Jobs For Connecticut Now

Hartford Courant

HARTFORD, Conn. – U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will be in Connecticut to talk about summer youth employment programs and honor the work of a Hartford-area jobs training and placement service.

theday.com

Waterford – Dominion is notifying up to 75 employees today that they will be laid off at Millstone Power Station as part of the parent company’s plan to operate more efficiently.

The company based in Virginia owns Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, which runs Millstone. The company first announced the prospect of layoffs in February, after fewer than 150 people participated in a buyout, or voluntary separation program first offered in January.

New Haven Register

“ANYPLACE outside of Connecticut is low-cost,” according to Gregory Hayes, the chief financial officer of United Technologies Corp., the state’s largest private employer with 26,000 workers.

Hartford Courant

Gov. M. Jodi Rell today said she sympathizes with United Technologies Corp. executives’ frustration with Connecticut as a place to do business and criticized the legislature for contemplating new or increased taxes as it tries to deal with a $500 million hole in this year’s state budget.

Hartford Courant

Connecticut’s biggest private employer is determined to move more of its operations outside its home state and other “high-cost” locations, a top executive said today at a conference in New York.

From today’s Hartford Business Journal: Connecticut’s sour economy is presenting a rare opportunity for making the state’s regulatory environment more business friendly.  As part of their economic development strategies, both Democrats and Republicans say they want to streamline the permitting process across state agencies and remove or alter regulations that are duplicative, outdated, or in some cases overbearing to businesses.  To see the full story, click here.

From this morning’s Hartford Courant: ”Connecticut ranks as the fifth-worst state in the nation in funding pensions for its state employees, and the problem is growing worse, according to a national study to be released today.”  To see the full story, click here!

Republican-American

As Democrats lined up in hopes of succeeding departing Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, and Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd’s past misdeeds and record of corruption rendered his re-election prospects hopeless, attention focused on Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Popular and widely viewed as an honest public servant, he seemed preordained to win any job he wanted.  More>

Today, President Barack Obama held a town hall meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire where he outlined the new Small Business Lending Fund. The Small Business Lending Fund will transfer $30 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to a new program that will support small business lending.  The Small Business Lending Fund will be targeted at community and smaller banks that lend the most to small businesses, and offer incentives for banks to increase small business lending.

To see the full press release from the White House, click here.

To see the relevant fact sheets click here.

The Hartford Courant

When unemployment is higher than it’s been in 30 years, politicians are eager — even desperate — to show they have the answers.  Jobs plans, as a result, are flying fast and furious now that President Barack Obama has weighed in, campaigns are taking shape, and the state legislative session is set to open Wednesday. more>