Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 2, 2024 15 Here's A Glimpse of Our Bank Portfolio... Building banks is a specialty of ours. Over the years, PDS has had the great privilege of working closely and often with some of the area's most respected banks, including TD Bank and Webster Bank. These projects have ranged from new construction to general renovation, including several new free standing buildings, one of which incorporated the latest TD Bank design with LEED Platinum credentials. In addition, we have completed fast track interior fi t-outs with all new fi nishes specifi c to our client's design needs. With in-house disciplines of engineering from civil to mechanical, PDS can design the right building to fi t your budget and timeline. SPOTLIGHT ON: COMMERICAL 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfi eld, CT 06002 | 860.242.8586 | pdsec.com THINK • PLAN • BUILD 4,000 SF | Wallingford, CT 4,000 SF | Norwalk, CT Various Interior Renovations Bringing over five decades of expertise to the table, we've specialized in crafting pre-engineered metal buildings since 1965. This latest project, spanning an impressive 54,000 square feet, was tailored to the needs of our valued client, Hartford Truck Equipment in South Windsor, CT. Designed and built to their precise specifications, this new facility is set to be a versatile production and storage space for equipment, parts, and much more. For almost 60 years, PDS Engineering & Construction has prioritized building relationships based on trust, efficiency, and transparency. It's these values that ensure we consistently deliver the highest quality results. 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 | 860.242.8586 | pdsec.com Hartford Truck Equipment in South Windsor, CT Here's A Glimpse of Our Bank Portfolio... Building banks is a specialty of ours. Over the years, PDS has had the great privilege of working closely and often with some of the area's most respected banks, including TD Bank and Webster Bank. These projects have ranged from new construction to general renovation, including several new free standing buildings, one of which incorporated the latest TD Bank design with LEED Platinum credentials. In addition, we have completed fast track interior fi t-outs with all new fi nishes specifi c to our client's design needs. With in-house disciplines of engineering from civil to mechanical, PDS can design the right building to fi t your budget and timeline. SPOTLIGHT ON: COMMERICAL 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfi eld, CT 06002 | 860.242.8586 | pdsec.com THINK • PLAN • BUILD 4,000 SF | Wallingford, CT 4,000 SF | Norwalk, CT Various Interior Renovations CONSTRUCTING EXCELLENCE SPOTLIGHT ON: COMMERCIAL mendations between the three pillars in total. We have a vision of having a lot of this implemented over the next three to five years." And he also believes it's crucial that the ownership of such a long-term economic strategy for the state resides at least partially in the private sector. "Some people that we talked to at the forums were like, ' well, that's government's responsibility. Why don't they own this strategy?'" he said. " But government's not going to put a long-term strategy in place when those people are maybe getting elected every two or four years." Regulatory patchwork The No. 1 issue CBIA Foundation members heard about during the survey period was overly burdensome regulation, DiPentima said. "Residents have more optimism about Connecticut than they've had in many, many years, but they're still frustrated," he said. "They still find it challenging to get things done because of an over-regulatory, complex, non-transparent environ- ment that we have in the state." He emphasized that the situation is not just at the state level. Some of it has to do with a patchwork of rules spread over 169 towns, and a lack of county government. "We heard from a lot of people — residents and businesses — ' I could do something over here, but if I try to go over the town border and do that exact same thing, I'm met with a different set of challenges, a different set of requirements, yet I only went 5 miles.'" It was a situation that was new to the out-of-state team from Economic Leadership. "Our consultants said they had never seen anything like that in any of the other states that they worked with," he said. The recommendations DiPentima says the solutions have more to do with the carrot than the stick. "In Connecticut, we have a lot of respect for local control, but how do you make that efficient, efficient for residents and businesses?" he said. "Can we create benchmarks where if you're able to achieve these best practices, instead of it being penalized in the towns and cities, do you get more state funding if you achieve these benchmarks?" On the education side, as you might expect from a business leader, he's focused on forging better pathways from education to the workplace. "We heard the teachers tell us that the way they're measured, the school scorecard, it's not incentivizing work- based learning," he explained. "It's a college-or-bust mentality. But about 70% to 80% of the job openings don't require a bachelor's degree at all." A big goal is to adjust that scorecard to see a progression from school to the workforce as an equally successful outcome as a college placement. "We have a lot of recommen- dations around career pathways, around reforming the education system to encourage more work- based learning and more internships while in high school," he said. And while he recognizes it will take time to build buy-in for the full roadmap, he does look forward to making at least some progress in the upcoming legislative session. "I think the legislature will have a hard time not embracing these recommendations to make our system more efficient, but also more productive at the same time," DiPentima said. CT'S ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS RANKINGS The CBIA Foundation on Sept. 4 will reveal its long-term economic roadmap for the state that will focus on business climate, workforce, infrastructure and innovation. Here's how CT currently ranks in these areas, according to CNBC's 2024 Top States for Business analysis. 2024 RANK AMONG CATEGORY U.S. STATES Infrastructure 29 Workforce 20 Economy 39 Quality of life 9 Cost of doing business 43 Technology and innovation 25 Business friendliness 39 Education 4 Access to capital 22 Cost of living 34

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