PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Over the years, as one of Rhode Island's most prominent companies has expanded, Scott A. Gibbs and several nonprofit real-estate development firms he has led have sold land and buildings to CVS Caremark Corp.
Now president of the Economic Development Foundation of Rhode Island, in Cumberland, Gibbs knows CVS well. He says they're out of room in their current Rhode Island facilities and were talking with him about new investments they might make here.
But when Governor Chafee proposed halving the state's Jobs Development Act tax credit, those conversations about expansion here stopped, Gibbs said.
"Those have gone cold," said Gibbs, who told The Providence Journal he's not speaking on behalf of CVS. "Our concern is very deep."
Gibbs and other business leaders argue that cutting the program would harm Rhode Island's economy. Any publicly traded business like CVS would have to re-evaluate whether it can create jobs elsewhere at cheaper costs, they say.