Jobs For Connecticut Now

Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced that five more businesses have qualified for grants through the state’s Small Business Express (EXP) program. Passed during the October Special Session, the program was created to help small businesses expand and create jobs.  The aim is to provide up to $100 million to help Connecticut’s small businesses hire additional employees and fund capital investments through loans and matching grants. Administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), companies with fewer than 50 employees are eligible.
“EXP is a program that was designed with small businesses in mind. This program is about getting working capital out the door quickly and efficiently so that our smaller companies can put it to work for them immediately and start putting more of Connecticut’s resident to work,” said DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith.
The five businesses announced include Elka Precision, Norwich Printing Company, Connecticut Casket Company, Wooden-it-be-Nice Inc., and Petrini Six Enterprises. Each company has a plan for the money, varying from equipment purchases to employee training to marketing.

A recent story in The Hour highlights a survey of businesses in Connecticut conducted by the Connecticut Business  Industry Association (CBIA).

This survey, which they conduct every quarter, showed signs from the Connecticut business community of going optimism in locally and national businesses and the improving economy. CBIA economist Pete Gioia had this to say of the survey:

“While this survey shows business leaders are beginning to gain confidence, there are challenges to be met going forward. That’s why it’s important for our policymakers to continue to lean the cost of state government, reform public education, reduce and address barriers to economic growth, and modernize state infrastructure.”

As long as the confidence and optimism keeps growing steadily, along with policies to ensure growth, Jobs for New England Now also remains confident in our recovering economy.

In a speech to the Massachusetts’s House of Representatives regarding the proposed budget for next fiscal year, House Speaker Robert DeLeo talked of the importance of improving opportunities for innovators and entrepreneurs.  He cited meetings with business leaders across the state who voiced concern of the state losing the “innovation battle” to other states. The Speaker specifically cited internet juggernaut Facebook and its move to California:

“I was struck with a sense of lost opportunity, when I heard comments from Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, saying if he had it to do over again, he would have kept his innovative company in Massachusetts.”

In order to prevent the future exodus of such important companies, the Commonwealth must do everything possible to foster a competitive economic climate. To create jobs, the state should concentrate on policies and activities that promote economic growth and attract investment, thus making Massachusetts a locale where the “next Facebook” wants to have its headquarters.

Jobs for New England Now posted four new blogs this week. Need a Job, Look to Wireless highlights job growth associated with the wireless industry. Governor Malloy on Morning Joe recaps Governor Malloy’s appearance on the Morning Joe show, where he expressed the need for increased high-tech manufacturing facilities in his state. Study: Apps add roughly 466,000 jobs highlights a new report, released by TechNet, which shows the growth of app-related jobs. Connecticut’s State of the State Address is a summary of Governor Malloy’s state of the state address in which he discussed the need to expand Connecticut’s technology industry.

Below are a few news clips from this week:

Public Broadcasting: Tax Breaks Credited With Creating Jobs – When the government awards tax breaks to companies in exchange for a promise to create jobs, it does not always work out. But a western Massachusetts manufacturing company that is steeped in history says it kept its end of the bargain, and created the jobs it promised for the tax breaks it received.

Boston.com: Jobless rate hits 8.3%, lowest in 3 years – US employers added more than 240,000 jobs in January, beating economists’ expectations with the biggest gains in nearly a year and providing more evidence that the recovery may at last be gathering speed. The hiring surge, which was spread across several key industries, helped push the unemployment rate to its lowest level in nearly three years, the Labor Department reported yesterday. The jobless rate, which has plunged nearly a point since summer, fell to 8.3 percent last month, from 8.5 percent in December.

Norwich Bulletin: Quinebaug Valley welcomes manufacturing center proposal – Danielson, Conn. — News that Quinebaug Valley Community College would be the site of a new manufacturing center put a smile on student Deb Freligh’s face Friday. The Danielson resident is set to graduate this year with a degree in engineering science before moving on to the University of Connecticut — an accomplishment she credits to the encompassing nature of the school’s technology programs. ”But I also have a son in the 10th grade at (Harvard H.) Ellis Tech who’s taking electrical engineering,” she said. “And I’m so happy, should he decide to come here, he’ll benefit from a new space.”

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In a stirring State of the State address, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy asked state legislators to “think bigger” – as in bigger budgets to help revive Connecticut’s economy.

At the address on 2/8,  the state leader asked for an increase in state spending (above the current budget by 1.6 percent), for a focus on employment growth, as well as stating that there would be no new taxes in the next year of the budget.

Much of the proposed increase in spending would be focused on education, concentrating on the “achievement gap.” It is our hope that that focus on educational achievement could lead to a better-educated workforce, and thus create smarter and more jobs in the long run.

