Latest news with #DepartmentofEconomicandCommunityDevelopment
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Haven officials mark start of deal at Continuum of Care with ribbon cutting
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — More than a hundred clients of Continuum of Care will be able to keep living right where they have been for years. That, despite their landlord looking to sell to an out-of-state developer. Friday morning, New Haven officials cut the ribbon marking the start of a new deal for Continuum. Connecticut Job Corps centers to pause operations in June Most ribbon cuttings mean big changes are coming. This one was designed to keep things mostly the same. At one apartment complex on Ella Grasso Boulevard and another one on Blake Street, more than 100 people and families rent apartments with the help of the Continuum of Care. Continuum helps folks dealing with mental health, developmental, and addiction issues, and the homelessness that often goes with them. 'Continuum offers a full array of services for individuals, including crisis stabilization, residential treatment, supervised apartments, supportive housing,' Jim Farrales, the President & CEO of Continuum of Care, said. The landlord who had been renting all those apartments to Continuum clients for all those years told Continuum they were looking to sell. A buyer from New York was interested. Continuum knew that meant the new landlord was probably going to jack up the rents. So, the continuum went to local officials, who worked with the State Department of Housing and the Department of Economic and Community Development. DECD has something called the Community Investment Fund 'It's not just for economic development projects,' Deputy Commissioner Matthew Pugliese of the Department of Economic and Community Development, said. 'It's for projects in communities that are going to help support the people that are underserved in those communities.' That money, along with other public and private funding, helped Continuum buy the two apartment complexes. That means all those people and families can stay right where they are, in apartments they can afford, with case workers on site to help them stay on track. 'This supportive housing model is designed to help individuals have the support they need to successfully live full lives here in the community,' Continuum's Farrales said. Some things will actually change. Continuum plans to upgrade and renovate many of the units. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Connecticut's Chief Manufacturing Officer Aims For Growth, Reshoring
Paul Lavoie, whose long manufacturing career included stints in engineering services, hardware and electronics, is now applying his skills to help grow Connecticut's already vigorous manufacturing base in his unique role as the state's Chief Manufacturing Officer. In 2019, with a strong desire to build on the state's manufacturing base, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont created this unique state government leadership role with the responsibility of coordinating state and private-sector efforts to promote growth in the state's manufacturing sector. After a three-year tenure by aerospace industry veteran Colin Cooper, Lavoie took the reins in early 2022. While the Connecticut might fly under the radar somewhat when it comes to manufacturing due to its small size in both physical area and its population of just 3.6 million people, it often punches above its weight. It hosts such world-beaters as General Dynamics Electric Boat, the submarine builders in Groton, and Pratt and Whitney, the aerospace and defense manufacturer headquartered in East Hartford. Now Lavoie, whose office is part of the state's Department of Economic and Community Development, has developed a plan to deliver on the state's objectives to grow its industrial base. 'I'm the author of Connecticut's manufacturing strategic plan, and the strategic plan is a was written in response to feedback from the manufacturing sector,' he told me in an interview. 'I'm leaning in, listening to what their challenges are, learning about their businesses and linking them to resources.' Developing talent The strategic plan consists of four main components. The first of those is developing talent. 'Our developing talent program really is around three areas,' said Lavoie. 'First is inspiring the next generation of manufacturing leaders–the makers, the doers, the creators. We do things like, we fund a statewide robotics program. We've made a $2.6 million, two-year investment to level the playing field for robotics across Connecticut.' Career roadshows are also an important inspiration tool. 'We bring in middle school kids and high school kids to meet with manufacturing companies,' Lavoie explained. 'Last year, we brought in over 7,500 kids to meet with over 130 companies. And it's really just exposing them to what manufacturing is.' Finally, the state's 'I Got It Made' campaign features a downloadable lookbook that serves as a complete guide to manufacturers and industrial careers in Connecticut. 'The second part of developing talent is all around underserved groups,' Lavoie continued. 'So second-chance workers, veterans, women, neurodiverse individuals, people of color, tapping into groups of people the manufacturing sector may not even be aware of.' Upskilling and reskilling the existing workforce are the final elements of talent development. 