This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
01/27/2020 11:00 PMThe fourth annual North Branford Business Breakfast and State of the Town Meeting drew a full house to Town Hall on Jan. 21. Local and state leaders shared plenty of positives about the health of the town and its business growth, as well as local and state plans to support future progress and paths for opportunity. Progress in the town’s recent economic development initiatives were also discussed, from burgeoning agritourism growth to work underway to develop partnerships and help build a pipeline to support a rebirth of advanced manufacturing and the skilled labor it needs.
State of the Town
Town Manager Michael Paulhus opened the breakfast with his annual State of the Town address. He said North Branford is “healthy from a fiscal standpoint.” Recently, Standard & Poor’s reaffirmed the town’s double A (AA+) rating. The town’s fund balance is healthy and the town also continues to fund its pensions, and the town’s Grand List of Taxable Property growth is in “positive territory,” said Paulhus.
He said staying on the path of fiscal strength will rely on continued Grand List growth, with support for businesses including the town’s Property Assessment Deferral Program. Implemented in 2016, the program enables a property’s assessment to be unchanged during construction or rehabilitation and also can defer any increase in assessment for up to five years. Most recently, the Town Council approved the program for four North Branford business owners, said Paulhus.
Paulhus also pointed to new attractions that came online in 2019 and support the town’s growing reputation as an agritourism destination: Rose Vineyards & Winery, the town’s second winery location; and Stewards of the Land Brewery, the first farm brewery in the region. He also gave a nod to the success of North Branford’s Sunflower initiative, which took root in 2019 and will continue to grow this year.
“The interest and enthusiasm for sunflowers has taken on a life of its own,” said Paulhus, also noting that, in 2019, another development, the promotional video Destination North Branford, helped to showcase the town.
He credited North Branford’s all-volunteer Economic Development Commission, led by Chair Elisabeth Caplan, and the town’s part-time economic development coordinator, Roger Salway, with making great gains in the town’s efforts to support businesses and draw attention to the many positives the town has to offer.
Challenges Ahead
“While our trend looks good, we do have some challenges with respect to economic development,” Paulhus noted, adding that continuing to build on current success, build partnerships, and welcome and assist new businesses will help to overcome the challenges.
He said two major challenges are the town’s lack of direct access to a major interstate highway and having one-third of the town’s land mass controlled by the Regional Water Authority (RWA), making it unavailable for development.
However, Paulhus said, RWA is also considered an “important economic partner” for the town. Other leading economic partners located in North Branford include Tilcon CT Inc., Honeywell, Evergreen Woods, Big Y, Connecticut Sportsplex, Northford Ice Pavilion, Engineering Specialties Inc., Penn Globe, the town’s numerous farmers, and “many other small- and mid-size businesses that make this community so great, like many of you in this room,” Paulhus told those gathered.
At the state level, where the potential for developing paths for careers to support growth in advanced manufacturing is a priority, Paulhus said North Branford is part of a dialogue underway on working to develop partnerships to build a pipeline that will support the “rebirth of advanced manufacturing in North Branford and Connecticut.”
The View from the State
Featured speaker David Lehman, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, gave a progress report on the state’s economic recovery, and talked about prospects for the future of the state and its municipalities. Lehman started off by saying he was impressed with the state of North Branford, as described by Paulhus.
“When I heard Double A rating and fully funding your pension funds, I typically don’t have any conversations with either of those two words in there,” said Lehman. “So it is great to be here in North Branford and hear how well the town is doing.”
Lehman said a key to Connecticut’s path to economic recovery is to answer the current, exponential need to fills jobs in Connecticut’s burgeoning advanced manufacturing segment. Currently, the growth of manufacturing jobs is outpacing the supply of skilled labor in the state. Developing efforts, programs, and policies to answer the need can create a “silver tsunami” of economic growth, Lehman.
He also said Connecticut’s economic data shows its gross domestic product (GDP) is turning a corner, with 2019 numbers showing a 2.1 percent growth in the state, which is up from the preceding quarter and now puts Connecticut closer in line with median states.
“Recent economic data is a lot better than the 10-year trend,” Lehman said, adding that, while some negativity is warranted, “I don’t think the recent data is nearly as negative. Yes, there are things we need to change, but the recent data is more positive, [so] I think it’s important we look objectively at data.”
He said underemployment in the state—those not working as much as they want to, or at the wage the want to—has decreased over the past 10 months, but added that “employment is still not doing what we need to be doing...we need more people in the state to be employed.”
The state, which added 6,000 jobs in the last 10 months (excluding government jobs) is currently at 3.7 percent unemployment, vs. 3.5 percent nationwide.
He said job growth will come from focusing on getting the state’s underemployed better jobs with higher incomes and enhancing the retention of college students who come here, then leave after receiving their education. On the average, the state retains 40 percent of its college students after graduation, he said.
“We have to increase the stickiness of Connecticut, so people see those opportunities here,” said Lehman.
Lehman said, while the state’s income growth is anticipated to increase by 3.5 percent, “it’s still not at income growth we need,” with one area of concern being high costs.
Even while the state has some very high income and education levels, Lehman said the question is, “How do we grow income at a fast level [to] make sure people see the value proposition in Connecticut?”
Lehman also shared his current focus on helping the state to build what he termed “the four pillars of economic growth,” which include fiscal stability, work force and education, transportation and infrastructure, and supporting to create competitive cities to benefit surrounding towns.
In addition to representatives of many of North Branford’s businesses and industries, town leaders in attendance on Jan. 21 included Mayor Bob Viglione and council member Rose Marie Angeloni as well as, several department leaders and members of the EDC, State Representative Vincent Candelora (R-86), and State Senator Christine Cohen (D-12).
Salway said the turnout was a great indicator of what lies ahead for North Branford and the state in terms of continued economic development.
“I think it’s starting to reflect the vibrancy of the state, and this town is in the lead,” Salway told The Sound.