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Retention, Expansion, Attraction… Business Creation

HomeTag "economic development"

Retention, Expansion, Attraction… Business Creation

June 12 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Entrepreneurial Insights 0 comments Tags: business expansion, business retention, community, economic development, entrepreneurs

Courtney Hendricson is Vice President of Municipal Services at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center.

We all know the foundation of local economic development as business retention, expansion and attraction. But an exciting new dimension to our traditional definition of economic development is “business creation.” What we mean is assisting entrepreneurs in our communities. What are we doing to engage and support the home-based businesses, the small one- and two-person shops, the folks who are baking, tinkering, consulting, and landscaping—who are experts in their skill but perhaps don’t know much about how to set up and grow a business.

We are seeing communities take cool and creative measures to provide support to this growing business sector. Some are providing co-working space, some are providing “office hours” to help early-stage entrepreneurs navigate the process of forming a business. Some are providing legal counsel, IT support, accounting, and bookkeeping. Helping individuals go from an idea to a company is an exciting pursuit and one that more and more municipalities are realizing is critical to their local economy.

I encourage you to think about ways you can help “create” business in your town or city. A few suggestions:

  • Hold an event that brings entrepreneurs together for networking with one another and with town leaders. Have a speaker or a panel focused on how to start a small business or financial resources aimed at home-based businesses.
  • Ask local attorneys, accountants, or IT experts to donate a few hours a month for entrepreneurs to ask questions about starting up.
  • Ask an owner of an empty storefront if they would be willing to use the space for a co-working center that provides meeting rooms, a copier, and other office-type resources that startups often need but can’t afford on their own.
  • Meet with the entrepreneurs in your community to ask them about their goals, how/when they plan to expand and then help them find the right space in your community that meets their growing business needs.

Contact me to brainstorm ways to help support new businesses in your community.

About the Author
Courtney Hendricson is Vice President of Municipal Services at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC).

Prior to joining CERC, Courtney served as Assistant Town Manager in Enfield, CT and as Economic Development Director in Farmington, CT. She also was the director of community development for Connecticut Main Street Center.

Courtney currently serves as board president of the Connecticut Economic Development Association (CEDAS) and immediate past president of the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW CT). She is past chair of MetroHartford Alliance’s Regional Economic Development Forum, past co-chair of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) P3 Retail Program in Connecticut, and a graduate of Leadership Greater Hartford’s QUEST leadership

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CT Builds Bridges with Israel’s Tech Economy

December 05 2017 Innovation Destination: Hartford IDH Global 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, Connecticut Economic Resource Center, economic development, global startup, innovation, International Business Council, Israel, Israeli startups, startup, tech, technology MetroHartford Alliance, Upward Hartford

This story by Matt Pilon originally appeared on Hartford Business.com November 20, 2017.

Miri Berger, co-founder of the Israeli startup 6Degrees, demonstrates an armband to enable those who have lost the use of their hands to use a computer mouse or smart phone. (Photo courtesy Matt Pilon)

Nearly two dozen Israeli startup executives and government officials, fresh off visits to New York and Philadelphia, made one last stop on their East Coast road show this month—to downtown Hartford.

It was the first visit of its kind to Connecticut by Israeli economic development officials, and the goal was to advance a relationship between a country and state/region that have spent years trying to strengthen their economic ties.

“An Israeli delegation has never stepped foot in Connecticut,” said Shana Schlossberg, founder of Hartford’s new accelerator Upward Hartford, who, along with the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC), organized the gathering. “I said ‘come and I’ll give you a day you won’t forget.’”

And indeed, it was a production.

The Israeli companies, all of which are in the medical-technology space, pitched and were introduced to representatives from some of the region’s largest employers in Upward Hartford’s slick new co-working space in the Stilts Building, 20 Church Street.

Local companies in attendance included Aetna, Cigna, Travelers, The Hartford, Hartford HealthCare, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Stanley Black and Decker, and United Technologies Corp., among others. The Israeli delegation also dined in downtown Hartford and was welcomed by state lawmakers and Connecticut’s top economic development chief, Catherine Smith.

Connecticut, with assistance from groups like CERC, the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and the MetroHartford Alliance, has been trying to woo Israel—sometimes referred to as Startup Nation—for years. Those efforts have included hosting Connecticut-Israel technology summits and a 2013 trip by the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to Israel.

The courting has borne some fruit: In recent years Israeli companies Biological Industries, a stem-cell culture distributor, and software developer Applango, have opened Connecticut locations in Cromwell and Stamford, respectively.

But the delegation’s recent visit was seen as a potential next step in developing the relationship.

“This has really solidified our work over the past couple of years,” said Jason Giulietti, a business recruitment vice president at CERC, which helps companies, including foreign ones, find locations, connections and incentives in the state. “It takes us out of the minor leagues and puts us in the major leagues.”

Israel, a country of 8.5 million people that nourishes its robust tech economy by doling out approximately $500 million a year in economic incentives, wants to have a closer relationship to Connecticut.

“What we’re identifying here is how we can create that deal flow,” said Jonathan Cohen, North American manager for the Israeli Innovation Authority, which is the country’s economic development agency.

Ultimately, Cohen said he would like Israel and Connecticut to sign a memorandum of understanding that would formalize the commitment of each government to an economic partnership and would lead to more Israeli companies coming here.

The delegation had just come from signing a memorandum of understanding with Pennsylvania state officials.

With or without that formal agreement, more Israeli startups are planting roots in Hartford — an area that has struggled to attract early stage companies, compared to New Haven and Fairfield counties.

Schlossberg, who is connected to Israel’s startup community after living there from 2008 to 2012, has signed leases with four Israeli startups this year, and she expects to sign on three more from the delegation, though she wasn’t yet ready to name them.

Schlossberg said signing the first company—Project Ray, which makes braille-like technology to help the visually impaired use smartphones—made it easier to attract others.

“Israelis work based on trust—they go where someone told them it works,” she said. “If you make a good experience for one, it’s word of mouth.”

Schlossberg has enjoyed the support of DECD and Connecticut Innovations, which have issued joint $250,000 low-interest loans to the companies she has recruited thus far.

Cohen said Hartford’s and Connecticut’s well-publicized fiscal problems won’t necessarily deter Israeli companies from thinking about a presence in the city or state.

“In Israel you can go and find deficits too,” he said. “I think if you invest in those companies, in those stakeholders, the economy will flourish.”

Inon Elroy, Israel’s economic minister to North America who was also in Hartford, said Israeli startups, located in a tiny but dense country that largely doesn’t have good relations with its neighbors, must look outward.

“Israeli companies need to have an international presence from almost the very first day,” he said.

Elroy accompanies groups of Israeli companies—organized based on industry type—on delegation trips every six weeks or so.

“This time it’s digital health and big data,” Elroy said of the Hartford visit. “We’re looking at doing a cyber delegation [to Connecticut] in the second part of 2018.”

DEVICES FOR ALL

The Israeli startups that visited Hartford are in the medical and health technology industry.

The companies ranged from AEYE Health, which is using artificial intelligence to read retinal scans to Dr. Ora L.T.D., which is using voice recognition to detect emotional stress.

Tech Innosphere is developing a medical device to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, while Myreleaf has a drug-free device to treat anxiety attacks.

Miri Berger was among the entrepreneurs who pitched during the Israeli delegation’s Hartford visit. She and her husband Aryeh Katz co-founded a company called 6Degrees, which is developing an armband that enables those who have lost use of their hands to use laptops, smartphones and other gadgets.

