State of Rhode Island 2026 Disparity Study

ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE COLLECTION

Beginning with our Informational Meeting on December 11, 2025, the Disparity Study’s anecdotal process will involve the completion of an informational meeting, anecdotal interviews, organization interviews, a survey of business owners, public hearings, and focus groups.

Local Organizations

G&S seeks feedback from organizations that are engaged with the community. G&S wants to partner with local business, civic, and trade organizations to make sure that the anecdotal evidence, which is critical to the Study and its recommendations, includes as much input from their membership as possible. Organization may also be contacted to provide G&S with an interview. If you desire to meet with G&S to discuss your organization’s perspective or relevant experience(s) working with the State of Rhode Island, contact us at rhodeislanddisparitystudy@gspclaw.com.

Anecdotal Interviews

Anecdotal interviews are one-on-one interviews with business owners to discuss their experiences doing business or attempting to do business with the State or navigating business development in the region. This can play a critical role in improving current programs or possibly adopting new ones. We estimate that anecdotal interviews will begin in December of 2025.

If contacted, we encourage your honest and transparent feedback.

Survey of Business Owners

G&S will be conducting a Survey of Business Owners to understand the experiences of firms in the State’s marketplace in doing business both with and in the State. All firms in the marketplace are invited to take the survey which we anticipate being sent out in January of 2026. If you do not receive a survey directly, it will be posted on the Study website, and you will be able to access it here.

Email Comments

For those who are not contacted to participate in an interview or focus group, are unavailable, or are generally uncomfortable providing public testimony, you may email us anytime with anecdotal comments or questions at rhodeislanddisparitystudy@gspclaw.com.

EVENTS

 Informational Meeting:

To learn more about the Study, how to be involved, or to address any questions or concerns, please attend our community informational meeting scheduled for December 11, 2025.

Public Hearings:

The public hearings are an opportunity for businesses and other community members to go on the record with their comments about doing business with the State, or its marketplace. All comments will become part of the public record and will be included in the Study analysis. We anticipate that the public hearings will be held in February of 2026.

Focus Groups:

G&S invites a small group of diverse firms to provide their view of doing business with the State, attempting to do business with the State, or explaining why they have not attempted to do business with the State, in a discussion setting. Firms are chosen at random from various demographic groups for the Study. We anticipate the focus groups to be held in March of 2026.