Archive for September, 2009
Monday, September 21st, 2009
Last week, the Connecticut Department of Labor released the newest statistics on employment in the state, with the jobless rate rising to 8.1 percent in August, up from 7.8 percent a month earlier. If the state’s unemployment rate had reached 8.2 percent, Connecticut would have qualified for $37 million in new federal aid for those struggling to find work.
Connecticut also shed 3,700 jobs in August — more than what most economists had expected — showing that for those seeking work the road will remain rough, even though the recession may technically be over. The state has now lost 79,100 jobs, or 4.6 percent of its total, since employment peaked at 1,709,400 in March 2008.
Economist Don Klepper-Smith predicts the state will lose closer to 100,000 jobs before there is a sustained recovery, perhaps beginning in the middle of next year. The labor department’s report showed six of the 10 major industry sectors lost jobs in August, led by leisure and hospitality and government. Three sectors — including manufacturing and construction, hit hard in the recession — were stable. Educational and health services was the only group to add jobs.
As the recession continues to affect residents of our region, there is no better time for policymakers to take action to turn the business climate around. Last week, Governor Rell announced the release of a strategic plan for Connecticut’s economy. While the plan is just a starting point in a continuing dialogue over the economic future of the state, we hope to be involved in the process of crafting a roadmap for the future as we all work to reverse the disturbing trend of job loss in the state.
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009
THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT WAS MADE BY
PAUL MORAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JOBS FOR NEW ENGLAND NOW,
CONCERNING THE RELEASE OF CONNECTICUT’S ECONOMIC STRATEGIC PLAN:
“The plan released this week is a first step in an ongoing assessment of Connecticut’s strategy for economic growth, especially in the area of job creation and retention. We applaud Governor Rell and the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) for noting many items that merit emphasis, including new technologies and investment tax credits to spur business growth and new jobs.
However, this study is just a starting point in a continuing dialogue over the economic future of the state, one that will involve stakeholders such as the business community, state and local officials, and the people of Connecticut. The members of Jobs for New England Now have begun to review the contents of the study, and we expect to have further comment in the near future. We look forward to following and participating in the upcoming public hearings to help craft a roadmap for the future as we all work to reverse the disturbing trend of job loss in the state.”
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Yesterday afternoon, Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell announced the release of a new economic growth plan for state, which includes $100 million for a public-private student loan partnership, a new Port Authority for ports and airports, and an “Angel Investor Tax Credit” for individuals or firms that invest in areas such as biotechnology.
To shield Connecticut’s economy from the financial industry’s volatility, she included new technology firms in digital or green areas in the new tax credit. The nearly 550-page report’s 60 recommendations include strengthening regionalism by getting cities and towns to work together instead of vying with each other for the same jobs.
Rell’s plan aims to shape policy and priorities in the economic downturn, with the goal of creating more jobs in the state.
The full document can be viewed at: www.ct.gov/ecd
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Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
From the Hartford Courant: After years of criticism that the state lacks a cohesive economic plan, Gov. M. Jodi Rell today released what she called “the state’s first-ever Economic Strategic Plan.”
The plan calls for a statewide port authority comprising the harbors in Bridgeport, New Haven and New London, along with the state’s airports, including Bradley International Airport.
It also calls for development of a commuter rail line between New Haven, Hartford and Springfield, with a spur to Bradley. A commuter line along I-91 has long been debated but would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and would face uncertain ridership.
… Critics of the state’s economic development policies, most prominently and consistently University of Connecticut economics professor Fred V. Carstensen, have long said Connecticut does not do enough to nurture targeted industries, and to educate and retain present and future workers.
The full document can be viewed at: www.ct.gov/ecd
Tags: Connecticut, Infrastructure, Investment, Jobs, Rell
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Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
On Monday, October 5th, Connecticut’s top Bioscience, Business and Venture Capital experts will gather at the UConn West Hartford campus to discuss the future of Connecticut Bioscience. The Connecticut Bioscience Business Roundtable is hosting the event, and attendees will include elected officials and staff, representatives from government agencies, academics, economists, the media and business leaders from around the state.
This program has been designed to build bridges of understanding between government leaders, the business community and academia to promote three tenets: access to medical care, prevention of illness and the encouragement of innovation. Jobs for New England Now is sponsoring this event. For more information, visit http://connecticutbbr.org
Event Information:
Date: Monday October 5, 2009 pm to 5 pm
Time: 1 pm to 5:15 pm
Location: Zachs Community Room – UCONN West Hartford Campus
Free Reception to Follow
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Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
From US News and Reports: 10 Best Places for Tech Jobs -
These cities boast economies where job openings are the most numerous.
It’s a recession, so few things are booming and no city is exactly thriving. But within the tech industry, some cities clearly have more job opportunities than others. Although tech employment overall has suffered along with the rest of the economy, there’s been variance: High-tech manufacturing jobs have been shed more rapidly, while IT service jobs—in engineering and in software services, for instance—have fared better. And one future bright spot: Over the next three years, the federal government is projected to make 11,500 new hires in information technology jobs, according to a report by the Partnership for Public Service.