The company’s device, currently being piloted in Israel by several rehab hospitals and schools, is called Crescent.

Berger demonstrated how using subtle arm movements with the armband, which links to her laptop through Bluetooth, can replicate traditional mouse functions including left clicks, right clicks, double clicks and click-and-drag capabilities.

6Degrees’ technology has received some recognition. It earned a $100,000 award in a recent competition hosted by MassChallenge in Israel.

Currently, Berger is weighing her company’s location options. After the Hartford trip, she was headed off to MassChallenge events in New York and Boston.

Berger and her husband lived in New York for seven years as they earned degrees (Berger in industrial design and Katz in engineering), but moved back to Israel over the summer.

She said she can envision 6Degrees in Hartford.

“Any place that has the capability to help launch a startup is the place I want to be in,” she said.

Interested in learning more about international business opportunities in the Hartford region?

  • Read our interview with Rebecca Nolan, Vice President of Business Development at the MetroHartford Alliance and Jason Giulietti, Vice President of Business Recruitment at CERC:
    Introducing IDH Global
  • Read a Connecticut By the Numbers story about VentureClash:
    CT Makes Efforts to Engage Global, Innovative, Early-Stage Companies
  • Read IDH interview with two Israeli-based startups:
    SCADAfence – Israeli IoT Startup Second Place VentureClash Winner
    Nervomatrix – Israel-Based Startup Finds Its Place in CT

 

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The MetroHartford Alliance and Innovation Destination Hartford to Receive NEDA Awards

August 10 2016 Innovation Destination: Hartford Awards 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, economic development, marketing, MetroHartford Alliance, NEDA, Northeastern Economic Developers Association

neda-whiteThe Northeastern Economic Developers Association (NEDA) 2016 Annual Awards Committee has selected the MetroHartford Alliance to be recognized with the NEDA Marketing Award for Branding of Economic Development Organizations in a community of over 50,000 population.

The Innovation Destination Hartford website will be recognized with NEDA’s Best in Show Award.

“The MetroHartford Alliance is honored to receive this recognition,” says John Shemo, Economic Development Director at the Alliance. “Innovation Destination Hartford was designed to showcase and serve the Greater Hartford region’s entrepreneurial community. After nearly a year since its launch, our website has had more than 15,000 unique visitors with a strong following from New York City and Boston."

He adds, “We’re thrilled to see the Innovation Destination Hartford website is making an impact and spreading the word about our region throughout the Northeast.”

The marketing award entries were judged based on the following criteria:

  1. Unique and trend-setting use of economic development tools and concepts
  2. Overall creativity and branding effectiveness
  3. Clarity of messaging toward target audience
  4. Organization, presentation of information and data quality
  5. Marketing program effectively conveys the means and methods of the economic development professional

The awards will be presented to the MetroHartford Alliance and Innovation Destination Hartford at the NEDA Annual Conference. This year’s theme is Transportation at the Crossroads: The Economic Developer’s Road Map. The conference will take place September 11 – 13 in New Haven, CT. Premiere speakers include:

  • Dannel Malloy, Connecticut Governor
  • Congressman Bill Shuster, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
  • The Honorable Toni Harp, Mayor of New Haven
  • Catherine Smith, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development
  • James Redeker, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation
  • Parris N. Glendening, Former Maryland Governor
  • Alissa DeJonge, Vice President of Research, Connecticut Economic Resource Center

The MetroHartford Alliance competes aggressively and successfully for jobs, talent, and capital for the Hartford region and works to ensure that the Hartford region is a premier place for all people to live, work, play, and raise a family. Learn more at www.metrohartford.com.

An initiative of the MetroHartford Alliance, Innovation Destination Hartford showcases and serves the Greater Hartford region’s entrepreneurial community. The website features Connecticut-area startups, entrepreneurs, and events that make up the region’s entrepreneurial community. IDH also provides resources to start and grow local businesses. Visit www.innovationhartford.com.

The Northeastern Economic Developers Association (NEDA) provides resources for advancing organizations’ missions, creating effective regional economic development programs, and promoting regional cooperation and learning through leadership and professional networking. Learn more at www.nedaonline.org.

Register to attend the NEDA Annual Conference.

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University of Hartford and CCAT Develop Partnership

December 18 2015 Innovation Destination: Hartford Higher Education 0 comments Tags: CCAT, Connecticut, Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, economic development, innovation, University of Hartford

Collaboration Advances Global Competitiveness of Connecticut Companies

The University of Hartford and the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology Inc. (CCAT) have entered into a partnership that will enable the two organizations to share resources and expertise to advance the global competitiveness of Connecticut companies.

University of Hartford and CCAT officials signed a Memorandum of Understanding in which they agreed “to collaborate and meet the growing technical assistance opportunities of Connecticut and the U.S. for advancing core technologies as well as developing new innovations for global competitiveness.”
The agreement is expected to lead to initiatives that will involve a number of the University’s schools and colleges and will provide hands-on experience to students, while at the same time supporting Connecticut companies through technological innovation and workforce education and development.

Under the agreement, CCAT and the University of Hartford will work together and leverage their resources to provide Connecticut companies with research and development assistance, support the expansion of the advanced manufacturing sector, and educate a world-class advanced technology workforce.

“We are pleased to partner with the University of Hartford under this agreement,” said Elliot Ginsberg, CCAT president and CEO. “CCAT strives to help manufacturing businesses, technology startups, and non-profit organizations innovate and become more competitive in applied technology development; information technology (IT); energy solutions; and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and workforce development. We strongly believe that collaboration with academia, industry, and government organizations is critical to the success of our efforts,” he continued.

Located in West Hartford, CT, the University of Hartford is an independent, nonsectarian, coeducational university that offers graduate and undergraduate programs in seven distinct colleges.

Located in West Hartford, CT, the University of Hartford is an independent, nonsectarian, coeducational university that offers graduate and undergraduate programs in seven distinct colleges.

“The University’s wide range of resources located within their diversified schools of engineering, business, education, and arts and sciences complement CCAT’s areas of expertise. The opportunities for collaboration are vast. We’re excited about our partnership and the potential to together develop new, impactful programs,” Ginsberg added.

Louis Manzione, dean of the University of Hartford’s College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture, said “We are pleased to begin this new and expanded partnership with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology. CCAT is making a tremendous difference in the state in areas such as STEM education, advanced manufacturing, and incumbent worker training.

“Students and faculty across multiple colleges can and will benefit from the partnership with this important state resource,” Manzione added.

Martin Roth, dean of the University’s Barney School of Business, said that the Barney School anticipates placing interns in startup companies working with CCAT. “Students will offer their business knowledge and skills to these technical firms while gaining invaluable experience learning about the challenges of establishing and growing businesses,” Roth explained.

Under the new partnership agreement, the University expects to extend CCAT’s involvement and collaborative opportunities to students and faculty in several of its other colleges, including the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions.

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Dual Paradigms in Economic Development

December 17 2015 Innovation Destination: Hartford Blog 0 comments Tags: economic development, entrepreneur resources, global economy, innovation

Understanding Both Traditional and Innovation-Based Methods of Economic Development

Traditional economic development paradigms/methods (left). Innovation-based economic development to the (right).

Traditional economic development paradigms/methods (left). Innovation-based economic development to the (right).

