Marketing major Cameron Ravitz '26 is on the hunt for advice and information to set him on his path to success. He and his Bryant classmates recently found some answers in an impressive source: The governor of Rhode Island.

On Tuesday, Governor Dan McKee and Mayor of North Providence Charles A. Lombardi brought real-world economic principles to life in Instructor Robert Nigohosian’s Microeconomic Principles course, where first-year students learn about the economic underpinnings that determine so much of our daily lives. 

After a short introduction from Nigohosian, guest speakers Lombardi and McKee — who will deliver Bryant’s 2023 Undergraduate Commencement address and receive an honorary degree from the university — shared how their experiences as small business owners brought a unique perspective to public service. McKee was an officer with the family-owned McKee Brothers heating, air conditioning, and home heating oil delivery business and ran a health and fitness business for more than 30 years; Lombardi owned Luxury Cleaners dry cleaning.

“Don't be afraid of asking questions and then following where the answers lead you. If you keep doing that, eventually you'll have a great deal of experience.” – Governor Dan McKee

Having a business acumen, Lombardi told the students, was essential to his work, noting how it helped his administration pull North Providence out of debt and repair it’s bond rating. “It wasn’t easy, but I’ll tell you this: It was because of my business background that I was able to make those tough decisions, and make sure they were the right ones — not based on politics but on what was best for everyone,” he reflected.

The governor and the mayor then opened the floor to questions from the students. The class, representing a range of majors, asked the elected officials about business development and how it related to the issues that were important to them, from ecology to stabilizing the housing market to providing resources for aspiring entrepreneurs. 

Over the course of the discussion, McKee and Lombardi shared what Rhode Island was doing to address each issue and talked with the students about the underlying factors that shaped them. Business development was a key topic of the conversation and the pair discussed what Rhode Island was doing at the city and state level to support the state’s business owners, with McKee noting the recent historic award of $61.7 million to Rhode Island under the Biden administration’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) and the positive impact it would have.

They also offered advice and suggested resources to support the students’ own ambitions. “Don't be afraid of asking questions and then following where the answers lead you. If you keep doing that, eventually you'll have a great deal of experience,” McKee advised. “All of you in this room have things that you believe strongly in. Whatever those things are, those personal items that make a difference to you are the reason that you'll do the work.” 

McKee and Lombardi also encouraged students to harness their passion and get involved in their local communities. “If you don't like what you see or you think there needs to be some type of a change — and you have the courage — you should seek elected office,” advised Lombardi. 

Supporting the state’s students is key to building a prosperous future, stated McKee, noting that it was one of the reasons he visited the class. He also invited the students to reach out to him after the class was over. "Investing in education, and making sure that all students reach their full potential, is one of my top priorities,” he told the students. “It’s one of the reasons it's so important to be talking with and working with young people that are coming out of college or are in college right now."

The students, in turn, valued the opportunity to learn about managing economic issues at the state level. “It really adds to the course because it's not just classroom knowledge," said Ravitz. “He asked our opinions and talked about the things we were curious about and were relevant to us."