David Croston This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Context Media - News Web Island: New Internet Companies are Starting to Plug into the Ocean State

   www.contextmedia.com/news/full - [Cached]

   Published on: 7/18/1999   Last Visited: 2/11/2005

   "We're not seeing the amount of expansion that other regions are seeing," said David Croston, who heads the science and technology section of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation.
   
   There has been modest growth in the wider software and telecommunications industries over the past few years, Croston said. Software employment has increased 31 percent in the last 5 years, Croston said, with average wages rising to over $58,000 a year from $42,000. That makes it the highest average of any industry in Rhode Island.
   ...
   A company can get a 50 percent tax credit per employee for training costs, up to $5,000 per employee over three years, Croston said.
   
   And a state law that's been on the books for several years exempts employees from paying capital gains tax on the sale of their company's stock. That can be attractive to high-tech companies because they often offer stock options as a large portion of compensation packages.
   
   Croston of the EDC said there is more to come. He is working on a proposal that would create a "smart park" -- a huge facility in Providence that would have a high-bandwidth connection to the Internet, and some E-commerce tools in place. It would allow companies to move in, plug in to the Internet, and begin doing business right away.
   
   "That building alone would reposition Rhode Island as a principal player in New England," Croston said.