In one of the very first Economic Development Navigator newsletter articles, we introduced the topic of rethinking how economic development is done given the waves of change occurring across our increasingly global economy. Since that time, the drum beats of change continue to grow louder as we focus more and more on the “innovation economy,” the “creative class” and on the opportunities and challenges of disruptive technologies.

Five years later, we have decided to revisit that theme by attempting to crystalize the essential elements of both traditional economic development as well as innovation-based economic development. To be entirely clear, we are not saying that “old is bad” and “new is good.” Each has its place in the economic development pantheon of paradigms and methods. Instead of an “either/or” situation, this falls into the “both/and” camp in that economic development professionals can pick and choose from both paradigms to fit best with their community’s profile and aspirations. In fact, one might even envision a single community pursuing economic development under both paradigms (with sufficient resources, of course) to foster bricks-and-mortar development as well as technology-led, innovation-based development.

About the Author

Michael N'dol is Vice President of Camoin Associates, a professional service firm that utilizes its understanding of the public and private sector investment process to assist businesses and developers in capitalizing on funding, financing and tax programs established to encourage private investment.

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Parkville—a Neighborhood for Hartford Entrepreneurs

December 17 2015 Innovation Destination: Hartford Initiatives 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, economic development, entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, Hartford, Parkville, SC2

There is a lot going on in Hartford’s Parkville community lately—the reSET Business Factory, MakeHartford, Real Art Ways, the Hartford Flavor Company, Wearsafe Labs, to name a few.

Innovation Destination: Hartford Website Curator Nan Price sat down with Stephen Cole, Hartford’s Director of Economic Development Division, Department of Development Services, for a candid discussion about what’s happening in Parkville and the economic development progress that’s taking place throughout Hartford.

ParkvillePRICE: What is the long-term plan for Hartford’s Parkville neighborhood?

COLE: We identified Parkville as one community in Hartford and we are focusing all of our resources on it.

PRICE: So you think this is a better strategy then when we spoke earlier about the SC2 initiatives, which provided Hartford with six different strategies?

COLE: SC2 was a different type of program. This is the better strategy in my opinion, because instead of bifurcating our limited resources X number of ways, one neighborhood is getting all of the focus, all of the attention and all of the resources that are necessary to achieve economic development over the next say three years.

SC2 did help get Hartford on the map. We had people from 55 countries logged onto our website. And if that was the first time someone from Bangladesh ever heard of Hartford, that person heard of it in an entrepreneurial capacity. That person heard of it in a way that we’re giving away $1 million to support entrepreneurship.

PRICE: And they saw that Hartford is working to make change.

COLE: And we’re working to make change. And these are the types of changes we are trying to make by focusing on these types of entrepreneurs. So, if you see that Hartford is fostering that type of entrepreneurial activity, why wouldn’t you come?

PRICE: I’m curious why now there’s one thing that’s the focus where with SC2 everything was spread out?

COLE: Great point. With SC2 we were trying to get as many entrepreneurs as possible to tell us about what’s important—noting also from the last time you and I spoke, there are different types of entrepreneurs. We know that now. We shook the tree we saw what kind of fruit fell, and we know it’s ripe. So we can create a strategy geared toward helping entrepreneurs achieve success based on their disparate interests.

Parkville is different because the neighborhood is competing with other neighborhoods that are also poor for these resources. So on one hand we got more, we got six plans out of SC2 because we were looking for as many strategies to implement as possible as projects.

PRICE: That makes sense. So now you’ve identified a Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area (NRSA), which is a special adaptation of the CDBG program that allows cities to relax some of the owners restrictions on the program. Again, why focus on just one?

COLE: Why we focus on one neighborhood for the NRSA is so that we can concentrate those resources that are limited on that one neighborhood—almost like a silver bullet—and then we can actually take those six SC2 strategies and apply them to that neighborhood. Although they are very different programs with different objectives, SC2 and the NRSA aren’t mutually exclusive. We can implement the SC2 strategies in Parkville and use NRSA funds to help us do it.

PRICE: And why Parkville?

COLE: Parkville has been the focus because it has a great deal of the entrepreneur activity we’ve already been looking for. So SC2 does complement Parkville, but they are in many ways different projects and different programs. However, they both do rely on federal resources to achieve our goals. I think that’s a very important point to underline, too.

The city of Hartford is a half billion dollar corporation. We can only raise about a third of our financial resources by ourselves, so quite frankly we’re in corporate welfare. Two thirds of our capacity is provided by the federal and state governments. As you can imagine, that makes it difficult to achieve any extracurricular projects. We’re not just talking about police and fire, we’re talking about how do you help businesses start?

PRICE: Is that what you mean by “extracurricular?”

COLE: Right. Simply stated, there have been times where the public service economy has had to be revamped. We need to make certain that what we’re providing in the public service economy responds to the needs expressed by our constituency.

In this instance, small business development is one of those extracurricular things that doesn’t necessarily respond to core services like education, fire and police. In Hartford, because of our fiscal and economic situation, it’s critical for our government to provide these services. However, we still can’t raise these resources ourselves, we have to go out and find them.

Many other cities, like Hartford, have only had these services in the public service portfolio for about 10 to 20 years. Municipal economic development, as an industry, is a relatively new service in many places, including Hartford. The Division cannot rely heavily on our corporate structure to provide us with resources we need to be successful. The Division must go out and find what is necessary from outside sources.

PRICE: And how do you find those resources?

COLE: A lot of what we are able to do comes from federal resources. Whether it’s an entitlement grant program like the CDBG or it’s a competitive grant program like SC2, which was administered by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), we go out and we compete for those funds. A great deal of what my division has been able to achieve the last three years was actually somewhat reliant on federal resources.

PRICE: Speaking of three years, you had mentioned the focus being on Parkville for about that length of time. What happens after the three years? Does the focus then switch to a different area of Hartford or Connecticut?

COLE: It could, yes.

So after three years, we could assess the data for Parkville, see what we’ve achieved and whether or not there’s still more to be achieved, and we could extend it say another two years. It just has to be justified to the HUD what we’re trying to achieve is either measurable or will be achieved through whatever course of action.

However, if in X amount of time we have achieved our goals in Parkville, we can absolutely identify another area of Hartford to be the next NRSA. That seems to me to be the best practice and strategy.

I don’t know where will it will be. We conducted an analysis early on to determine who would be our first NRSA. There is some documentation to support why Parkville was chosen first. Because so much time will have passed since we began the Parkville program, we may have to go back and study this again to see who would be a viable second NRSA.

PRICE: How specifically is Parkville enhancing economic growth in the Hartford area?

COLE: Parkville’s proximity to wealth is unparalleled. It’s a working-class neighborhood; however, it’s just over the border from West Hartford and it shares an adjacent border with Hartford’s wealthiest neighborhood, the West End. So you talk about access to markets, this is a neighborhood has that.

What we need to do is tap those markets and really empower folks—give them the technical skills they need. Maybe government involves itself in other ways to help bring down development costs for build outs for startups. The fact is, if all we have to do is give someone the ability provide for their own quality of life, they will have achieved what the neighborhood is seeking to achieve on their own organically. All the government will have done is just give them the tools they need to do it—not necessarily leading the conversation, not necessarily leading the development effort, but just giving these entrepreneurs and these small business owners and these residents whatever they need to create a startup.

PRICE: And how do you do that?

COLE: Presently we have contracts with folks like the University of Hartford, who do a lot of work out in Parkville. Using city funds that we give to them, the University of Hartford can create a program that’s essentially free for a small business.

