Yesterday, the CBIA Foundation for Growth and Economic Opportunity held a press conference announcing the release of its “Opportunity Connecticut” report, which CBIA President and CEO Chris DiPentima called a “long-term roadmap for economic competitiveness in Connecticut.”
“Connecticut’s economic opportunities are limitless,” said DiPentima. “Our goal with the foundation and this plan, is to chart a course for sustained economic growth, growth that drives not only predictability, but greater opportunity for all Connecticut residents.”
The report broke the CBIA’s findings and recommendations down into three main categories; business climate, workforce and education, and quality of life. DiPentima called them “strategic pillars to drive sustained economic growth.”
The report said that Connecticut’s business climate was “consistently declared the main priority for shaping and driving the CBIA Foundation’s activities.” It asserted that a combination of the state’s “highly burdensome” regulations, public sector inefficiencies and a lack of coordinated economic development activities as key factors weighing down the state’s overall business climate.
“C-suite leaders, human resource professionals, educators, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, service providers, developers, investors, and everyone in between cited the complex, inflexible, and arduous nature of Connecticut’s rules and regulations as a point of frustration and overall concern with continuing to do business in the state,” read the CBIA’s report.
The report recommended the state to review its current laws and regulations related to business and to eliminate redundancies and antiquated policies. It also recommended simplifying state tax codes and reducing taxes overall on businesses and residents, citing a restoration of the state’s pass through entity tax credit and elimination of its temporary corporate surcharge as examples. Furthermore, it also called for a reduction in the number of occupations that require licensing, cross-state business license recognition, better coordination between state officials and business stakeholders, and increased regional collaboration between municipalities to further maximize efficiency in administrative services.
On the issues of workforce and education, the report cites two major issues; a rapidly aging workforce, which is not being adequately replenished via immigration or child-birth, and an excess of highly educated residents with a dearth of vocational or technical employees.
“The state’s population also tends to be more educated than the workplace demands. There are high levels of job openings that only require high school or no formal education,” read the report. “However, the pressing demand on educators to focus on sending students to four-year colleges has dampened student interest in important vocational and technical programs or even in exploring entry-level careers in key industries across the state.”
The report recommended that the state diversify its education and social services system to provide at-risk youth with workforce development programming, implement more hands-on, experiential learning in classrooms (such as work-based learning experiences, high school course credit for work experience and paid internships, etc.) and provide better data-tracking and statistical analysis to parents, employers, and educators so that the state’s education system can more accurately allocate resources to providing students with education towards in-demand occupations. The report also calls for a re-evaluation of the state’s immigration and tourism policies in order to attract more workers to the state, and to improve collaboration between the state, businesses and educators, to help align the efforts of educators with potential business opportunities for students.
On the issue of Connecticut’s quality of life, the report held the state in high esteem, saying that quality of life “was cited repeatedly as the reason businesses and residents decided to relocate or stay in the state.” However, the report highlighted transportation, energy costs, housing, and child care as four areas of increasing concern.
“To remain competitive, these four areas require the attention of private and public sector leaders to create intentional change that is transformative to quality of life for current and future residents and businesses,” read the report.
The report found issues with the state’s efficient application of transportation funds and also advocated for the state to take measures to increase the transparency of its allocation of transportation funds. It recommended the state create a working group composed of business leaders and Department of Transportation (DOT) employees to review projects, provide feedback, and facilitate roundtable discussions between the DOT and business leaders to address infrastructural barriers to business. It also recommended a reorganization of the DOT into a transportation operations department and transportation projects department, to better allocate the department’s personnel towards the issues they’re best equipped to handle. The report also supported rezoning around transit hubs and employer locations and improved last-mile transportation options for employees.
On the issue of energy, the report stated the obvious; energy costs have grown too high. It recommended the state improve its collaboration with regulators, utilities and private energy providers to address the state’s energy challenges. The CBIA also challenged the state to convene with private and public energy stakeholders to develop a long-term plan for reduction in energy costs.
The report stated that high housing costs and insufficient housing supply has the potential to “paralyze growth in the state, with greatest impact on young to mid-career talent wanting to achieve home ownership, raise a family, and most importantly, build careers and lives in Connecticut.”
It recommended the state evaluate existing zoning processes and find ways to streamline approval and appeals for housing developers. It also recommended the implementation of first-time homebuyer incentives, increased development of publicly-owned land for the purpose of workforce housing, and the facilitation of discussion between housing developers, investors, and business groups with government officials for the identification of areas that could provide adaptive reuse, mixed-use zoning, and transit-oriented housing.
“Public and private stakeholders in the real estate and development community must come together to address the housing crisis in Connecticut,” read the report. “The lack of consistency in planning and zoning regulations across towns is extremely prohibitive as it restricts developers and investors wanting to scale.”
Lastly, the report identified high childcare costs in the state to be prohibitive to the recruitment of new employees, or retention of female employees, especially at jobs that require in-person employees. It recommended the roll-out of a statewide, tri-share childcare program, like the one piloted earlier this year in New London County. It also recommended the implementation of a permanent state-level child tax credit, increased childcare advocacy, and recommended the state find ways to facilitate the construction and staffing of new childcare facilities across the state.
“The recommendations represent a long-term strategic approach focusing on the fundamentals of a successful, competitive economy, providing policy continuity that’s going to expand beyond election cycles and drive beyond administrations,” said DiPentima.
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