Full reactions to the address were measured, as many legislators are waiting until the Governor can deliver a balanced budget. However, many have come out in support of the Governors objectives, agreeing that the state’s economy, education system and workforce need the attention Gov. Malloy proposed.

Want to add hundreds of thousands of jobs to the economy? According to a new study, there’s an app for that!

The report, just released by TechNet, is showing the growth of app-related jobs, also known as the “App Economy.” Michael Mandel, an economist who worked on the TechNet report, examined want ads for app-related jobs and found roughly 466,000 jobs have been created since the iPhone was introduced in 2007.

Mandel tells the Associated Press, that the time period is noteworthy, as app makers were adding jobs even in the midst of a “Great Recession” when the overall U.S. unemployment rate soared in late 2009. Mandel actually believes that the number of jobs is a conservative figure, since he estimates that one peripheral job is created for every two jobs added by the App Economy.

Could the App Economy be healing the troubled economy? In January, the national jobless rate fell to 8.3 percent. That’s the lowest level in three years.

It’s no surprise that the tech-savvy San Francisco Bay area had the most app economy jobs, but New York took the #2 spot with 9 perfect of jobs. TechNet CEO Rey Ramsey tells the Associated Press that jobs can spring up in population dense regions because developers don’t require big factories or a specific location. Ramsey says all developers need is a good idea and access to broadband.  With increasing access to broadband, could New England could be the next “app economy” hotbed?

Governor Malloy of Connecticut was recently interviewed on Morning Joe regarding a number of topics, including the state of the economy in Connecticut. He says that his state has “created 9,400 private sector jobs in the last year.”

When asked “what drives the economy in Connecticut,” the Governor responded saying, “…precision manufacturing is taking off. We have 80 aerospace engineering companies… orders are coming in for those types of products, that’s where growth is taking place.” He sees the future success of his state resting on high tech companies .

Indeed, Connecticut does have the potential to be a high tech manufacturing epicenter, but the high tech industry demands access to high-speed reliable broadband and access to top wireless networks. Without adequate access to these resources, Connecticut will lose its opportunity to be a leader in technology. Losing this opportunity will be a huge mistake and will have major implications for the already struggling New England Economy. So, it should be a major priority for our state to focus on the best ways to encourage the expansion of network access throughout the state in order to continue to see growth and innovation in the industry and within the state.

A recent article in RCR Wireless states that the sale of smartphones exceeded that of all PCs (including netbooks and tablets) combined last year. At nearly 490 million smartphones sold it’s easy to see that mobile devices are rapidly becoming a major player in the tech industry.

As more and more Americans utilize smartphones, the app industry continues to grow. The article says that there have been nearly a half million “app economy” jobs created recently, and that wireless industries and device manufactures continue to post openings for new positions.

If New England wants to take advantage of these types of jobs it is extremely important that we continue to build out broadband. We also need to promote tech education as almost all of the job openings require a skilled IT professional. Technology is the future of the American economy. It’s time for New England to ready itself to be the economic power house of the future.

Jobs for New England Now posted three new blogs this week. Using Innovation to End the Recession discusses a recent Wall Street Journal article which suggests that successive innovations and expansions in technology such as the invention of electricity and the creation of the assembly line helped boost America out of its numerous economic depressions and recessions in recent history and that wireless internet may have the same effect. Staples Opening New eCommerce Site in Massachusetts announces Staples new “eCommerce Innovation Center” in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Small Business and Manufacturing is the Topic of Discussion discusses the issue of building out local small businesses and local manufacturing in order to boost the areas unemployment rates.

Below is a brief list of news articles we posted this week:

The Washington Post: Employers added 243,000 jobs in January, pushing unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent – Employers went on a hiring spree in January and drove down the unemployment rate for a fifth straight month to 8.3 percent, its lowest point in nearly three years. The result pointed to a resurgent job market, and it sent stock futures surging.

North Haven Patch: Manufacturing Key to Growth, North Haven Legislators Say - Strengthening small businesses and building interest in local manufacturing were the key topics at a session held by State Senator Len Fasano (R-34) and State Representative Dave Yaccarino (R-North Haven) Wednesday night at the public library.

CT Mirror: Malloy gets final approval for Jackson Lab investment - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy secured Connecticut’s investment in a major genetic research initiative Monday — but not before one more partisan debate. The State Bond Commission voted 8-2 to release $291 million, which will pay to build a new 173,000-square-foot research center for The Jackson Laboratory on the University of Connecticut Health Center campus in Farmington. The funds also will provide equipment and furniture for the facility, and will subsidize roughly one-third of operating costs for the next decade.

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