So, if you’re the University of Hartford and I’m a small business owner, you will work with me to establish goals. And at the end of the set term, you will submit to the city of Hartford a report that says: These are the goals and this is what we did to achieve the goals. The goals are either met or not met. And if they’re not met, here’s why and here’s what we can do next. And then we pay you on a case-by-case basis. It’s very much in the University’s interest to make sure that they’re meeting with as many unique businesses as possible, because they get revenue from this; this is income.

We have a handful of other partners as well, including the Spanish American Merchants Association (SAMA), which is among my personal favorites. Its name is a little misleading because they will assist anybody, you don’t need to be of the Spanish American dissent and you need not be a merchant.

What I find compelling about SAMA’s story is that they are effectively a mini government in their own right. They created a business improvement district (BID) zone that basically goes from Main Street in Hartford to Park Terrace. This is a significant swath of serviceable land. SAMA does things like graffiti remediation and snow removal and  provide façade improvement grants, small business loans; almost everything that we provide as a division of the City of Hartford’s government.

Parkville and SAMA’s partners have been able to address those issues on our behalf because of their unique skills and because they also are able to seek unique resources beyond just the city’s.

PRICE: Going back to the technical skills you mentioned, what specifically are you referring to? Creating a website and learning social media and things like that?

COLE: Could be. Also learning how to use financial software. Not a lot of small business owners know how to use financial software that might be suitable to their business. So SAMA and the University of Hartford and a handful of our other partners will meet with businesses to determine their needs, set goals and then make certain that the business is set up with the right assets or resources to be successful.

And then of course, because they’re helping us, they get paid for that. There really is a pipeline here whereby the city at the top recognizes a need that must be provided. We ourselves don’t have the technical skills to provide it, but we found the partners are going out and finding the people who need it. They’re getting those skills and they’re launching their businesses and staying successful—remaining viable at minimum in Hartford.

PRICE: It’s a nice cycle.

COLE: Without question. Once they start their businesses, these people have a quality of life that moves them from say a market with a subsidized existence to a market-grade existence. You’re no longer unemployed for example, you’re able to employ.

PRICE: With regard to employment opportunities in Connecticut, is the city utilizing any other programs?

COLE: We partner with the state of Connecticut on a handful of other programs to encourage people to hire. For example, Step Up is something that’s pretty aggressively used in Parkville.

Step Up is a program that allows for businesses to hire Hartford residents and the state will underwrite the cost of their salary for up to a year. The first six months of training are on site and the subsequent six months of training are employment. So this small business now has a free employee for a year. That’s pretty great, right?

PRICE: Absolutely. Let’s go back to Parkville. What other factors are contributing to the success of this community?

COLE: Parkville is an immigrant community, which goes back to the entrepreneurial discussion we were having earlier. What types of entrepreneurs do we have in our entrepreneurial community? One of the very strong communities we have in the entrepreneurial community is immigrant entrepreneurs.

You’re inherently taking a risk in bringing yourself to a new market as an immigrant. When you look at the statistics it’s really compelling. These entrepreneurs are 60% more likely to start a business and be successful, meaning operate longer than about five years.

So why Parkville? Going back to that too—where else do we have manufacturing history in the city of Hartford? We’ve demolished it all citywide. Parkville has its strength partly because it still has all of its old mill buildings.

PRICE: As far as growth, you mentioned the Parkville neighborhood is at capacity.

COLE: Neighborhoods that grow out as much as they possibly can, which is where Parkville is, must then focus on growing upward. If there’s nowhere for the neighborhood to physically expand its political boundaries, it has to grow upward.

PRICE: What do you mean by “upward?”

COLE: When you consider that there are no opportunities for residential, commercial or retail in Parkville, you now need to start looking at what you have to build with. There are vacant lots, which is what we’re working on now.

I spend the majority of my time trying to fix what the city did 50 years ago and not nearly enough time trying to look ahead at the next 50 years. Parkville bucks that trend in some ways because I get to fix the problems from 50 years ago in order to achieve that neighborhood’s next vision.

There’s no alternative for us quite frankly. It’s the only place we have left to go. So that’s what I mean by “growing upward”—you can’t go out anymore, you’ve got to grow up.

PRICE: How to you feel that reSET is contributing to Parkville’s success?

COLE: reSET is a powerhouse out there. It’s partly because they’re a business that helps businesses start growing. reSET is working on launching businesses that have the civic reinvestment component to them. Admirable.

In my opinion, that’s how we solve these problems. If SAMA can create a BID zone that performs services the government isn’t able to perform but still must to strengthen the economic viability of the neighborhood, then why can’t we ask our small businesses to help us solve some of the problems that exist their own neighborhood?

I want to work with reSET as closely as I can because it’s important make businesses aware of what issues are there so that we can get them thinking about how their business could help solve those issues.

PRICE: So reSET is helping to building the community.

COLE: Right. Consider the brand that Parkville has already. I’ve worked in communities where if you ask people where they’re from they won’t tell you the name of the city, they’ll tell you name of the neighborhood. Hartford is different. If you’re from Hartford, you say you’re from Hartford. But if you’re from Parkville you say you’re from Parkville. There’s a brand there.

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Hartford SC2 Challenge Winner: Made At Swift

October 27 2015 Innovation Destination: Hartford Awards 0 comments Tags: business development, business growth, community development, Connecticut, economic development, economic growth, Hartford, Hartford region, SC2 Challenge, SC2 Initiative

Hartford’s Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) Challenge winners were announced at the end of May 2015. The SC2 Challenge is a key element of the SC2 Initiative, which strives to enhance and support U.S. cities’ economic development.

The SC2 Challenge was designed to help cities benefit from cutting-edge business concepts for creating economic development plans and putting them into action. Winning teams shared a total of $800,000 of award money funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

Made at Swift earned a second place $100,000 award for its plan to reuse the Swift Factory as an “economic anchor” for the City of Hartford through food and entrepreneurship. The Made at Swift team includes four non-profit organizations:

  • Billings Forge Community Works, which founded a food-based social enterprise and provides culinary job training
  • Community Solutions, which is leading a comprehensive community development strategy in Northeast Hartford
  • Hartford Food System, a provider of food security programming and advocacy in Hartford
  • reSET, which is committed to developing the social entrepreneurship sector in Connecticut.

Innovation Destination: Hartford met with Gina Muslim, Director of the Northeast Hartford Partnership of Community Solutions, to talk about how the Made at Swift team became involved with the SC2 Challenge and the team’s plans to strengthen economic development in the Hartford area.

Watch “Good Food is Good Business: Made at Swift”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBdVCldSPYc

IDH: Tell us about the concept for Made at Swift.

MUSLIM: Community Solutions started with an urban farm here five growing seasons ago. There is a real need for food security and fresh food availability, and we were thinking about how to utilize the Swift Factory as a place where fresh food can improve health, provide jobs and be made available to the community often in good quality at fair prices.

We looked around at the city and realized that many of the organizations and strengths we needed were here in Hartford but hadn’t been knit together in that way, so Community Solutions brought those teams together from Billings Forge, Hartford Food Systems and reSET to work on a plan for a food-centric component at the Swift Factory.

IDH: Can you tell us more about the plan?

Community Solutions built a greenhouse on its property at Love Lane in Hartford.

Community Solutions built a greenhouse on its property at Love Lane in Hartford.

