Good afternoon. I am pleased to be with you, and it is good to be back in Providence. As many of you know, I attended Brown University, and the city I see today is very different from the one I remember from my time here in the 1960s. Many of those differences reflect dramatic and, at times, wrenching economic changes in Rhode Island over those years, especially since the financial crisis and the Great Recession. As ever, Providence has faced these challenges, and I am impressed by the revival and renewal evident downtown, encouraged by attractions like Waterfire, which bring visitors and commerce here and build ... (full story)