While preparing an economic outlook for a recent edition of the Connecticut Economic Digest, Alissa DeJonge, CERC’s Vice President of Research, investigated global and national trends focused on several industries that are in transition - and what these changes mean for Connecticut’s economy and business sectors.In this episode of CERCONOMY, Al ...…

Small business entrepreneurs are the engine that powers economic development across Connecticut’s communities. In this episode of CERCONOMY, Mark Cousineau, the president of Community Investment Corporation, joins CERC’s Erron Smith to share how CIC Lending provides creative financing options to small business borrowers, and is an agent for eco ...…

What can towns and cities in Connecticut do now to achieve the best results with Opportunity Zones? As the program evolves, now is the time for the 27 Connecticut communities to prepare for and welcome the private sector investment in the 72 identified Opportunity Zone properties across the state. Join Courtney Hendricson, CERC's VP of Municipa ...…

Mike Andreana, of Pullman & Comley, joins Courtney Hendricson, VP of Municipal Services, to continue the conversation on the new Opportunity Zones program and what it means for Connecticut. 2019 is a big year for the program, as work and projects need to be geared up and ready to go by the end of the year to take full advantage of the tax break ...…

During this episode of CERCONOMY, Alissa DeJonge, VP of Research, and Courtney Hendricson, VP of Municipal Services, sit down to recap their recent workshop, “Analyzing Your Local Economy,” hosted by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. Courtney and Alissa share insights into the influences that impact the local economy, and run throug ...…

Guest Ana Pritchard of Compass Research Solutions, joins Alissa DeJonge to discuss why organizations conduct surveys, along with the methodologies used, and how the results can be leveraged to create impactful outcomes. Ana shares how, when surveys are designed with the end purpose in mind, business, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations ...…

In this third episode in the CERCONOMY series on site selectors, Erron Smith and Jessica Inacio dig deeper into the details of two recent unique RFIs and how CERC engaged with the site selectors on the potential opportunities for Connecticut. Erron shares insights into the considerations that the site selectors have when evaluating a potential ...…

In this episode, Amanda Jolly, the Program Director at the World Affairs Council of Connecticut, joins Sarah Ficenec, Ph.D., CERC's Senior Research and Policy Analyst, to discuss the CTWAC mission to promote greater knowledge and understanding of international affairs among Connecticut residents. Amanda also shares information on the upcoming 2 ...…

In Connecticut, the majority of municipalities receive 90% of their revenue from property taxes, directly affecting residents’ pocket books. In this latest episode of CERCONOMY, Rachel Gretencord, CERC’s Research and Fiscal Analyst, joins Alissa DeJonge, Vice President of Research to discuss how the fiscal health of Connecticut’s municipalities ...…

In this episode, Michelle Riordan-Nold, Executive Director of the CT Data Collaborative joins Alissa DeJonge, CERC’s Vice President of Research to share information about the organization’s mission, and news about their role as the Connecticut State Census Data Center. The CT Data Collaborative works to make public data available - and accessib ...…

Join Kristi Sullivan, CERC's Vice President of Marketing, for this episode of CERCONOMY as she walks you through the essential steps to plan for a large, high-profile event like the annual CELEBRATE CT! event, and how CERC can help your organization execute successful events.

As a follow-up to her recent presentation to the Connecticut Power & Energy Society’s 2018 Conference, Alissa DeJonge, CERC’s Vice President of Research, shares findings and considerations for the Connecticut energy sector. Reviewing the influences, impacts, and implications of the state’s population, demographics, and other major state industr ...…

In this episode, Susan Powers of Sandler Training, joins Kristi Sullivan, Vice President of Marketing at CERC, to share ways to re-think the answer to the common networking question of “so, what do you do?” Instead of focusing on the features and benefits of your offering, Susan recommends ways to connect emotionally, making it easy to start a ...…

Susan Powers of Sandler Training joins Kristi Sullivan, Vice President of Marketing for CERC, to share insights into the DISC personality profile and how it is a large part of successfully navigating the art of communication. What are the traits of the four styles and how can you adjust and adapt to better understand those who have different st ...…