'We provide every manufacturing company in the state of Connecticut under 1,000 employees with $100,000 in matching grant funds to train their employees,' added Lavoie. 'The state of Connecticut wants to be the partner in training for all of our manufacturing companies.' To date, the Office of Manufacturing reports that over 29,000 workers have been retrained under the program. Mush Khan, co-founder and CEO at Alchemy Industrial, an advanced manufacturing consultancy, agreed with that approach. 'One of the most important aspects of driving manufacturing re-shoring is finding talent in places and in ways that aren't necessarily traditional,' he told me via email. 'Connecticut's focus on finding hidden talent pools is a creative and critical part of driving the state's re-shoring efforts.' Business development and cost reduction The second component of the strategic plan focuses on business development, cost reduction and energy efficiency. 'How can we help companies grow, and how can we bring to them business development opportunities?' Lavoie asked himself. 'We've invested in a supply chain database that's for manufacturers only, where they can find each other and they can find work from each other, and they can connect with each other.' With respect to cost reduction and energy efficiency, meanwhile, he said, 'You're a business that wants to come to Connecticut, you're looking at opening up a new building, and it's not energy efficient. The state of Connecticut is willing to give you some incentives to drive energy efficient equipment to be able to reduce consumption.' 'Energy is a significant contributor to manufacturing costs,' said Khan. 'Implementing creative energy reduction methods like building energy efficiency and leveraging behind-the-meter microgrids can drive down energy costs.' Driving innovation The next part of the strategy involves driving innovation. 'The four areas that we're focused on in Connecticut are the digital transformation, so model-based definition, the model basis of engineering, and digital twins; additive manufacturing and introducing additive into the aerospace, shipbuilding and medical device industries, which are our three largest industries; robotics and automation–how do we get machines to do the work for people we're never going to hire anyway? And then AI… it's pretty clear with AI, because all of our large OEMs are using it already. We're not really concerned with it replacing a workforce in the manufacturing sector, but we do know that a production person who is AI-enabled is going to replace one that isn't AI enabled.' 'Innovation in terms of manufacturing methods and product development are incredibly powerful ways to establish entirely new ways to create value for customers,' added Khan. 'Innovation allows manufacturing companies to create an entirely new competitive position besides costs.' Improving collaboration The final element of the plan is improved collaboration, which Lavoie has assigned to his own office for primary ownership. 'We're going to be communicating to manufacturers on a regular basis. We've created a manufacturing ambassador program, which now has over 875 registered ambassadors who get regular communication from my office on what's happening in the manufacturing sector.' Khan agreed with that as well. 'The manufacturing supply chain is actually a 'long tail' of dozens or even hundreds of companies working together to create products for the market,' he said. 'Typically, this long tail is organically created over time but there are ways to accelerate this system through thoughtful and intentional connections.' While the strategic plan is still in its infancy, Lavoie is adamant that it delivers measurable positive changes. 'We're on the third revision,' he explained. 'I launched it in February of 2023, so now it's two years in. I'm on the third revision, and it has become a North Star for the state of Connecticut… You know, if it's strategically aligned, it drives impacts that scale with a measurable ROI, those are our four criteria that we evaluate programs with. So if I can't measure it… we don't do it. We don't just do things to do things.' The goals of the strategic plan are straightforward: to increase the state's manufacturing employment to 235,000 by 2033, which would represent a 4% per year growth, and to increase the manufacturing share of Connecticut's GDP to 20% by 2029. 'I think any state regardless of its size can be competitive when it comes to 21st-century manufacturing,' Khan concluded. 'We are entering a system of highly distributed and highly connected manufacturing companies working together to compete on a global scale.' 'Connecticut is a great example of how a state government that understands a business sector and puts resources into a business sector can drive significant impact for a state's economy and the state's GDP,' Lavoie said. 'I talk to states all across America about the role that I play and the impact that we have. When I took this job, manufacturing was 10% of the state's GDP. That was in February of 2022. Today, we stand at 12.9% and my goal is to get to 20%... When you take such an important sector and you put a champion in place, and you then apply resources to that, you have a really dramatic effect on growing that economy.'
