There's A Reason That "Hope" and an Anchor are on the Flag

Look, for obvious reasons, it's hard to be optimistic around here, but a couple stories should give us OCEAN staters a glimmer of "hope." First, Quonset Point is getting some stimulus dollars to upgrade infrastructure and, possibly, help build a new manufacturing facility:

The Quonset Development Corporation has been awarded $22.3 million in federal stimulus money to upgrade the infrastructure at Quonset Business Park and purchase a crane for Davisville Port with an eye toward creating a hub for wind turbine assembly.

Gov. Donald L. Carcieri said the money would give “a tremendous boost” to the state’s efforts to become a center for the renewable energy industry. QDC Managing Director Steven King said construction work may begin within six months....

The QDC says the upgrades will help offshore wind developer Deepwater Wind LLC open a planned wind turbine assembly plant at the park. However, the federal government has not yet said exactly which projects have been funded, King said....In its application, QDC said the money would create between 500 and 800 jobs. The bulk of those jobs would be at the Deepwater plant, with the agency anticipating the remainder coming from businesses that expand or move into the park as a result of the infrastructure improvements. The new crane and refurbished docks also could create jobs, QDC said.

This in addition to the 400 new jobs being filled by Electric Boat. And then there is a possibility that the America's Cup could return to Narragansett Bay:

The spectacle of America’s Cup yachts flying anew across Rhode Island Sound became more than a shot in the dark after software billionaire Larry Ellison — who apparently bought Astors’ Beechwood Mansion on Bellevue Avenue recently — won the 33rd America’s Cup challenge on Sunday in Valencia, Spain.

Ellison, whose BMW Oracle team seized the Cup for the Golden Gate Yacht Club, immediately cited San Diego, San Francisco, and Newport as possible venues for the next Cup challenge, expected to be held in 2013....

Larry Fisher, executive director of the Herreshoff Marine Museum and America’s Cup Hall of Fame, said, “Apart from the great tradition and spectacle that the race is, and all that leads up to it, it’s a great opportunity for economic development.”

Fisher cites two recent studies that determined the economic impact on the 2007 America’s Cup in Valencia to be “in the realm of 70,000 jobs created, and billions of dollars.” Fisher said, “The opportunity for this magnitude of jobs-creation and this kind of economic impact will not be ignored by any venue that wishes to host the next America’s Cup competition.”

Gee whiz, Whoda thunk that the Ocean State could look to it's eponymous resource for economic gain? For now, we can at least dream a little. (Cynics, the comment section is now open....)