In this episode, Jessica Inacio and Erron Smith continue the discussion on site selectors, sharing what a RFI (request for information) looks like, who site selector consultants are reaching out to, how municipalities "hold the keys to the kingdom," and what the role is for a public private partnership within the process.…

In this episode, Courtney Hendricson recaps the recent SNEAPA Conference (https://www.sneapa.org/) that was held in Hartford, October 18 and 19th. A great event, planned by the Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts chapters of the American Planning Association, inspired Courtney through new ideas shared by the keynote addresses given by ...…

In this episode of CERCONOMY, Bob Santy, CERC’s President & CEO welcomes Liddy Karter, of Enhanced Capital, to discuss the new Opportunity Zone tax incentive, and what it means for Connecticut. Bob and Liddy share insights into the specifications of Opportunity Zone funds, what makes the Opportunity Zones program unique through the types of inv ...…

In this episode of CERCONOMY, CERC's President & CEO, Bob Santy shares the major takeaways from the recent conference of the International Economic Development Council and the importance for Connecticut to continue creating great places through inclusive economic development, and creating demand driven workforce development.…

Dale Kroop, the Director of Hamden, Connecticut's Economic Development and Neighborhood Revitalization joins CERC's Courtney Hendricson to discuss what a development corporation is, and how they can benefit the economic development efforts of municipalities.

In this episode of CERCONOMY, Alissa DeJonge recaps a recent presentation she gave for the Connecticut Alliance of Nonprofits at their annual conference. In addition to looking at some overall macroeconomic figures, Alissa shares data on the nonprofit sector’s impact on many different levels, and all the ways that it helps the Connecticut economy.…

In this episode, CERC's VP of Marketing is joined by CERC's Marketing Consultant, Rebecca Mead, to discuss a action steps to take before a municipality - or any organization for that matter - begins the process of the design and development of a new website.

Erron Smith and Jessica Inacio dive into the topic of site selectors - what a site selector consultant is and how they serve companies looking to expand, locate, or relocate. What are the important factors that site selectors consider? And how can economic development organizations, municipalities, and utilities build relationships with site se ...…

Jason Giulietti, CERC's VP of Business Recruitment, was interviewed by Brad Davis on Talk of Connecticut, September 26, 2018.

In this episode, Courtney Hendricson, CERC's VP of Municipal Services, welcomes Nancy Greenwald, the Executive Director of the Construction Institute to learn more about the organization, the benefits to the Connecticut construction community, and the mission of cross industry collaboration.

Join VP of Municipal Services, Courtney Hendricson, and President & CEO Bob Santy, for a conversational follow-up to a presentation given at the Connecticut Housing Coalition Conference. With populations changing, municipalities need to consider the importance of housing to local economic development. Housing makes up approximately 70% of a tow ...…

In this episode of CERCONOMY, Courtney Hendricson and Kevin Bielmeier follow up on Kevin's recent blog post, "Economic Development is a Contact Sport," discussing business retention and expansion best practices, and how a regional approach to solving workforce issues is taking flight.Listen to learn about a new model of supportive services bein ...…

In this episode of the CERCONOMY podcast, Alissa DeJonge, CERC's VP of Research, is joined by Patricia McLaughlin, our Governance and Research Analyst, to discuss cohousing - planned communities of private homes clustered around shared space. Cohousing combines private homes with benefits of shared common facilities such as laundry facilities, ...…

In this episode, Beth Wallace, CERC's Director of Business Services, is joined by Tim Laubacher, the owner of Sound Web Solutions and developer of the LaunchEZ platform, a tool for entrepreneurs in Connecticut. Listen to learn more about the platform's benefits for entrepreneurs and new businesses, as well as how partner organizations from acro ...…