Boston
Boston has become a hotbed of high-tech innovation in fields such as biotech and software, says Robert Buderi, founder and chief executive of Xconomy. Universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University are a powerful draw for employers—and highly fertile ground for start-ups. Last year, when Microsoft opened its first East Coast research lab in nearby Cambridge, the company touted its ability to reach the “large community of scientists in New England, notably the faculty and students at the many premier academic institutions in the vicinity.” The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that programmers and software applications engineers in nearby Lowell, Mass., rank among the highest paid in all U.S. metro areas. Silicon Valley may once have been a necessary career stop, but today, tech workers can spend their entire careers in New England, Buderi says.
Tags: Boston, Innovation, Investment, Jobs, Massachusetts, New England, technology
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Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
From Today’s Hartford Courant: Fixing Connecticut’s economy seems to be a cynically amusing game of Let’s Blame Somebody Else.
… We’re creating no new jobs. That’s a 20-year trend, according to UConn economist Fred Carstensen. The anchor of Fairfield County — where half of our income tax revenue comes from — consists largely of high-wage earners from the financial services industry. As these highly specialized Wall Street jobs evaporate, these people, in the words of Bank of America Securities-Merrill Lynch economist Drew T. Matus, “have no skills.”
Unemployment levels are going to linger at 10 percent or above well into next year. So while it’s great that we were able to come up with $100 million to try to save 1,000 Pratt & Whitney manufacturing jobs for a little longer, has anyone thought about what $100 million could do to support cutting-edge biotech industries that might sustain us for decades?
… Matthew Nemerson, president of the Connecticut Technology Council, told me that we remain stuck in “a ‘gotcha’ mentality: Who raised taxes, who cut them?”
“We should be spending a lot of time not blaming each other but saying, ‘Oh my goodness, what is happening?’”
What’s happening is that new jobs are in education and health, and not manufacturing. Financial services jobs are not going to sustain us. We need to plan for — and support — a new economy. That’s no game.
Tags: blame, Democrats, Jobs, Nemerson, Rell, technology
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Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
From Masschusetts’ State House News Service: NEW GROUP PLEDGES “STRONGER CHORUS OF VOICES” FOR BIZ: Business groups have launched a new effort aimed at getting Beacon Hill leaders to more clearly focus on job retention and creation policies. Jobs for Massachusetts Now, an offshoot of the five-month-old Jobs for New England Now, was created in part because business leaders feel there’s not been enough effort by state and local policymakers to make Massachusetts more competitive for businesses and development. “We have come together to encourage policymakers to make decisions that will help businesses recover during this fragile time and hopefully get more Massachusetts residents off the unemployment line,” Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said in a statement. The other coalition members are Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), South Shore Chamber of Commerce, Metro South Chamber of Commerce, and National Federation of Independent Businesses Massachusetts. John Regan, executive vice president of AIM, said: “Many business leaders believe that a stronger chorus of voices is needed to let state legislators and state officials know that every move they make impacts local businesses and in turn, affects business owners’ ability to provide jobs. That is why we decided to join this organization.” Massachusetts has lost more than 109,000 jobs in the past year and its unemployment rate in July was 8.8 percent, up from 8.6 percent in June. The Legislature’s Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee kicked off a four-stop “listening tour” in April to hear testimony about potential pro-growth policies. The tour ended in July. The group plans to highlight studies, opinion pieces, news and commentary on its website www.jobsformassachusetts.org. Its executive director is veteran lobbyist Paul Moran of the Dewey Square Group, a veteran state government analyst who has worked on behalf of health care, insurance and municipal interests during his career.
Tags: Beacon Hill, Jobs, Massachusetts, policymakers
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Friday, September 11th, 2009
Devastating piece in this morning’s Hartford Courant: In short, whether in specific business sectors or in the broad public responsibilities of education and infrastructure, the state has no strategic plan to change the threatening long-term trends.
Political leaders and citizens of Connecticut should recognize that we have the assets, the intelligence and the creativity to significantly shape our economic performance. We must put the question of our economic future at the center of our policy discussions to put our state on a strong track, finally creating new, good-paying jobs.
Tags: Carstensen, Connecticut, Innovation, Job Growth, Rell
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Friday, September 11th, 2009
From the Hartford Courant Blog: A new survey sponsored by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and the accounting firm BlumShapiro suggests that our own elected leaders are doing a good job at making more of a mess of the the state’s already depressed economy.
Whether you agree with it or not, the survey results illustrate a major problem. We need businesses to feel positive about the state. If our elected (Democratic) leaders in the General Assembly are sending the wrong message to businesses, and particularly ones that are considering expansion or moving here, that’s not good. But it’s also a problem if the business leaders think Democrats are somehow anti-business, which is absurd. Democrats know where our tax revenues — and jobs — come from as much as Republicans do.
Unfortunately, the annual survey did not ask business leaders whether any of the governor’s policies had “negatively influenced” the ability to run a profitable business. It also, not surprisingly, found that Connecticut business does not like taxes, and particularly the income tax.
But Carl R. Johnson, managing partner at BlumShapiro, is right when he says that legislators “need to reach out more to figure out how the business community can help.”
“I don’t think that people realize that if business is thriving how we create jobs.”
Tags: BlumShapiro, Business, CBIA, Connecticut, Jobs, Taxes
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