Hartford Business Journal

18 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 14, 2022 Simon Lichter is the new executive director of the Connecticut Technology Council. One of his primary goals is restoring the group's membership ranks. HBJ PHOTO | GREG BORDONARO Turnaround Effort CT Tech Council, hampered by declining membership and pandemic pains, looks to restore former luster, influence By Linda Keslar Hartford Business Journal Contributor F or the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC), the COVID-19 pandemic has been uniquely disruptive, as it has for many trade associations across the country. The statewide association is trying to figure out how to maintain relevance and provide value in a fundamentally different world than when it was launched in 1994 to advocate for the fledgling information technology industry. "The biggest challenge is finding our value in this day and age," said Simon Lichter, CTC's new executive director. The tech council's chief task remains the same, to make the state's tech ecosystem vibrant and easier for businesses to thrive, though technology today is interspersed across many industries, from manufacturing and health care to defense and insurance. But the pandemic continues to imperil CTC's two primary revenue sources: membership fees and events. Membership even before the crisis was becoming a tougher sell for associations in general, since the internet has made accessing information and performing business- to-business networking easier than ever. Over the past decade, CTC has seen its membership fall by nearly two-thirds. Today, its roster of 100 member companies ranges from startups and universities to major corporations — like Medtronic, Yale and JANUS Associates — as well as professional service providers like law firms, financial institutions and marketing organizations. In addition, COVID has forced the organization to cancel or postpone in-person events due to lockdowns and other restrictions. It's a similar experience shared by associations nationwide over the past two years, but the tech council hired Lichter in November to lead its turnaround efforts. CTC, which has an approximately 30-member board, has set a modest goal to increase its membership by 50% in 2022, Lichter said, which would amount to about 50 new companies. "We see CTC as Connecticut's premiere networking hub for tech companies, " said Lichter. "This cross-pollination of ideas is really essential." Diverse tech companies While Connecticut and its cities aren't known nationally as tech hubs, the state holds its own in several key industry rankings. For example, the Milken Institute in 2020 ranked the state 12th in its biennial "State Technology and Science Index," which uses 105 metrics to evaluate each state's knowledge economy. Connecticut ranked even higher in subcategories related to higher education and R&D funding, reflecting the innovation and talent pool fostered by major universities like Yale and UConn, and the proliferation of venture capital, startups, incubators, accelerators and other partners that support the state's tech ecosystem. Today, there are over 6,000 technology and tech-related businesses in the state, employing some 120,000 people, according to CTC estimates. The organization employs a very broad definition of technology in its assessment, Lichter

• Cover