MUSLIM: Community Solutions already has an outdoor growing initiative. We would love to have a commercial kitchen that’s focused on contract meals that would provide something like Meals on Wheels or other types of big catering. That would create a needed space for expanding and a needed space for job training, which is not currently available at Billings Forge. They don’t have the capacity to do that. They have a restaurant kitchen and they have a small catering kitchen, but they don’t have something big enough to do contract meals. Something like that would provide employment and also job training for culinary arts.

Then we looked at learning and shared kitchens that would provide cooking classes for the community, which would address how to use vegetables that are being picked and delivered here. We also looked at providing different types of courses that would allow people to think about food as micro entrepreneurship right here at the site. That would happen in the learning kitchen and there would be one or a series of incubator kitchens for people to try things out.

IDH: Are these people who want to be restauranteurs?

MUSLIM: Restauranteurs or people who want to sell at farmers markets. A lot of culinary food making and distribution is happening anyway through home kitchens and being distributed. It isn’t regulated and it doesn’t have the structure that a real business would have.

We’re hoping to couple reSET’s accelerator training program with some of these folks who have already started a food-based business to get them into a licensed kitchen and get them business skills they need to grow their business so it turns from a small underground mom-and-pop thing into a viable catering business or a business that sells products in local stores. However we can support that in this community—which sees a more than 20% unemployment rate—is a big deal and will have a positive impact on the community around food.

So that was the genesis. With our winnings from SC2, we really think we’ll be able to achieve this overall vision.

We also work with Urbane Development, a consulting firm that’s working in places like Detroit with emerging food industries. They are helping us think about the business case and determine the strengths and weaknesses of this particular site. SC2 gave us the ability to add that to our work to make it more viable as we prepare to renovate the Swift Factory space.

IDH: How did you come to be involved with all of this?

Gina Muslim is Director of the Northeast Hartford Partnership of Community Solutions.

Gina Muslim is Director of the Northeast Hartford Partnership of Community Solutions.

MUSLIM: I’ve had a lot of experience working on big development projects on the financing side, primarily at healthcare institutions and children’s museums, which is an interesting mix. When I came to Hartford I was still working in those fields and met Roseanne Haggerty, who launched Community Solutions in 2011. When the Director job became open I saw it as an opportunity to put my skills in partnership development, financing and then “big-vision building” to work. Community Solutions uses a lot of innovative approaches, it’s been a lot of fun every day.

IDH: How did the concept for the Made at Swift SC2 to plan come to be?

MUSLIM: When Community Solutions moved to Love Lane in Hartford the first thing we did was to survey the community. We asked more than 500 community members what was important to them and what they thought the needs of the community were because we wanted it to be reflected in this development project.

IDH: That makes sense. And what did you find out?

MUSLIM: The three big things were: safety, youth engagement and jobs. Those have been our guiding lights. We added one to that list after we looked at the community health equity report and realized that the health in this neighborhood specifically was the worst in the city of Hartford. This neighborhood had the most disparity in terms of how long you live and the most disparity in terms of chronic disease, heart disease and diabetes. This was really Ground Zero in terms of disparity between folks who live here and folks who live elsewhere, where the norm would be considered.

We decided to create a space that has a jobs lens, because that’s what people need; a health lens, because that seems to be something that, once you get those basic needs set, is so important; and then, by virtue of doing this, we hope that this neighborhood will become a safer place and that there will be opportunities for youth engagement. We think of those things in all of our work.

In conversations with the city. We were alerted to the SC2 Challenge and we saw an opportunity to rally our local leaders in the food space and put them to work around that specific programming area.

IDH: How are these local leaders working to put the plan in place?

MUSLIM: It was great to bring all these experts in the different sectors into a room. Again, we had an idea and it was kind of a big swath of the building that said food and commercial kitchen, and that was it. So through this process we were able to dig deeper into the programming, find out how it would work and determine the feasibility of the different components.

Folks on our team include Martha Page, Executive Director of Hartford Food System, who has been involved in the food policy in the state for decades and Cary Wheaton, Executive Director of Billings Forge, who has been in the restaurant industry for a very long time. Obviously having reSET, which really understands the social startup space, helped give us a very deep programming ability to be able to shape this plan into something viable.

IDH: How does Made at Swift plan to use the SC2 award money?

MUSLIM: That’s a great question. When all of the partners came into this it was a handshake agreement. Community Solutions kind of brought the team together. We all made a commitment and decided that if we won Phase I of the SC2 competition we were all going to reinvest the award money back into Phase II.

Bear in mind all these partners are non-profits, so I appreciated that everyone had that commitment to the project. None of them own the Swift building, but they really wanted to see this vision.

Winnings from Phase I were completely invested back into the project. We used the funds to bring in Urbane Development, update our video and send team members on site to examine what was happening in the space and in the region. That made our proposal that much better because we took the time to do the research and to bring the best that we could to the project.

We then went into Phase II, and again I have to say how fantastic our partners were in committing that any awards from Phase II would also be used to further explore the feasibility of this site.

Right now Cary is looking at contract work, Martha is looking at intensifying urban farming here and determining how we can best utilize the land and reSET is doing focus groups that are particularly focused on the food sector. The food sector has always been a large group for them, but now they’re seeing how that niche could be played out, specifically to serve what we’re trying to do with Made at Swift.

As for Community Solutions, we have put the award money into further development of the building site—talking to the architects to find out how things work and how to make a green and multi-use commercial kitchen. We’re trying to make it a space that will serve the community and bring jobs, job training and health to the community.

IDH: Where do you see the future of this plan in the next two to five years?

MUSLIM: We’re thrilled that this project was chosen to be part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Promise Zones, which were just designated this past winter. The Swift Factory was named as the economic development vertical lead on that initiative.

We have been marching down with architectural drawings. We just finished a roof replacement with funding from the state. We have a number of letters of intent signed for space because obviously the kitchen is part of that.

We’re also looking at having a library component that would create job training literacy, kind of a 21st-century library, so not as many books but the bigger vision of libraries. There is also a healthcare delivery space we’re exploring with some of our partners including Cigna the University of Connecticut and others.

We’re excited to have a building that is what I call the “physical manifestation of our belief in the work.” We are hoping to secure our financing for the end of the year and then flip into construction and the information technology (IT) systems, which will take about 16 to 18 months, and then the space will be fit out with our partners.

I’ll also add that the city of Hartford and Stephen Cole, Hartford’s Director of Economic Development Division, Department of Development Services, who facilitated the Hartford SC2 Challenge competition have been great about making the commitment to follow the SC2 winners’ economic development plans to their logical conclusions, because we think Hartford is a great place for the federal government to invest since they saw such potential in everyone’s work.

IDH: What you feel is the best thing about living or working in the greater Hartford area?

MUSLIM: I admit when we first came to Love Lane I was concerned that everyone was going to be apathetic and not going to care. When Community Solutions became a landowner here it was the turning point because the community saw us as not just as an organization that was coming in and providing services, but as a landowner that cares about what happens here, is invested in this neighborhood and the surrounding neighborhoods, and invested in improvement. We have wonderful relationships with our neighbors; they’re really respectful.

What strikes me about Hartford is that there such great resources here. I think the SC2 Challenge gave people the ability to show how they can be creative and how they can harness the resources to push boundaries and move things forward. I definitely see over the last few years that feeling has intensified and I think we’re finally seeing a lot of projects move forward.