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New CT environmental regulations could create thousands of jobs; add millions to state coffers
Thousands of properties across Connecticut could become more attractive for redevelopment now that the state legislature has streamlined regulations for how properties are evaluated for potential contamination and cleanup — a major issue in a state with a deep-rooted industrial heritage. The legislature approved changes to the 'Transfer Act,' which since 1980 has set regulations for environmental testing of properties that were up for sale. The law has long criticized as dampening development because all properties at which 100 kilograms — about 220 pounds — of hazardous waste was dealt with in any one month had to undergo environmental testing before a sale could be completed, according to Brendan Schain, legal director for the environmental quality division at the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said. The regulations pertained to properties even where there was not a known discharge or spill, Schain said. The changes, which will go into effect in 2026, were approved by the General Assembly's legislative regulation review committee and rely on investigation performed by property owners or prospective buyers and lenders to determine whether pollution is present and needs a cleanup. 'We know that buyers don't want to buy polluted properties with unknown liabilities,' Schain said. 'We know that lenders and others make people look for pollution, right? It relies on the investigation that we know is already being done – the market-driven investigation.' 'And instead of requiring an investigation, it starts from there,' Schain said. 'So, if you discover a release, you have to tell us about it, in certain circumstances, and clean it up to the state's cleanup standard.' Since the 1980s, 5,000 properties in the state have entered the Transfer Act program, but less than half have been remediated, according to the state. The regulation changes bring Connecticut in line with 48 other states. Economists at the state Department of Economic and Community Development estimate that the new systems will boost the state's economy. Over the next five years, the change could create 2,100 new construction jobs, $3.78 billion in new economic growth, as measured by gross domestic product and $115 million in new revenue to the state. 'This is a gamechanger for Connecticut,' Gov. Ned Lamont said, in a statement. 'This new system is truly a win-win, resulting in faster environmental clean-ups and unlocking countless blighted properties that will go from being community hazards to being community assets.' DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes echoed those sentiments: 'I look forward to implementing this modern cleanup program and bring valuable properties back into productive reuse.' Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee lawmakers push slate of anti-LGBTQ measures
Two legislative measures are considered discriminatory against LGBTQ+ Tennesseans, including one that would make it state policy that there are only two genders. (Photo: John Partipilo) Tennessee lawmakers are pushing numerous bills the LGBTQ+ community considers discriminatory, including one that would force state and local governments to ensure all laws and policies referring to a person's sex or gender are based on 'anatomy and genetics' at birth. Another bill passed by the House Monday — without debate — would require private schools and churches that allow children to stay in residential facilities such as summer camps to segregate restrooms and changing areas based on 'immutable biological sex.' Those are among a spate of bills opposed by the LGBTQ+ community during the legislative session. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to take up Senate Bill 936 Tuesday, a measure declaring it is state policy that only biological males and females exist in Tennessee, despite the presence of multiple transgender residents at legislative meetings. We have a real issue in our nation, folks don't understand that when God created us, Genesis 1:27, he created male and female, end of sentence. There is no such thing as gender. – Sen. Paul Rose, R-Covington Sponsored by Republican Sen. Paul Rose of Covington, the bill contains a broad amendment requiring local governments and the state to revise all ordinances, resolutions, rules, policies and procedures to reflect that references to a person's sex or gender are based on their genetics at birth. Complaints could be filed in chancery court to force compliance, ultimately allowing the state government to withhold Department of Economic and Community Development grants from local governments. 'We have a real issue in our nation, folks don't understand that when God created us, Genesis 1:27, he created male and female, end of sentence. There is no such thing as gender,' Rose said. 'That is something that's made up by mankind.' Rose added later, 'We're just not going to recognize transgender.' He also downplayed the significance of the proposed amendment's impact on governments. The lawmaker postponed consideration of the bill until Tuesday after the amendment was added earlier in the day, giving people little time to read it. Chris Sanders, director of the Tennessee Equality Project, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, said the amendment makes the bill more sweeping than it was originally because city and county governments and school districts approach the matter in different ways. 'It's a big bill now,' Sanders said, because it forces local and state governments to correct anything that is 'at odds' with the legislation. State government entities, including Tennessee universities, would be required to take the same steps as local governments, and failure to comply could lead to reductions in a department or agency budget following an investigation by the Comptroller's Office. Those departments and universities also would be ineligible to receive grants from the Department of Economic and Community Development. House Speaker Cameron Sexton ordered troopers to remove at least one protester from the gallery after House Majority Leader William Lamberth used a technical maneuver to cut off debate and kill an amendment to the bill requiring segregated bathrooms. The House voted 74-18 in favor of House Bill 64 by Rep. Gino Bulso of Brentwood. Bulso declined to comment afterward, but he told lawmakers in a subcommittee meeting earlier this year that he received a complaint from a parent about a transgender child sharing a changing facility at a summer camp. Sanders said afterward he was 'disgusted' that no debate was allowed on what he considers a 'consequential, disgusting, far-reaching bill.' 'We all know it attacks transgenders, but it reaches into the private sector in a way that state bills usually don't,' Sanders said. Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn of Nashville was incensed after Republicans sidestepped her amendment. Behn said in a statement she introduced an amendment to 'neuter their latest Big Brother bathroom bill' but was blocked from speaking. 'It's wild that the party of 'small government' wants to micromanage private institutions of their ability to set their own policies,' Behn said. 'Regarding the procedural retaliation, this is a pattern of weaponizing their supermajority status to either punish a disparate worldview or block minority voices from the conversation.' Some Republican lawmakers said they wanted to hear debate on the matter, but they didn't feel enough urgency to vote for discussion. House Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison said he typically favors debate but claimed Behn's amendment would have 'completely destroyed' the bill. 'Regardless of how we feel individually, collectively our (GOP caucus) members don't want to hear it. If you're going to do something like that, we're not going to talk about it,' said Faison, a Cosby Republican. Faison added that 'it's incumbent on the legislature to protect children,' but he said transgender kids don't deserve to be a 'protected class' of people. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
