Connecticut’s economy has struggled over the last several years as job growth has lagged the national average, including when compared to its New England peers. On top of this struggle, Connecticut also faces a projected budget deficit of $3.6 billion over the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years.
In order to find ways to solve these issues, the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) and the Connecticut Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives hosted Connecticut Business Day on Wednesday, March 8, so that business leaders could discuss the budget and overall economic climate with legislators, including Governor Dannel Malloy.
The event drew over 300 hundred business leaders from across Connecticut, including representation from over 50 regional chambers of commerce and business organizations.
Reasons for Optimism
CBIA’s President and CEO Joe Brennan saw encouraging signs during Connecticut Business Day, with legislators and business leaders seeming to agree that more needs to be done to grow the economy by supporting business development.
Notably, the Governor’s proposed budget primarily relies on spending cuts rather than tax increases, which CBIA sees as a positive toward business growth.
“Connecticut has enormous assets, including world-class companies, an unmatched workforce, and a great quality of life,” notes Brennan. “We have to protect those strengths.”
However, he adds, “We’re not going to be able to sustain that quality of life if we don’t see stronger economic growth and more people working.”
The Governor’s View
At Connecticut Business Day, Governor Malloy noted that people increasingly want to live in urban environments, and thus the state needs to do more to make Connecticut’s cities more attractive.
“If we don’t make [our cities] safer, better educated and adaptive to the new economic reality and the new economy, then Connecticut is going to lose out,” he said.
The state has been making progress in this area such as through state grants to advance entrepreneurism in key areas like Hartford.
In terms of education, the Governor said that his office is working to promote more workforce development programs. These programs aim to train students with job-ready skills such as in advanced manufacturing, and as a result, Connecticut companies gain a strong supply of workers with modern skills.
Adapting to the New Economy
Just as students are entering new types of training programs to help them gain skills for the 21st-century economy, companies can also adapt to become more competitive by becoming more tech-oriented and data-driven. A recent global survey of IT decision makers by Talend found that 80% of organizations have plans for at least one Big Data initiative in 2017. Thus, companies that do not adapt to trends like this could find themselves at a disadvantage, as others gain insights to improve their businesses.
With new technology like energy analytics software (EAS), however, businesses can move beyond just looking at expenses like electricity as a line item, and instead, start to find new ways to position themselves in this new economy. For example, businesses that reduce their energy usage can make themselves more marketable to customers looking to do business with sustainable brands, or companies that analyze the timing of their energy usage can start to make more data-driven decisions regarding their employee scheduling.
Improving Connecticut’s economy will take a combined effort from legislators, business leaders, educators and other stakeholders, and events like Connecticut Business Day are a step in the right direction to move the state forward.
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