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Hartford SC2 Challenge Winner: The Entrepreneurship Foundation

October 23 2015 Innovation Destination: Hartford Awards 0 comments Tags: business development, business growth, business innovation, Connecticut, economic development, economic growth, entrepreneurial resources, entrepreneurship, Greater Hartford, Hartford region, SC2 Challenge, SC2 Initiative

The Entrepreneurship Foundation is non-profit organization that provides programs and resources for educators and entrepreneurs.

The Entrepreneurship Foundation is non-profit organization that provides programs and resources for educators and entrepreneurs.

Hartford’s Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) Challenge winners received awards at the end of May 2015. The SC2 Challenge, which is designed to help cities create economic development plans, is a critical part of the Obama Administration’s SC2 Initiative. The awards were funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

The Entrepreneurship Foundation received a third place, $75,000 award for its proposal that is designed to help Hartford residents open new businesses, which will create new jobs and economic and community growth.

Mike Roer, President of the Entrepreneurship Foundation, spoke with Innovation Destination: Hartford about the non-profit organization and its plans to accelerate Hartford’s economic development.

IDH: Tell us a little about yourself.

ROER: I’m a parallel entrepreneur of 20 current and previous for-profit and non-profit entities. I’m also an author and university lecturer.

IDH: How did you get the idea for your SC2 Challenge proposal?

ROER: We perceived serious voids in the support continuum for economic development through new venture creation. The premise of SC2 was economic development through entrepreneurship. The Entrepreneurship Foundation wondered: What are all the ingredients an ecosystem needs to accomplish that? We looked at what’s out there now and what’s missing in that continuum.

The Entrepreneurship Foundation’s Business Plan Competition is a good example. We do a great job of teaching entrepreneurship to students and then they’re halfway across that bridge and realize it ends halfway across the river. There are gaps. A lot of them are following through after some of the entrepreneurial programs, whether it’s a Startup Weekend, a 15-week course or a 12-week accelerator. One the program is over, what’s next? There are just too many bridges to nowhere. And to get from A to B there are gaps in the process.

The Entrepreneurship Foundation wants us to fill in those gaps and connect and work with existing organizations that are each doing a great job providing some of the critical ingredients. No one provides them all, even us. We want to help connect them together and fill in the missing pieces.

IDH: What types of programs and resources does the Entrepreneurship Foundation provide?

ROER: We run business plan competitions, administer associations of university professors, develop interdisciplinary entrepreneurship curriculum, advise business incubators, mentor entrepreneurs, and act as a catalyst to increase the supply of talent—especially in the computer sciences—necessary to the establishment and growth of new ventures.

IDH: How does the Entrepreneurship Foundation plan to use the SC2 Challenge award money?

ROER: We will focus these one-time resources on pilot programs—in collaboration with other award recipients and organizations—in the support of early-stage ventures.

IDH: What is the best thing about living in Connecticut?

ROER: The quality of life. We in the Nutmeg state do not promote what we take for granted: four seasons, the best educational system in the world, sailing on the Connecticut sound, et al. Instead of trying to sell low taxes, state-of-the-art transportation, world-class ports and low-energy costs—none of which we have—we should simply advise CEOs that Connecticut is the greatest place to live and raise a family. You get what you pay for.

IDH: Any advice for those who are starting out?

ROER: Don’t bet your life savings on the first roll of the die.

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Hartford SC2 Challenge Winner: It’s All Here

October 08 2015 Innovation Destination: Hartford Awards 0 comments Tags: business development, business growth, business innovation, Connecticut, economic development, entrepreneur community, entrepreneurs, Greater Hartford, Hartford, SC2 Challenge, SC2 Initiative

Prize winners for Hartford’s Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) Challenge were announced at the end of May 2015. A critical part of the Obama Administration’s SC2 Initiative, the SC2 Challenge is designed to help cities create economic development plans. The awards were funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

It’s All Here received a fourth place, $50,000 award for its an asset-based economic development model that will build wealth and raise incomes in Hartford’s neighborhoods by giving access and visibility to new markets and service providers using an interactive website, a multilingual call center, physical market locations and turnkey digital street signage.

Steve Yanicke, President and Founder of MakeHartford, told Innovation Destination: Hartford about the organization’s plans for the future of Hartford’s economic development.

IDH: Tell us a little about your background.

YANICKE: I’m a serial entrepreneur living in Hartford for more than a decade. Current projects include MakeHartford and investigation into digital security hardware services.

I’m also Founder and Lead Design Consultant of Hatters Workshop, a web development firm I started when I was still in college. I’ve maintained some of those clients for about 10 years now. The company is myself as business, PM, as well as developer and designer. It’s a sole proprietor one-man shop.

IDH: How did you get the concept for your economic development model?

YANICKE: Working with entrepreneurs every day at MakeHartford I constantly meet people who just need a little help or support while developing their ideas.

The research we did showed that Hartford has added several thousand incorporated companies since 2008, the worst period of the Great Recession. Around that time, many people nationwide decided it was good for them to found their own business, but in Hartford the number was actually double the national average, per capita. This means people in Hartford thought that founding their own business was the best way to make ends meet.

You can either see that as a negative way to say that Hartford residents were the first ones cut from payroll, which I don’t believe. Or, the more positive view is that people saw this as a good opportunity to work for themselves.

In talking with people who are in the process of working on their startups, Hartford sometimes gets a bad rap for entrepreneurialism and innovation, but I don’t see that. I see a population of people who have a can-do attitude, who believe that they can make a difference and believe that, with a little support, they will be successful, whether they’re doing aquaponics and looking for a local food solutions or they’re looking for aerospace and high-tech manufacturing opportunities. I hear the negative things people say, but that’s not the world that I see and that’s not the community I serve.

MakeHartford President and Founder Steve Yanicke says what we need to improve Hartford’s economic development is “All Here.”

MakeHartford President and Founder Steve Yanicke says what we need to improve Hartford’s economic development is “All Here.”

So, how did we get this idea? It makes sense. The data supports this economic model and it made sense to lean in on the national trends, which are more prevalent in Hartford. If all of the incorporated companies that are currently within the city limits hired one extra person there would be no unemployed people in Hartford. The number of companies incorporated in Hartford roughly equals the number of people in the workforce who are currently unemployed. So, if you want to end unemployment in the city of Hartford, you need to find a way to allow these companies to hire just one extra person. And if all 6,000 companies did that, then you’re not looking for one company to hire 6,000 people, you’re looking for 6,000 companies to hire one person, which is seemingly a much more achievable target. Again, just looking at the data, that makes sense.

IDH: And that is that sort of the whole concept of “It’s All Here.”

YANICKE: Yes. We were looking at what Hartford needed to be successful. It turns out, statistically, that immigrants are most successful in startup businesses. Hartford has a lot of immigrants who are well-educated and financially successful and chose to relocate to Hartford. There is a large population that’s multi-lingual, has ties back to their home countries and has the ability to import and export, and we have access not only to the Hartford metro area but also New York, Boston, Providence, New Haven, Springfield.

Hartford has a highly educated workforce and we have a lot of excess capital. So, it’s all here. The part that’s missing is to get these sort of disparaging communities to talk to each other. We’ve got a lot of government support groups, a lot of non-profit organizations and a lot of groups like the MetroHartford Alliance and Hartford Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs (HYPE) that knit the community together. How do we do more of that? Hartford just needs to do more of what it’s currently doing. It’s all here. We’ve got the capital, we’ve got the non-profits and we have the right intelligent people. What we’re missing is a mindset that believes that we could be successful.

IDH: Describe It’s All Here and its focus on self-employment and small business ownership opportunities.

