Archive for September, 2009
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Interesting piece recently posted on the Wall Street Journal’s ‘Political Diary’ blog. For those of you who do not have a subscription, we have posted it below. The piece outlines the AG’s accusation that AT&T was removing 75 jobs from Connecticut, while preparing to spend $60 billion to purchase Media One, which was clearly inaccurate. More importantly, it is a reminder that some state policymakers are continuing to play the “blame-game” without much attention to details, when in fact they should be playing the “solution-game” in finding new ways to keep jobs and companies entering the state.
What kind of message are we sending to future employers with these kind of tactics? When will our policymakers start providing incentives instead of insults to lure more jobs back into the state? We hope our local leaders take note and begin to change their attitude…
Dick Blumenthal’s Flashback
You might wonder why a state’s top law enforcement officer is issuing a press release denouncing a private company for engaging in perfectly lawful layoffs. You might also wonder why Connecticut’s long-serving Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is getting mixed up about what decade he’s living in.
His office last week blasted AT&T in a press release for laying off 75
workers in Connecticut. The AG’s release stated: “Awash in money as it
stands ready to spend $60 billion to purchase Media One, AT&T is hanging up on Connecticut families and consumers.”
Now that’s just weird, since AT&T bought MediaOne (a cable TV business) way back in 1999 and sold it to Comcast in 2003. But then weird is Mr. Blumenthal’s conception of his office’s responsibilities, which includes frequent grandstanding on matters far afield from an attorney general’s normal concerns.
The episode became marginally less mystifying when Bill Henderson,
leader of the Communications Workers of America Local 1298, stepped up to take the blame for the faulty information. So Mr. Blumenthal is
issuing press releases denouncing private companies for engaging in
lawful behavior — press releases that are actually drafted by labor
unions?
Mr. Blumenthal’s political ambitions have been a perennial matter of
speculation in Connecticut. He has repeatedly passed up chances to run for senate or governor, seemingly because he doesn’t like the odds of any race that he might actually stand a chance of losing. He will soon be coming up on his 20th year as Connecticut attorney general. A risk that often afflicts long-serving office holders is that a certain lack of accountability goes to their heads. They get sloppy.
– Holman W. Jenkins Jr.
Tags: Attorney General, blame, Connecticut, Jobs, layoffs
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Monday, September 28th, 2009
This morning, the Hartford Courant’s “Today’s Buzz” posted an online poll asking readers to vote on whether the state is meddling in business or doing its job. As of this afternoon, 81% of those who had voted said that the state is “meddling” in business affairs. Of those responses, 47.7% said that this worsens the business climate, while the other 33.3% said that the state can’t manage its own affairs and should leave businesses alone. This is unsurprising, given the state of the Connecticut economy and jobs market.
As we’ve mentioned before, there’s no time like the present for policymakers in Connecticut to take steps to reverse the trend of businesses leaving the state. Just last week, Pratt & Whitney, the state’s largest private employer, announced that it would cut 1,000 jobs in the state; not long after, Attorney General Blumenthal launched an attack on AT&T for announcing plans to relocate 75 jobs. What Blumenthal didn’t acknowledge is that the company also plans to fill more than 100 jobs across the New England region, and is holding job fairs in several states.
For too long, Connecticut has failed to make the business environment more conducive to job creation and retention. If Connecticut is going to encourage businesses to keep their doors open, policymakers must act immediately to implement measures that reward businesses for creating jobs and make the region more attractive to businesses. Now is the time for state leaders to take steps towards making our region more business friendly, promoting job growth, and implementing measures that will incentivize businesses to open their doors in Connecticut.
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Monday, September 28th, 2009
From the New Haven Register: Within minutes of Pratt & Whitney announcing in late July its intentions to shutter its Cheshire Engine Center and close its Connecticut Airfoil Repair Operation in East Hartford numerous state officials decried the action, vowing to fight to preserve the 1,000 jobs on the chopping block.
About six weeks later, on Sept. 3, Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced the state was offering Pratt $100 million in incentives — $20 million a year for five years — to change course and keep the Cheshire plant and East Hartford business unit open.
But the company’s decision last week to reject that offer — several years after Bayer Corp. in 2006 shunned a $60 million state incentive package and moved its U.S. headquarters from West Haven to New Jersey — has some questioning whether the state does enough to retain businesses.
