Connecticut Sows Connections

Connecticut is doing its part in addressing transportation issues. A $36-million program to improve I-95 in the New Haven and Branford area was kicked off in 2002. When the I-95 New Haven Harbor Crossing Corridor Improvement Program is finally completed, approximately $990 million in state and federal funds will be used to reconstruct and widen I-95 throughout the area. The program also included a renovation to the commuter train station in New Haven.
        But that very group of commuters was the subject of a controversial proposal floated by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in late 2002: the idea of a city commuter tax. Commuters from both Connecticut and New Jersey are inextricably linked to the Big Apple's economic development and work force success. And, predictably, the governors of both neighboring states bluntly poked at that trial balloon.
        "While Connecticut recognizes the financial difficulties facing New York City, I must register my concern with regard to the recent New York City 'commuter tax' proposal," Connecticut's third-term Gov. John Rowland wrote to Bloomberg in November 2002, citing Connecticut's successful opposition to a similar proposal in 1999. "With the possibility of such discrimination against our residents, the Attorney General of Connecticut has already begun preparation for another challenge."
        "A commuter tax is an ill-considered method to raise revenues for the City of New York," wrote New Jersey Gov. McGreevey, serving his first term. "The commuter tax would destroy our unity and our resolve to rebuild the region and to work constructively. To promote economic development, we need strong clear leadership – as opposed to feudal tax policy, which pits city against state within the region."
        Connecticut Gov. Rowland was recently appointed by President George W. Bush to a two-year term as the only governor on the 31-member Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations. Largely during his tenure, Connecticut has accomplished $2 billion in tax cuts and a reduction of the corporation tax by one-third. While the $500-million state deficit has put some strain in that tune, especially for the 2,800 state workers Rowland had to lay off recently, Connecticut's high ratings in quality of life, wages and education continue to draw corporate interest.
        The state saw its own mattress company expansion in 2002. Latex Foam International, one year after a fire destroyed its plant in Ansonia, opened its new 208,000-sq.-ft. (19,323-sq.-m.) facility in Shelton in May, where pillows and cosmetic applicators will also be manufactured.
        Redevelopment is on the minds of corporations and state officials alike. In June, Porcelen Ltd CT, LLC, a manufacturer of aluminum ornamental fencing and cantilever gates, purchased a 76,000-sq.-ft. (7,060-sq.-m.) building in Hamden where it is investing $800,000 and hiring 100 new people over the next three years, bringing economies of scale in manufacturing and distribution to its first operation, a 55,000-sq.-ft. (5,110-sq.-m.) plant elsewhere in Hamden.
        The Connecticut Development Authority and the Department of Economic and Community Development both played a key role in the financing of the project by providing a $2.08-million loan for the purchase and rehabilitation of the new facility. In addition, Hamden provided infrastructure funding, waived permit fees, and facilitated zoning approvals and environmental assessments.
        At the state level, a similar devotion to redevelopment has manifest itself through up-front cash incentives from the Connecticut Brownfields Redevelopment Authority, derived from bond sales based on the projected municipal tax revenue. The financing program also extends to information technology projects located in enterprise zones, distressed municipalities and urban centers with populations greater than 100,000.
        Building on the already vibrant presence of that Northeastern pharmaceutical sector – symbolized by Pfizer's growing and award-winning campus on a brownfield site in New London – a new program began in January 2003 to provide Connecticut banks with a 30-percent loan guarantee for small bioscience companies requesting financing for machinery and equipment.
        "Connecticut-based bioscience research and development investment in 2001 totaled $3.6 billion, an 18 percent increase over 2000," said Gov. Rowland.
        As evidence of the state laudable human capital infrastructure, the "Education State Rankings" issued for the first time in 2002 by Morgan Quitno Press earned Connecticut the "smartest state in the nation" award for the quality of its elementary and secondary education.