Hartford Business Journal

16 Hartford Business Journal • December 14, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Lehman helped CT biz survive the coronavirus pandemic By Greg Bordonaro gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com D epartment of Economic and Community Devel- opment Commissioner David Lehman came into 2020 hoping to reform the state's business incentive programs and unveil a new jobs-growth strategy. Instead, he spent the year sim- ply trying to save the Connecticut economy from being overwhelmed by a once-in-a century pandemic. Lehman is no health expert but he's been a top advisor to Gov. Ned Lamont throughout the pandemic, providing key advice on which businesses should remain open or closed as the pandemic spiked during the spring and early winter months. For example, as Connecticut went into lockdown in the spring amid the virus' outbreak, Lehman helped convince the governor to keep manufacturing and construction open as essential industries. That prevented Connecticut's economy, which shed hundreds of thousands of jobs in April, from slipping into an even deeper downturn. Lehman also helped develop business reopening guidelines and oversaw several state grant and loan programs that provided much- needed capital to small businesses desperate for a financial lifeline. "It's been an interesting year for everyone to say the least," Lehman said. "It's been crazy." Legislative priorities 2020 represented Lehman's first full year as DECD commissioner and he needed, to some degree, to prove his economic-development bona fides. When Lehman was named to his role in early 2019, the former Gold- man Sachs banker drew skepti- cism and criticism from some state lawmakers who lamented his lack of experience and time on Wall Street, especially during the 2008 financial crisis. He was prepared to make a splash this year with a legislative agenda that was going to reform the state's economic-incentives strategy and programs. The overall goal was to move the state toward a performance-based, "earn-as-you-go" system, meaning employers won't reap state incen- tives until they create a certain number of jobs or make a certain level of investment. The reforms never made it through the General Assembly, which saw its 2020 legislative ses- sion cut short due to the pandemic. However, Lehman said the Lamont administration isn't wavering from its reform efforts and will push for the same changes in 2021. "I'm very optimistic these chang- es will pass," Lehman said. The reforms included: • Modifying the Small Business Express program so that it no lon- ger offers state loans or grants, but instead morphs into a loan-guaran- tee program run by private banks. • Establishing a new incentive program that provides tax rebates to companies in certain major industries (finance and insurance, advanced manufacturing, health care, bioscience, technology, and digital media) that create at least 25 jobs paying above-average wages. • Placing a greater focus on two existing incentive programs: the Urban and Industrial Site Reinvest- ment Tax Credit and the Sales & Use Tax Relief Program. The state may consider other economic stimulus programs in re- sponse to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lehman said, depending what fur- ther actions are taken by Congress. Meantime, a new economic devel- opment plan for the state — being developed by AdvanceCT, in con- junction with DECD — was nearly finalized coming into 2020, but had to be shelved once coronavirus hit the state, Lehman said. It's on hold until after the pandemic passes and could see major changes depending on the state of Connecticut's post- COVID economy. "It's on hold until we get through COVID," Lehman said. "There is too much uncertainty right now. I think we are going to dust that off and there will probably be some nar- rowing or refocusing on the efforts once we get to the tail end of the crisis." One legislative victory in 2020 was the unexpected reforms to the state's Transfer Act, which has long been criticized by the commercial real estate industry as creating overly onerous restrictions on the sale of older and formerly polluted industrial properties. The change includes moving the program to a "released-based" system that streamlines contaminated property clean ups, Lehman said. Financial lifelines While Lehman's legislative agenda was largely put on hold, his overall job certainly wasn't. DECD oversaw three separate loan/grant programs, while also working with the Small Business Administration and local banks and employers on the rollout of the federal Paycheck 5 WE WATCHED IN 2020 HBJ FILE PHOTO David Lehman is the commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development. "It's going to be a bumpy ride until [a vaccine] is readily available. What's challenging is we don't know how the virus behaves during the winter and now you have the entirety of the country with meaningful levels of infection."

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