the action is". It’s less a claim than an invitation to imagine Rhode Island as a hub, not a footnote.

The intent is economic and psychological. In a region often defined by legacy industries and proximity to bigger neighbors, "innovation" signals a pivot toward biotech, design, startups, and university-driven research. Carcieri’s subtext is aimed at multiple audiences at once: investors who need a reason to look east, young talent who might otherwise decamp to Boston or New York, and residents who want proof their home isn’t in managed decline. The line works because it compresses policy goals into mood: momentum, excitement, participation.

Contextually, this is the standard grammar of gubernatorial salesmanship in the early 2000s-era "innovation economy", when states competed like brands for capital and prestige. It’s also a defensive flex: Rhode Island’s smallness becomes an advantage - nimble, connected, scrappy. Whether the promise holds is debatable; as rhetoric, it’s designed to make skepticism feel like missing the party.