Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1436466
28 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | DECEMBER 13, 2021 As a full-service accounting firm, we offer a depth of assurance, advisory, and tax services comparable to what national firms provide, but with the undivided attention and care for detail that we would expect for our own ventures. Contact us today to see how we can help you rest assured. Does your CPA firm make you feel like this? FMLCPAS.com | 860-657-3651 Glastonbury • New Haven • Enfield• Stamford Stafford Springs Our CT Cannabis Insider is delivered every Thursday at 10am to your inbox. SIGN UP NOW! HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM/ENEWSLETTERS FOCUS: Economic Development Q: So, what are you doing to recruit companies? What's in your toolbox of strategies? We have a new data center incentive that was passed by the state in the last year. We have been very active with going out there and meeting with data center site selectors. We have an incentive here in Connecticut that can compete toe- to-toe with any incentive around the country. We have worked with a developer to identify a way to get very cost competitive electricity, which is key for data centers since they consume a lot of energy. We are not going to be cost competitive with Nebraska, but we don't have to be. We have to be competitive with other Northeast locations to start to land data centers. Q: What else are you doing in terms of your on-the- ground recruitment efforts? It's been a little difficult with the pandemic, but we are starting to do some face-to-face meetings again. But we've been doing virtual webinars with different site selectors. We have a number of lead- generation firms and tactics that we use to try to promote Hartford as a place for doing business, just trying to get people to think about Hartford, and following up with as many virtual or in-person meetings as we can. Q: What is your pipeline in terms of the companies you are trying to recruit to the region? What have been your biggest wins so far? We've got 53 companies that are in some stage of conversation about potentially establishing a presence here. I'm highly confident you are going to see a lot of great wins in 2022 when companies start to really pull the trigger on moves and investment. That's been our challenge in 2020 and 2021, companies trying to understand what the post-pandemic world looks like for them. Most office users have been consolidating down their footprints. We haven't seen large expansions. What we have seen is small offices being created. As companies downsize and people have left New York City they are setting up smaller offices to be closer to where their people now are. We are seeing some of that activity. We are also seeing a lot of warehouse activity. Home Depot's new 421,000-square-foot distribution facility in South Windsor is a good example. We worked with the developer, Indiana-based Scannell Properties, to get that project landed, approved and built. Location Commercial rent tax Personal property Real property Income tax Sales tax State unemployment tax Total taxes Office lease cost Hartford $0 $13,000 $0 $93,750 $127,000 $24,000 $257,750 $556,800 Boston $0 $6,230 $0 $256,500 $125,000 $18,150 $405,880 $1,108,000 Manhattan $39,000 $0 $0 $209,486 $177,500 $18,560 $444,546 $1,442,200 Hartford a bargain compared to NYC, Boston Last year, the MetroHartford Alliance partnered with CohnReznick to compare the cost of doing business in Hartford vs. Manhattan and Boston. The following analysis is based on a company that occupies 20,000 square feet of Class A office space, has 50 employees who make $30 an hour or more, and has $5 million in annual net income. Below are the estimated tax and rent costs. Source: MetroHartford Alliance/CohnReznick