Hartford Business Journal

12 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | September 12, 2022 ON THE RECORD SHORT TERM. LONG TERM. It takes balance. ©2022 CliftonLarsonAllen LLP. Investment advisory services are offered through CliftonLarsonAllen Wealth Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor. CPAs | CONSULTANTS | WEALTH ADVISORS 860-561-4000 West Hartford CLAconnect.com We'll get you there. guys tens of millions of dollars in incentives to move here. I've been a good employer here in the state of Connecticut. And they're using that money you gave them to take my employees.' I wanted to turn that on its head and make sure that our existing busi- nesses know we're there for them. Also, we've really shifted our focus to investing in workforce development and doing everything we can to make sure companies have the workforce they need. Q. In terms of companies that have moved here during your first term, what are some of the biggest wins in your mind? A. The first was Infosys coming to Hartford. That was before I became governor, but I did that with Indra Nooyi (former PepsiCo CEO and former co-chair of AdvanceCT's board). And that was when Hartford was potentially filing for bankruptcy. Certainly down in lower Fairfield County, there's four or five major financial technology companies that have moved here. Digital Currency Group, (which is relocating its head- quarters from New York City to Stam- ford), is one of the most important fintech companies in the world, and that was a big win. Philip Morris International is a fortune 100 company that moved to Stamford. The UBS building in Stam- ford was empty when I took office and now it's fully leased. I think you'll see probably 40 life sciences companies in New Haven. You remember, Alexion was gonna leave, but now they've doubled down in New Haven because they see value in the growing bioscience sector there. Hartford, I got to watch carefully. People who work for the insurance companies can work from anywhere. It used to be you were worried about a Steve Cohen (the billionaire hedge fund manager and current owner of the New York Mets) saying 'I'm out of here, I'm moving to Delray Beach, Florida.' But now it's the $150,000-a-year employee who says 'I love working at Travelers, but I don't have to do it from here do I?' The commercial side is not growing quickly in Hartford, but the residen- tial is booming. So the number of young people moving into Hartford is growing. Q. UnitedHealthcare and Prudential recently announced major downsiz- ings in downtown Hartford. Many other companies in the city are planning to reduce their office foot- prints. What's going to happen with all the empty office space in Hart- ford and elsewhere in Connecticut as employers continue to embrace hybrid and remote work? A. In Hartford right now we have three or four commercial buildings converting to residential. I think that makes a lot of sense. I think you'll see a lot of life sciences development in New Haven. I think you'll see a lot of lab space growing there. I think you'll continue to see a lot of development of distribution centers. But, would I be a big investor in a new office building? Not right now. Q. Does the state need to put more money into Hartford to convince landlords to convert some Class A office towers into new uses, like apartments? A. We've done a lot through providing funding through Capital Region Devel- opment Authority, which has helped finance many of the apartment build- ings in Hartford, and we'll continue to, but we are trying to get a little bit away from the subsidy game. Q. How do you think the remote/ hybrid work phenomenon will impact CT's economy overall and our ability to attract talent across industries? A. I think it plays to our strengths. In 2021 we had tens of thousands of new families moving into the state. I think part of that was people coming from New York City, a great place to visit but people may not want to live there. Q. There were 105,000 job open- ings in Connecticut at the end of June. What's your assessment of the labor shortage and how has your administration been trying to address it? A. Workforce development has been one of my main focus areas. Early on I raised up the Office of Workforce Strategy and appointed Garrett Moran and Kelli-Marie Vallieres to lead it. I created the chief manufacturing officer position (currently held by Paul Lavoie) and appointed Kelli-Marie to lead the new Connecticut Workforce Unit, which is in charge of devel- oping a statewide plan to promote workforce development. We've made the biggest investment in workforce development in the history of the state, and we did it early. There is a real need for it. If I can't get Electric Boat 1,000 new people a year, the Navy's gonna say we'll build (submarines) somewhere else. We are addressing workforce in two ways. We're trying to get people who don't have the skills, the skills they need. And then it's getting our work- force participation up. And a key part of that is ensuring we have adequate day care and child care, which we made a big

• Cover