Recap from CTNewsJunkie about today’s gubernatorial debate hosted by Jobs for Connecticut Now and others: “It was the first time all six gubernatorial candidates from three different parties were in the same room since the nominating conventions more than two weeks ago, and with 60 days until the primary some were itching for a debate…”
Posts Tagged ‘Business’
CTNewsJunkie: Six Candidates Strike Similar Chord at Business Forum
Thursday, June 10th, 2010Breaking News: All Primary Candidates to Participate in CT Gubernatorial Forum
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010Jobs for Connecticut Now, along with the Chamber Leadership Cabinet, the Chamber Insurance Trust and AT&T, are proud to announce that on Thursday, June 10th, CNBC’s Ron Insana will moderate a discussion of the most pressing issues facing Connecticut’s business community. Insana will moderate a forum discussion among all of Connecticut’s gubernatorial candidates as part of the annual Connecticut Business Expo at the Connecticut Convention Center.
All six of the candidates participating in this August’s primaries have now confirmed their attendance. The candidates include: Michael Fedele, Thomas Foley, Oz Griebel, Ned Lamont, Dan Malloy, and Tom Marsh. During the forum Mr. Insana will ask candidates to discuss their views on issues impacting economic development in the state and to bring forth ideas on how Connecticut can create more jobs for its residents and attract new business to the state.
Those wishing to attend must have a ticket to enter the luncheon. Tickets can still be purchased through the Connecticut Business Expo. Click here to secure your seat for a very important discussion about Connecticut’s future!
HBJ: State In Tight Spot On Jobs
Monday, March 1st, 2010From 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want to streamline the permitting process across state agencies and remove or alter regulations that are duplicative, outdated, or in some cases overbearing to businesses.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.
Connecticut Ranks 5th-Worst In Funding Pensions
Thursday, February 18th, 2010From 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!
Survey: Half of Eastern Connecticut’s businesses downsized
Friday, January 15th, 2010From the Norwich Bulletin: The high cost of doing business in the state and rising health care expenses have caused nearly half of Eastern Connecticut businesses to downsize during the recession, according to a survey released today.
The 2010 Survey of Eastern Connecticut Businesses also indicates that nearly half the businesses in the region also have reduced employee wages and benefits.
To see the full article and comments from JNEN’s co-chair, Tony Sheridan, click here.
CT business failures at an all-time high
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009From Connecticut’s NPR station: The numbers of businesses shutting their doors in Connecticut is at an all-time high. New figures from the Secretary of the State’s office show that nine-and-a-half thousand companies have failed so far this year. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.
Businesses that dissolve must file papers with the Secretary of the State’s office, and the latest figures show a record number of shut-downs for the third quarter. The 2,600 businesses that failed represent a nearly seven percent increase in shut downs from the same quarter last year. But there’s also evidence of turnover, with business starts on the increase, up almost two-and-a-half percent on the third quarter of 2008.
Check out the link above for the full story!
Boston Fed reports broad economic decline
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009From the Boston Business Journal: Business leaders from New England expect a “slow recovery … in 2010,” a Federal Reserve Bank of Boston report released Wednesday states.
Among sectors showing “positive signs” is residential real estate, the researchers wrote in the Fed’s eight-times-a-year summary of economic conditions, commonly known as the Beige Book.
Among the report’s highlights, broken down by sector for New England:
• “Wage increases are very modest or zero; large layoffs appear to have ended, but hiring remains very limited.”
• “Retailers … report mixed sales results for the early fall months, with year-over-year percentage changes in same-store sales ranging from negative to positive mid single-digits.”
Retailers whose sales have been soft are worried about the potential of winter heating costs to further depress demand, the researchers wrote.
• “Tourism activity in Boston is weak, although the rate of decline has slowed,” the researchers wrote. “Business travel is especially soft, and one contact worries that decreased corporate travel and spending will become ‘the new norm.’ ”
Mass. unemployment hits highest rate since 1976
Thursday, October 15th, 2009Heartbreaking news today from the Boston Globe: The Massachusetts unemployment rate last month rose to its highest level since the 1970s as employers cut more than 9,000 jobs and work remains scarce.
The jobless rate rose to 9.3 percent in September from 9.1 percent in August, exceeding the percent peak rate of 9.1 percent reached during the deep New England recession of the early 1990s, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said in a press release.
It is the highest rate since 1976, when the state was recovering from a recession spurred by soaring energy prices following the Arab oil embargo and the collapse of traditional manufacturing industries.
Connecticut should do more to retain business
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009Interesting Letter-to-the-Editor today in the Danbury News-Times from an important member of our coalition: Attorney General Blumenthal is at it again. He is meddling in the affairs of private businesses, and is doing his best to deter future businesses from entering the state. On the heels of a 1,000-person layoff by Pratt & Whitney, Blumenthal has begun to attack other employers for making business decisions that involve workforce restructuring or downsizing.
Unfortunately for the residents and workers of Connecticut, our problem is less that some companies are being forced to downsize, and more that our state continues to remain an unfriendly environment for businesses of all sizes. What Blumenthal and many other policymakers do not realize is that instead of mandating that companies maintain staffing when they cannot afford it, the state should be taking steps to reverse the trend of businesses downsizing and leaving the region.
That means creating measures to encourage job growth and investment, as well as providing incentives for new businesses to open their doors here.
Officials like Blumenthal bemoan the loss of jobs, yet continue to foster an environment that is anti-business. The grandstanding needs to end. The real work should be helping to move Connecticut towards economic prosperity. Until then, businesses will continue to run scared.
Stephen Bull
President, Greater Danbury
Chamber of Commerce
DANBURY
New Haven Register: Is CT doing enough to retain companies as competition grows?
Monday, September 28th, 2009From 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.