YANICKE: We looked at basic economic models for growth. One would be trying to import a new demographic of people. For example, if Hartford can attract the millennials, who are known for starting reasonably successful to mega successful companies, and those companies are headquartered in Hartford. So if we attract the right millennials than maybe we’ll be successful.

Another model was, if Hartford can attract a new or developing industry—like the state’s current $200 million effort to promote genetic research. Both of those are long-term plans that are very expensive and have a considerable amount of risk and uncertainty.

With It’s All Here we’re working with the resources that are already here, that want to be here, that have chosen to relocate here and are already doing economic development. We looked at the data and said, of these, which is most likely to succeed and have immediate impact in the first year and also still be most successful in 10 or 20 years?

The data suggested that we should embrace the trends that are strongest in Hartford; empower the people who are here and want to continue to grow businesses here. Yes it’s good that we can attract and keep large companies, but your average dollar spent at a large company will be distributed to wherever the footprint of the company is. For small businesses, if they’re based in Hartford and they’re exporting, then all that money flows into the metro area and that’s how you really build wealth in a metro area.

So our plan addressed the most pressing needs of entrepreneurs—access to markets and access to resources. The One World Market and Digital Signage components would provide immediate support to startups and the social vibrancy of Hartford.

IDH: How do you plan to use the SC2 Award money?

YANICKE: MakeHartford is currently exploring a regional unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) racing competition for the spring on 2016. We are working with our financial partners to leverage the prize money into additional funding for programs and services.

IDH: Where do you see your business goals in the next two to five years?

YANICKE: MakeHartford will continue to grow and serve an expanding membership with an increasingly diverse offering of equipment. We are currently working to grow programs in robotics, UAVs, information security and medical device and sensors.

IDH: What is the best thing about living/working in Connecticut?

YANICKE: It’s all here.

IDH: Any advice for those who are starting out?

YANICKE: Start today—now. “Someday” is already a very busy day.

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CCAT: Creating Opportunities through Innovation

October 01 2015 Innovation Destination: Hartford Incubators, Innovation, Programs 0 comments Tags: business, Connecticut, Connecticut incubators, economic development, entrepreneurial resources, entrepreneurs, high-tech, incubator, innovators, start-ups, technology

The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology Inc. (CCAT), a non-profit economic development organization, is a valuable resource for enhancing high-tech business development throughout Connecticut. Formed in 2004, the organization employs 55 people in its East Hartford, CT location.

CCAT_plaques_hall

The main hallway at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology Inc. is lined with plaques from small businesses that have been based at CCAT's incubator.

CCAT provides expertise in manufacturing technology, education and workforce strategies, information technology (IT) and energy solutions. The organization serves entrepreneurs, innovators, manufacturers, educators, government agencies and non-profits.

INNOVATIVE BEGINNINGS

Elliot Ginsberg, President and Chief Executive Officer at CCAT has been with the organization more than 10 years. He worked to create CCAT when he was serving as Congressman John Larson’s Chief of Staff. Ginsberg is also on the Board of Directors and represents CCAT as a Strategic Partner of the MetroHartford Alliance.

“When we were working in Washington, Congressman Larson and I spoke about how manufacturing was an important part of the economy in this region,” Ginsberg explained. “We looked at where other sections of the country had success around manufacturing and innovation and engineering. We realized that they were typically part of large military base/research clusters.”

Elliot Ginsberg, President and Chief Executive Officer at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT).

Elliot Ginsberg, President and Chief Executive Officer at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT).

Ginsberg continued, “In Connecticut, we have institutions like Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky, General Dynamics Electric Boat and Hamilton Sundstrand. We have extraordinary aerospace and defense manufacturing strength in this region. Even though they aren’t military installations, these institutions generate work for thousands of companies in a supply chain. So we needed to figure out: How do we create an organization focused on supporting the concentration of aerospace and defense manufacturing in the state, even if we don’t have major military bases?”

According to Ginsberg, CCAT was fortunate because targeted resources were available in the early 2000s. CCAT was granted initial funding from the federal government to initiate a program that would support supply chain manufacturing in Connecticut and throughout the country.

And Ginsberg was committed to the process. “About two years after conceiving the idea and receiving money for the formulation of CCAT, I chose to come back to Connecticut and see it through. It’s been exciting to see CCAT become what we thought it could be almost 15 years ago.”

Ginsberg explains, “I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to lead CCAT. I believe CCAT is a unique national resource—one that inspires innovation and helps sustain economic growth for the state, the region and the country.”

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND APPLIED RESEARCH

The organization has many roles. “We have individual initiatives in workforce and education, energy, IT and technology and applied research,” Ginsberg said.

For example, CCAT has an advanced manufacturing center (AMC), which is an applied research lab designed to help companies optimize processes and implement technology improvements. There, companies can use manufacturing technologies such as 3-D printing with metals and plastics, precision machining of metal and composite materials, and reverse-engineering to prototype parts and test implementation assumptions.

“It’s important to note the difference between what we do and what a university does,” said Karen Jarmon, Senior Communications Advisor at CCAT. “When we’re talking about going from a concept to what the product is and how you produce it—which is part of what the AMC does—that’s applied research, it’s not pure research that you may find at a university.”

“Certainly universities in the area can accommodate that, but our approach is to look at what the business is going to be, take that engineering design and help develop it into something,” Ginsberg added.

“A number of companies or small start-ups have come to us with a design concept they wanted to test. At the AMC, they can take that concept and, over a relatively short period of time, produce a prototype, adjust it and then bring it to a test group for validation. The prototype can be tweaked and then two days later there is a new one to test,” he explained. “That’s the beauty of what we do. We really speed that process along and make sure it is that applied type of research, which is a different way of thinking than you’d find at a university.”

The prototyping is beneficial to the entrepreneurial community at CCAT. “It accelerates the capacity to test and verify a new thought you have as an entrepreneur,” Ginsberg said.

“Prototyping is being used to support the entrepreneurial approach of a company that wants to make something differently to compete in a global economy. So, it gives people an idea that there’s a future. If they start here with a good idea they can approach it differently than they have in the past, because they can actually make a prototype – a product that they can hold and physically examine. Someone may have said to them: that’s a great idea, but you can’t make it. Now at the AMC, we can turn an idea into a tangible product, and frankly, we can make it differently.”

MAKING CONNECTIONS

CCAT helps companies make connections in unique ways, according to Ginsberg. “We integrate the entrepreneurial work here with the research and the engineers and the prototyping. We’d like to think the people who are doing the entrepreneurial work will have an impact in some cases on the future of manufacturing, so there’s a connection. The energy piece is connected. The workforce is connected. The technology is connected. It’s sometimes a little circuitous, but it all fits together and it all makes sense given CCAT’s mission—to help organizations implement innovative solutions, increase efficiencies and improve workforce development.”

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

CCAT got into IT as a way of integrating technology with non-profits, schools and libraries throughout Connecticut. For example, the organization runs the IT for the Hartford Public Library and the East Hartford Public Library. “We designed the IT infrastructure of the buildings, incorporating all the latest advances that help youngsters and families and the community learn about information technology,” Ginsberg noted.

“No one would have ever thought we’d be in the IT world,” Ginsberg said. “It became a part of what we do because of opportunities we can give to others. If you looked at who we were going to be on paper, we were not going to be an incubator in the truest sense. We got into it because we have a lot of space and we didn’t need the whole building. The IT segment has grown as we integrate IT with education and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.”

