Hartford Business Journal

12 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MAY 27, 2024 Paul Whitescarver, a retired Navy captain and former commanding officer of the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, now serves as the executive director of seCTer, a private nonprofit that supports economic development in New London County. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Riding the Wave Southeastern CT officials see opportunities to grow the state's 'blue economy' seeking to lure the same types of businesses. Lawmakers didn't end up voting for the proposal, but they did approve legislation (House Bill 5432) in the recently completed session that will establish a working group to develop an economic development and tourism plan for the Mystic area — including the towns of Groton, New London and Stonington. That bill, though, doesn't mention the blue economy. Of Connecticut's eight counties, New London has the fourth-largest economic impact, recording a gross domestic product of $18.8 billion in 2022, which accounted for 6.8% of the state's $276.7 billion economy, according to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data. 'Doing great things' According to the London School of Economics and Political Science, the blue economy consists of many things, including "maritime shipping; fishing and aquaculture; coastal tourism; renewable energy; water desalination; undersea cabling; seabed extractive industries and deep-sea mining; marine genetic resources; and biotechnology." Most of those are already repre- sented along the state's shoreline and on the shores of the Thames, but seCTer officials see the potential for much more growth — if the state would get behind the effort in a more coordinated manner. SeCTer has already done some of the legwork. As the lead economic development resource for 22 munici- palities and boroughs in southeastern Connecticut, it helped develop and advance the region's Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. The organization also provides access to capital, offering small-business lending programs and seCTerRise, a grant program designed to "help businesses at any stage of the business lifecycle." By David Krechevsky davidk@hartfordbusiness.com T he $310 million State Pier Terminal in the Port of New London isn't much to look at. In fact, it resembles a big empty cement parking lot with two large industrial cranes. Built with money invested by the Connecticut Port Authority, Eversource Energy and Ørsted, a multinational energy company based in Denmark, the pier stands on 700 steel piles that literally support the massive parts delivered to build giant wind turbines used in offshore wind projects. That includes parts that were deliv- ered on May 1, when a Rolldock Storm heavy-load carrier arrived with the first delivery of tower sections for Revo- lution Wind, an offshore wind project that will generate enough energy to power more than 350,000 homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Revolution Wind will consist of 65 wind turbines located 32 miles south- east of the Connecticut coastline. It's expected to be operational in 2025. R.T. Hamilton Brown, director of economic develop- ment strategy for the Southeastern Connecticut Enter- prise Region, or seCTer, says the state has done a good job developing and promoting its offshore wind industry, but could do more to support and develop the "blue economy" in the region. SeCTer is a private nonprofit that supports economic development in New London County, an area with a significant blue economy that has evolved along the Thames River since before Connecticut was even a state. What began with whaling and the shipping of goods, now includes submarine building at General Dynamics Electric Boat, research facilities like the Coast Guard Research and Development Center and UConn campus at Avery Point, and even the Marine Science Magnet High School. Investigating ways to support and attract similar and related businesses and facilities could eventually boost both the region and the state's overall economy. Brown and other seCTer officials this year pushed state lawmakers to approve a bill that would have required the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to produce a blue economy study, which proponents say could put the state out in front of others R.T. Hamilton Brown Here's how New London County's GDP compares to the rest of CT RANK COUNTY GDP (2022) 1 Fairfield $90.4B 2 Hartford $85.9B 3 New Haven $52.7B 4 New London $18.8B 5 Middlesex $9.7B 6 Litchfield $9.1B 7 Tolland $5.4B 8 Windham $4.8B CONNECTICUT $276.7B Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

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