Jobs For Connecticut Now

This morning, Jobs for New England Now co-chair Stephen Bull had an Op-Ed published in the Hartford Business Journal.  The piece, “Friendlier Business Climate Needed,” points out that businesses need flexibility to help rebuild the economy, and that policymakers should foster a business environment that will help to attract investors, support job growth and speed development.

Bull also points out that legislation like the recently-failed Paid Sick Leave bill, which would have required companies with 50 or more employees to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 50 hours worked, will do more harm than good to businesses in Connecticut.  A one-size-fits-all policy mandating how businesses are run will rarely help companies survive through tough economic times.    

In order to maximize investment in Connecticut, legislators and regulators must provide greater opportunities for businesses.  According to Bull, creating more regulations and imposing burdensome fines is short-sighted; instead, we should focus on reducing red tape and working with businesses to spur innovation and competition.

A healthy business climate will help to build our next-generation infrastructure and provide a tax base that will fund schools, hospitals and essential community programs — which will in turn attract new businesses and residents for decades to come.  The full Op-Ed can be seen here.

As Connecticut continues to sink deeper and deeper into a recession, it is more important than ever to promote policies that will be good for business and encourage growth, development and job creation.  Unfortunately, some policymakers in Connecticut seem to be doing just the opposite.

The legislature recently considered the hotly-contested Paid Sick Leave bill, which would have required companies with more than 50 employees to provide paid sick leave for their employees.  While the bill didn’t pass the State Senate, it was a very close vote.  Policies like this will only place a greater burden on businesses (especially small businesses) that are already struggling in this economy.  Rather than mandate expensive policies that will take money out of the pockets of business owners and jeopardize their ability to employ Connecticut workers, legislators should be thinking about ways to help companies stay afloat and increase incentives for new businesses to open.

Most recently, the Attorney General suggested that utility regulators hit AT&T, one of Connecticut’s largest employers, with more than $1 million in fines for failing to meet a regulation that doesn’t apply to all of its competitors.  The Department of Public Utility Control has said that the standards are obsolete and need to be reexamined before a fine is imposed.  Unfortunately, it seems that bad business policies are becoming a trend in our state.  

Jobs for New England Now recently released a set of principles necessary to make our region most competitive.  If policymakers encourage innovation, competition and investment, New England will become an increasingly attractive place to do business.  More businesses opening and expanding will mean more jobs, greater prosperity and greater revenues for the states.  We know that our state policymakers can do better, and we will continue to work with them to help do so.

Today, Jobs for New England Now posted its Core Principles Needed to Make New England a More Attractive Place for Jobs and Business.  The document outlines three fundamental principles for creating an environment that is attractive to business and conducive to creating jobs: competition, innovation and investment.  Policymakers should strive to make these principles a reality in the New England region, to encourage economic growth and increased employment.

Competition is the key to allowing residents to receive the highest quality services at the best rates.  Competition also makes companies work harder to attract new business and improve the effectiveness and quality of their products in order to gain more customers.   Before new businesses will open their doors in New England, they need to be assured that they can succeed in an environment that rewards that competition, and does not penalize it with additional tax burdens and restrictions.

Innovation will help make New England more appealing for new and existing businesses.  Policymakers should be providing incentives for new businesses to launch new products and services to consumers, as well as providing incentives for companies to develop these products.  We should also be finding creative ways to inspire businesses to improve environmental efficiencies and reward those who are making efforts to utilize green technologies that can preserve New England and the earth for future generations. 

Finally, investment is the key to economic growth.  Our policymakers should be looking for ways to encourage new and existing businesses to increase investment in the region, establishing new manufacturing locations, building infrastructure, and pouring capital into existing operations.  If the business climate is such that companies see no potential for reward, then investment will continue to be stagnant in New England.  Easing restrictions and back-breaking tax burdens on businesses now will lead to greater growth, investment and revenue down the road.

The full set of principles can be viewed here.