January 27, 2012

STATE BIZ ROAD SHOW HITS SHORELINE

By Marcia Chambers, Branford Eagle

The state’s new business outreach program took its show on the road, setting up shop in Branford’s Community House on Church Street. Scores of people lined up to speak one-on-one with state specialists versed in the way to get funds, obtain permits, explore tax credits. The aim: to create jobs, businesses and a new economic spirit in the state.

This was a way of thinking that no one in the room had ever encountered before. “This is a part of our reinventing Connecticut tour,” Deputy Economic and Community Commissioner Ron Angelo said in an interview after the program ended. “We had over a dozen stops on that tour. Now that tour is not going to end. Now we are going to be out doing this sort of thing on a regular basis. It is about being pro-active not reactive anymore. It is about government acting at the speed of business and being responsive to business.”

The governor and the legislature, he said, will be helping start-ups all the way up to large corporations, both for profit and not-for-profit groups. “We have backed it up with capital, with investments,” he said.

The turnout for the gathering was high and included state Rep. Pat Widlitz (D-Guilford, Branford), co-chair of the powerful Finance and Bonding Committee.

Business people came from various shoreline towns. What amazed the audience, they said, was the new attitude of the once sleepy state Department of Economic and Community Development. The event drew a full house. It was hosted by the Branford Economic Development Commission, First Selectman Unk DaRos and Tery Elton, who oversees special events for the town. Branford High School videotaped the program and provided the coffee and pastries.

New Business Plan
Angelo outlined the ways in which the Malloy Administration has revamped the process of getting businesses moving in the state and gave high praise to Widlitz, Rep. Lonnie Reed (D-Branford) and state Sen. Ed Meyer for their leadership in bringing about a special legislative jobs session and jobs package last October. “If it wasn’t for their leadership, it would not have happened,” he said.

Widlitz said she was very pleased with the meeting. “Ron brought the feeling to Branford that the state of Connecticut is engaged. We have a vision. We are organized. Come talk to us. This is one-on-one. They are taking the show on the road.”

Reed said this plan was exactly what Connecticut needs. “We need to be proactive. Your future doesn’t find you; you find your future. And we find that there are a lot of business people who have great ideas but they are not sure how to pull it all together, how to create a business plan, market it, merchandise it, and find their market. To have this system coming to towns, with all these satellites being created, well, it is why this place was packed today.”

Angelo outlined the governor’s new job-growth package that includes $516 million in bonding for business and infrastructure investments, a new tax break aimed at small businesses, and a plan to streamline state regulations.

One key part of the plan, dubbed the “Small Business Express Package,” centers on up to $50 million for loans and matching grants to help small companies create jobs. This part of the package drew many of the 120 people to the morning sessions.

Referring to his power point presentation, Angelo outlined the broad basis of the plan, one he termed “proactive.” At one point he drew gasps from a disbelieving audience when he said: “Ninety percent of the permits are done in 60 days or less right now.”

One of his themes was that government had to respond to its citizens in a more businesslike way. If Connecticut is to be competitive, it has to get out there—-with funds, with energy, with initiative he said. Click here for the DECD website.

He emphasized technology, Main Street upgrades, refurbishing bridges and airport enterprise zones.

He conceded the state has done a terrible job in the past in marketing itself. “We are going to change that” He said under the small business express program, $100 million is available for small businesses. He stressed efficiency and speed, the use of on-line applications and an expedited review process. “We can do it and do it in 30 days.” He talked about loans ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 and with a four percent interest rate for up to five years.

Another part of the program centers on hiring new employees. Any business hiring a new employee will get $6,000 a year for every employee hired over three income years. If the person is handicapped, the number goes up to $9,000 a year. One man in the audience outlined his hiring dates and asked if he still qualified.

One person asked Angelo about the need to expand Tweed Airport, especially as it relates to the New Haven community. “What are your plans for Tweed?” Angelo said he had been involved “a little bit” in the Tweed project, but added, “I can’t tell you about the long term plans for Tweed. There are expansion plans. Shoot me an e-mail,” he added, before moving to the next topic.

Another businesswoman asked what restrictions if any were there on companies incorporated in Delaware but doing business in Connecticut? He said there were none.

One of the reasons the state came up with this plan, he said, is that “businesses were having trouble accessing capital through banks.”

Joe Gordon, the chair of the Town’s Economic Development Commission, told the story of an accidental product that came into being in this state and conceivably might happen to somebody else in the room.

Paul Sperry, an engineer, slipped and fell when he alighted from his boat one day. But his cat, (some stories say it was his dog) landed just fine. Why did he slip and his cat didn’t? He turned the cat’s paw over and discovered the tiny grooves and cracks that give cat’s paws traction. From this observation came the first boat shoe, the original Sperry Top-sider, first introduced in 1935.

Rep. Reed, who has her own media business, said this type of state promotion is essential for the state’s future. Afterwards she and Gordon chatted about what they believe will be the phenomenal future of Jackson Labs and the bio sciences in the state. “It is the future,” she and Gordon both said. Earlier Gordon publicly praised Reed and Widlitz for their role in helping to bring Jackson Labs from Maine to Connecticut.

Many people exchanged business cards. Reed reported that the event provided a way for people to meet each other. “I was talking to a lady who does equipment for her tire company. And some other gentlemen, who trains wounded veterans, said to her: ‘is that something a wounded veteran could do? She said several employees were in wheel chairs. And so they were exchanging cards and they are going to create jobs for wounded vets.”

The room soon became full, with men and women seeking advice and guidance. A line formed at the door.