In this episode of CERCONOMY, Courtney Hendricson and Jason Giulietti share the concept of Global to Local, and how CERC partners with the CT Department of Economic and Community Development to attract international investment to the state. Learn ways that your municipality and economic development commission can prepare to successfully attract ...…

More important than any incentive or other financial benefit, a predictable and consistent land use process is what will help your town translate development proposals into real tax-paying projects that improve the town’s business community, as well as motivate residents and businesses to expand and renovate their properties. Join CERC’s VP of ...…

In this episode, Courtney Hendricson is joined by Kristi Sullivan, CERC's VP of Marketing, to discuss the important facets of building a marketing plan for your municipality, and shares a review of a recent marketing project completed for the town of Washington, Connecticut.

In this episode, CERC's Vice President of Research, Alissa DeJonge, is joined by members of the Research department - Moshi Ying, Rachel Gretencord, and Sarah Ficenec - to discuss the economic indicators that are most important in their work, and what each means for the Connecticut economy.

Courtney Hendricson, CERC's VP of Municipal Services, shares a recap of the Anatomy of a Deal panel discussion which was held on Monday, July 30th at the CERC 25th Anniversary and Golf Event. Bringing together the players - the general contractor, the owner, the engineer and the broker - from the new Triple A campus in Southington, Connecticut, ...…

In this episode, Jason Giulietti, CERC's Vice President of Business Recruitment is joined by Nick Cianci of Compass Total Benefits Solutions to discuss Connecticut's unique requirements for employee benefits and how companies - looking to locate in Connecticut - can strategically design employee benefits packages to be more competitive and attr ...…

Sadie Colcord, CERC's Municipal Services Associate, joins Courtney Hendricson, Vice President of Municipal Services, to discuss the on-the-ground economic development work being done in Beacon Falls and highlight how towns can benefit from a different approach to their economic development efforts.

Crystal Petroski of Randstad joins Jason Giulietti to share what businesses – both domestic and international - should consider when looking to hire staff for their Connecticut location. Crystal explains the types of hires as well as why a staffing firm with global to local outlook is important.

Courtney Hendricson walks through the popular workshop – The Fundamentals of Municipal Economic Development – that has been delivered to over 70 towns in Connecticut. Customized to your municipality, the workshop brings together everyone involved with economic development to work collaboratively to answer what is economic and community developm ...…

In this episode, Jason Giulietti welcomes Jeffrey White of Robinson + Cole, to share why Connecticut is a great location for setting up a manufacturing business, and what factors go into a successfully establishing a location for international businesses to manufacture in Connecticut.

In this episode, Dana Bucin, an immigration specialist with Murtha Cullina, shares the critical details that individuals and businesses need to know to plan and successfully manage the visa process. In this episode, we cover the forms of immigration, the types of visas, and how immigration impacts international businesses establishing a presenc ...…

Courtney Hendricson, CERC’s VP of Municipal Services, shares the CERC definition of local economic development – retention, expansion, attraction, and creation. Learn ways that a town’s elected officials can be doing all four economic development components within the context of community character.

In this episode, Jason Giulietti welcomes Thomas DeVitto and Robert Oliver from BlumShapiro and discusses the diversity of resources available to help companies considering a new or expanded Connecticut location - from a regulatory and compliance standpoint, to traditional accounting and financial services, as well as organizational considerati ...…

In this episode of CERCONOMY, Brad Mondschein of Pullman and Comley joins CERC’s Jason Giulietti for an overview of considerations that international and domestic companies need to make once they identify Connecticut as a location for their business. Brad covers the basics of getting the business set-up in the state and poses important question ...…

In this episode of CERCONOMY, Alissa DeJonge, CERC’s VP of Research, walks through the changes and trends that are affecting Connecticut’s main industries including healthcare, insurance, retail, warehousing, financial services, manufacturing, and construction.

CERC team members Jason Giulietti and Erron Smith talk about the ways Connecticut is working to attract international and domestic businesses to the state. Through a collaborative relationship with The Connecticut Department and Economic and Community Development, CERC works to coordinate partner organizations to work with interested companies ...…