Tom Mayes, vice president of Pratt & Whitney Commercial Engine & Global Services, in announcing the company’s decision Monday, said the state “made a generous and creative proposal in an unprecedented effort to keep jobs in the state.”
The incentives, however, did not address the main issues the company faces, he said — volume loss amid a declining aerospace market and labor costs. The impacted jobs will be moved to Georgia, Singapore and Japan.
Tags: Business, Connecticut, incentives, Investment, Jobs, Rell
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Friday, September 25th, 2009
Great piece today from Rick Green in the Hartford Courant’s CTConfidential Blog. Hopefully our state leaders can take a cue from the fine people of Pittsburgh. If they don’t, we may never have a chacne at a G-20 Summit. Here’s a snipet, full piece is here: Connecticut should pay attention to the Pittsburgh revival story that’s getting a lot of play with the G-20 Summit that begins today.
Not so long ago, Pittsburgh was a place young people were fleeing, a city with a once proud manufacturing history saddled with an aging population. Does this sound like Connecticut? We are learning — again — this week that we are one of the oldest states in the nation.
We are a place where young people leave, where newly retired wealthy residents can’t wait to get out, where we are left with an older population that has few options — except to remain
Tags: Connecticut, Economy, Jobs, Pittsburgh, Rell
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Thursday, September 24th, 2009
From Hartford Business Journal: Connecticut ranks 35th – just behind Massachusetts – among the nation’s best places for business in 2009, losing ground from its ranking a year earlier, according to Forbes.com.
New England states overall showed poorly — with Rhode Island placing dead last — on the latest ranking by the business-information publisher.
…Forbes.com said today its 2009 ranking measures six vital categories for businesses: costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. It also factored in 33 different points of data to determine the ranks in the six main areas.
Business costs that include labor, energy and taxes were weighted the most heavily, the business-information publisher said.
Connecticut ranked near the bottom in four of six major categories.
According to Forbes, the state is 45th in business costs; 18th in labor supply; 33rd in regulatory environment; 31st in economic climate; and 37th in growth prospects.
… Rounding out New England, Forbes ranked New Hampshire No. 19 overall for business, just ahead of its 20th spot a year ago; Massachusetts improved to No. 34 from 36th place; Maine rose to No. 41 from 46th; Vermont was No. 47, down from 36th; and Rhode Island was No. 50, down from No. 45 last year.
Tags: Business, Connecticut, Taxes
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
STATEMENT FROM PAUL MORAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF JOBS FOR NEW ENGLAND NOW, ON THE CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL’S PRESS CONFERENCE AND THE PRATT & WHITNEY LAYOFFS
“On Monday, Connecticut residents learned that Pratt & Whitney would be shutting down two facilities in the state, resulting in the loss of one thousand jobs. It was an extremely sad day for the region and those families directly impacted. But more importantly, the event should have been a wake-up call to our state and regional leaders that creative and innovative thinking is needed to help make Connecticut more attractive to the business community.
Unfortunately, only forty-eight hours later, the Attorney General thought it was an opportune time to use his bully pulpit to criticize another one of the state’s largest employers for having to move seventy five jobs out of the state because of changing technologies. This constant blame game between state policymakers and the business community is not a productive dialogue to help change the poor jobs situation in our state. These actions of the Attorney General fail to recognize that AT&T continues to provide and grow jobs throughout the state in other developing technologies, and fails to encourage a forward looking conversation between government leaders and the business community.
Thousands of jobs have already been lost in Connecticut, and more will continue to be lost unless state leaders realize that we need to work with our business community to make our region more business friendly and create an environment where jobs can grow. Jobs for New England Now is dedicated to eradicating the anti-business climate that has been challenging the region for too long, and we encourage policymakers to begin a new dialogue asking, ‘How can we create incentives for businesses to enter this region?’ and ‘How can we help sustain and create more jobs for our residents?’”
