www.HartfordBusiness.com • October 22, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 3
Newsmakers
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Joe Brennan
By Sean Teehan
steehan@hartfordbusiness.com
As president and chief executive of Connecti-
cut's largest business lobby, Joe Brennan is look-
ing to encourage business-friendly policies this
election cycle.
The Connecticut Business & Industry As-
sociation (CBIA) doesn't endorse gubernatorial
candidates, but in August
it unveiled a marketing
and advertising campaign
dubbed "Fix Connecticut."
The approximately
$600,000 campaign will run
digital, broadcast and print
ads through the start of the
2019 General Assembly ses-
sion, according to CBIA.
Brennan, who has been
at the CBIA for 30 years and was named CEO in
2014, said the messaging campaign promotes
issues business officials care about, including pre-
dictable spending and tax policies; a sustainable
pipeline of skilled, world-class talent at all levels
of employment; a competitive cost structure for
healthcare, energy and other workplace costs; and
efficient transportation and telecommunications
infrastructures.
Can you describe the core tenets of CBIA's "Fix
Connecticut" campaign?
The Fix Connecticut campaign is designed
to help educate state residents and lawmakers
about five core tenets: prioritizing economic and
job growth, reducing state spending, making
Connecticut more affordable for businesses and
individuals, reforming the state employment
retirement system, and improving Connecticut's
business climate.
What is the best action and the worst action
taken by the Malloy administration as it per-
tains to the business community?
One initiative of the Malloy administration that
we hope will have the most lasting impact is the
education reform legislation enacted to ensure
that every student in the state gets a quality edu-
cation. The most troubling was the series of large
tax increases without sufficient changes to state
employee retirement costs to close budget gaps.
CBIA doesn't endorse gubernatorial candidates,
but what policies is it endorsing this election cycle?
The newly elected governor and the new leg-
islature will have to close a projected deficit of
over $4 billion over the next two years without
resorting to harmful tax increases. Beyond that,
workforce-development issues are paramount,
along with making the state more attractive for
all businesses, including startups.
How do CBIA priorities translate to voters who
are not business owners/executives?
Our priorities are usually the same ones voters
identify when asked about their most important
issues — the economy, jobs, their children finding
good jobs here, companies growing here rather
than leaving, etc. I believe our issues clearly reso-
nate with all voters, not just business owners.
VERBATIM
Boosting tourism
"Tourism should not be simply viewed as a cost but as an investment in our
economy that creates jobs and can help pay for many of the programs and services
vital to our residents."
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz (D-Berlin) on the launch of a new "Blue
Ribbon Panel on Tourism" that is slated to host several meetings across
Connecticut in the months ahead to seek input from residents, businesses and
other institutions on how to kickstart the state's $14.7 billion tourism industry.
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President & CEO, Connecticut
Business & Industry Association
Joe Brennan