One of the ways CCAT is involved in educational efforts is through its Young Manufacturers Summer Academy. The manufacturing-themed summer program uses hands-on activities, virtual machining and simulation-based learning to introduce sixth to eighth graders to advanced manufacturing.

The company also supports high school and college graduates through a number of paid internships that contribute to the company. “They’re definitely hired not just to make copies,” Ginsberg emphasized.

“CCAT had 16 interns this summer. They ranged from engineering to finance to energy to education to IT. Some interns worked in our Technology, Research and Applications (TRA) unit, which has taken on a number of special projects. One in particular they were working on was the issue of combining coal with biomass to produce liquid jet fuel. So it’s significant research.”

Ginsberg noted that some interns have taken their CCAT experience and created entrepreneurial businesses of their own.

“We’re delighted to be able to transition young adults from school into work. We see it as an opportunity to start a whole generation of people who we hope will work and stay here in Connecticut.”

AN ENTREPRENEURIAL APPROACH

CCAT is committed to helping the entrepreneurial community. And Ginsberg places importance on the term “entrepreneurial.”

“When people think about entrepreneurs, they tend to think of people who are creating start-ups. The better term is probably ‘entrepreneurial,’ because that can relate to people already in business who have to think about how they can be innovative,” Ginsberg explained.

“You have to think of how you as a business owner or an engineer in a company can be more entrepreneurial and how you’re going to help your business grow in a world that’s changing,” he continued. “You have to say, I’m here today, but if I want to grow tomorrow, I’ve got to be entrepreneurial.”

Ginsberg says CCAT views itself as helping those who are entrepreneurial. “At CCAT, we don’t manufacture products,” he said, “rather, we work innovatively to assist companies in making products, integrating advanced technologies and experimenting with new materials and ideas.”

SUPPORTING CONNECTICUT’S ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

Part of what Ginsberg enjoys most about his work with local entrepreneurs is seeing what people are doing. “I like walking around the building and talking to everyone here. Every day, I see people turning their concepts into reality. It makes me proud to be part of an organization that fosters an entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.

“In some respects, without even really thinking about it, CCAT has become part of the entrepreneurial activity for small companies,” he observed. “By defining new processes and new methods by which entrepreneurs can be successful, we are helping local start-ups and innovators take their ideas and grow them into sustainable, successful businesses.”

PROMOTING GROWTH IN THE HARTFORD REGION

CCAT has been a sponsor of the HYPE Entrepreneurship Awards since its first year. “That’s part of my commitment as an organization to the MetroHartford Alliance,” Ginsberg said. “We push pretty hard to have this entrepreneurial world part of the strategic thinking for the Alliance because we believe it, like the manufacturing community, has to be part of the regrowth of Hartford and the region.”

He stresses the importance of keeping business in Connecticut. “The trick is to ensure that things that are going to have to be designed and made are designed and made in Connecticut and not moved to some other place for production and manufacturing.”

INCUBATION

CCAT also runs the incubator program in the state of Connecticut and the state’s Small Business Incubator Grant Program (SBIP). “We run this program for all the incubators in Connecticut—17 that are unique business development facilities under the state statute,” Ginsberg explained.

In partnership with the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), the SBIP provides up to $30,000 in grant money to start-up companies working in Connecticut incubators.

SPACE TO FOCUS ON INNOVATION

Ginsberg says one of the things CCAT is proudest about is what the facility can offer to entrepreneurs. The space at CCAT provides access to professional office space and to CCAT’s IT systems and services, including the ability to do video conferencing. Most tenants have their own office space, but CCAT does offer a “flex lease” arrangement in which tenants are guaranteed 60 days a year and use office space on a reservation system. They still have access to all the other amenities.

“We enable them to focus on their business and their innovation and we take care of all their ancillary issues—phone, computer internet access, security—all those things that would be distracting to an entrepreneur,” Ginsberg said.

He says technology has helped in that effort. “Being able to have information in a cloud and letting someone else make decisions to ensure the technology is working means entrepreneurs can focus on business. And, for entrepreneurs, that focus is critical,” he pointed out.

“If they’re worried about all the ancillary responsibilities, they can lose track. By taking care of those things, we help them stay focused on what they’re trying to create. If we can help move more money into their core and less money into the back office that we can provide for them, everybody wins.”

PROVIDING ASSISTANCE, EXPERTISE AND FEEDBACK

In addition to providing physical space and helping with ancillary issues, the organization lends its expertise to help local entrepreneurs. “I think that’s what people have found very positive, is that they have access to professional people here,” Ginsberg said.

“We have experience with federal grant writing, legal contracting and a range of general and administrative duties, so tenants get the benefit of talking to CCAT staff. They have access to our lawyers and finance people who can help them with specific questions. They also have access to our engineers. I don’t want to minimize that,” Ginsberg emphasized. “We have engineers who at times are just providing feedback, answering questions like: Does this theory make sense to you?”

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

The space at CCAT is different than a co-working space, which is more of an open room concept where people are coming together working. However, there is still a good amount of networking.

“People who have their offices here do get to know other people in the building along with CCAT,” explains Jarmon. “The one tie is that businesses are technology-based. There’s commonality around technology, whether it’s IT, energy, education (STEM-focused), marketing or virtual modeling or manufacturing. There’s daily interaction and opportunity for working together here.”

CCAT refers to its central corridor as “Main Street,” and for good reason. “Everybody can meet at the corner of Main,” said Ginsberg. “And people often collaborate in the hallway or over a cup of coffee.”

“One of our tenants brings people together with different workshops in different sessions on a range of activities for start-ups and smaller companies. Entrepreneurs get to network and meet people in different businesses right here in this facility. That goes on quite frequently and it expands the capacity of what we have to offer as an incubator,” Jarmon added.

The building also houses a few angel investors, which Ginsberg says is helpful to those who are starting new business ventures. “Our tenants get to know one another, so a business owner who is friendly with an angel investor can discuss a business idea without necessarily having to pitch it. They can just get feedback and find out: Will this idea work when I meet with people to ask for funds? You get to form creative kinds of relationships because you’re in a shared space rather than meeting people in a traditional, more formal meeting,” Ginsberg pointed out.

The organization houses all kinds of companies. “As you walk in the main doors you see a wall of plaques representing really diverse companies. Our concern is, if they have a product they’re thinking of, where are they going to make it? How can we help them manufacture it?”

Ginsberg says companies come and go; they may stay one to three years. Successful companies typically move on when they need more space.

HELPING CREATE ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIES

CCAT’s main goal is to provide resources and help. Ginsberg says, “Part of the entrepreneurial role we play is offering our assistance to give people an idea of whether they are on the right track and if their idea is going to work. We put them into a place where they can find people who help them by investing or providing additional feedback. We give them an opportunity to have a place where they can work and succeed.

If we can do that, we’ve fulfilled CCAT’s objective to sustain a sector here in Connecticut.”

CONNECTICUT IS KEY

“Connecticut offers the hope and opportunity that what you think you want to do you can do here, for a length of time,” Ginsberg stated. “We have to convince companies that they’re going to find people here. The jobs have to get created by companies, the companies have to believe they’re going to have people for the jobs.”

According to Ginsberg, part of that process is trying to replicate what other major cities have been doing. “The fact that we’re catching the wave and doing something about it is a positive,” he said.

“There’s a lot of optimism about the growth of the region now. Adding this entrepreneurial program to the blend accentuates the fact that people believe this community can be something special.”

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