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
STATEMENT FROM PAUL MORAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF JOBS FOR NEW ENGLAND NOW, ON THE CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL’S PRESS CONFERENCE AND THE PRATT & WHITNEY LAYOFFS
“On Monday, Connecticut residents learned that Pratt & Whitney would be shutting down two facilities in the state, resulting in the loss of one thousand jobs. It was an extremely sad day for the region and those families directly impacted. But more importantly, the event should have been a wake-up call to our state and regional leaders that creative and innovative thinking is needed to help make Connecticut more attractive to the business community.
Unfortunately, only forty-eight hours later, the Attorney General thought it was an opportune time to use his bully pulpit to criticize another one of the state’s largest employers for having to move seventy five jobs out of the state because of changing technologies. This constant blame game between state policymakers and the business community is not a productive dialogue to help change the poor jobs situation in our state. These actions of the Attorney General fail to recognize that AT&T continues to provide and grow jobs throughout the state in other developing technologies, and fails to encourage a forward looking conversation between government leaders and the business community.
Thousands of jobs have already been lost in Connecticut, and more will continue to be lost unless state leaders realize that we need to work with our business community to make our region more business friendly and create an environment where jobs can grow. Jobs for New England Now is dedicated to eradicating the anti-business climate that has been challenging the region for too long, and we encourage policymakers to begin a new dialogue asking, ‘How can we create incentives for businesses to enter this region?’ and ‘How can we help sustain and create more jobs for our residents?’”
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Hartford Courant
A collective cry of “How could you?” rose from Connecticut’s congressional delegation Monday. They were outraged over Pratt & Whitney’s decision to move 1,000 engine-repair jobs to Georgia and Asia by 2011.
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Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
On Monday, word came of the inevitable. Pratt & Whitney announced that they would close two facilities in Cheshire and East Hartford over the next 18 months, resulting in a loss of 1,000 jobs.
First and foremost, our heart goes out to those families and workers that will be directly impacted by this move. Pratt & Whitney employs some of the brightest and hardest working residents from Connecticut, and there are few words that will comfort them in the days ahead. Thousands upon thousands have already lost a job in the state during this recession, and hearing that a thousand more will join the unemployment line is a shot to the gut. It truly is a sad time for everyone across Connecticut.
If there is a silver lining in this situation, it is that for the first time in a long time, we saw state leaders try and remedy the situation before a final decision was made by Pratt & Whitney. Both policymakers and union officials made a concerted effort to keep these jobs alive with some innovative and creative thinking. The state offered the company $100 million in incentives over a five-year period and the union reportedly offered its own concessions in the multi-millions. Moves like that are uncommon in Connecticut, and despite the decision to move forward with the cuts, we should applaud all those involved for working so hard to try and avoid this tragic situation.
Unfortunately, the move came at the last hour when it was likely too late. And this point, brings us back to the theme of what Jobs for New England Now has been trying to promote since our launch in April. For too long, Connecticut and other states in the region have done little to make the business environment in New England more compelling for job creation and job retention. We have seen too many businesses close their doors and head to other parts of the country, taking important and vital jobs for our residents with them.
NOW is the time when policymakers need to start implementing measures that reward businesses for creating jobs and make the region more attractive to businesses that are on the cutting edge of technology and innovation. We need our policymakers to promote a landscape where companies can be successful and maintain a strong base of employees to make our region richer and help revitalize the communities we live in.
As we said previously, this is an extremely sad day for the state, but we hope that in tragedy comes opportunity. From this day forward, our local policymakers need to realize that the status quo will no longer be acceptable. Both the business community and political community need to come together to find new ways to make this an attractive and affordable landscape where businesses and jobs can flourish for all Connecticut residents to enjoy. The skies above Connecticut have been grey for too long, and NOW is the time for policymakers to take note. NOW is not the time to talk about blame or greed. We must focus on the future and how innovation and investment will bring jobs back to our loyal and deserving workers.
Tags: Connecticut, cuts, Innovation, Investment, Jobs, layoffs, Pratt & Whitney
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Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
From the Providence Journal: More than 3 percent of Rhode Island’s population — some 33,000 men, women and children — fell into poverty in 2008 as the recession tightened its grip on the Ocean State, according to recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.
From 2007 to 2008, Rhode Island displaced Massachusetts as the New England state with the highest poverty rate. The state also leapfrogged Maine and Vermont in the process, going from fourth-highest to highest in the six-state region.
Tags: Census, employment, Jobs, poverty, Rhode Island
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