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www.HartfordBusiness.com January26,2015•Hartford Business Journal 3 DECD chief: Next mission is lifting CT's urban jobs By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com A s Connecticut continues to regain its eco- nomic mojo, growing jobs will remain the focus of the state's investment in cer- tain companies and industries, the state's chief economic-development booster says. Now, says Catherine H. Smith, commission- er of the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), her agency is collaborating with other state departments and businesses to leverage Connecticut's job and gross domestic production gains into long- term job-growth and funding for transporta- tion and other infrastructure improvements. "We've gotten a lot done,'' Smith said, referring to the "First Five'' and Small Busi- ness Express (EXP) loan programs and other job-creation tools enacted during the first term of her boss, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. "We've got great tools in the tool chest, but there's even more we can do to further the successes of this state.'' In an early January interview in her third- floor office overlooking downtown and midtown Hartford, Smith said programs like EXP will continue, but with a more targeted emphasis on aiding employers to lift hiring in Connecticut's most economically hard-pressed urban centers, like Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury and New London. The DECD chief also sees no change in the use of state-funded tax credits as incentives for employers to expand in or relocate to Con- necticut. So far, the state has committed $95 million in Urban and Industrial Sites Rein- vestment Tax Credits to certain "First Five'' aid recipients (Bristol's ESPN and Stamford's Pitney Bowes each got $10 million; Cheshire's Alexion Pharmaceuticals, $25 million; and Bloomfield's Cigna, $50 million.) Also, the state last spring agreed to allow United Technologies Corp. to apply $400 million in unused tax credits over 10 years in exchange for keeping its Pratt & Whitney Co. jet-engine division and thousands of jobs in East Hartford. Pushing through the next phase of Malloy's economic agenda, which will heavily empha- size transportation improvements, is the rea- son Smith says she's staying put at this early stage of the governor's second four-year term. "This job has been one of the most inter- esting of my career,'' said Smith, an ex-bank- er and former CEO of ING U.S. Retirement Services, now Voya Financial in Windsor. "There's still obviously more to be done. That's why I'm back.'' Connecticut's focus on bioscience will remain a top priority, Smith said. The Malloy administration has already invested upwards of $1 billion in upgrades to UConn's Farmington teaching hospital complex and Jackson Labora- tory's new genomics research center next door. They've also created a $200 million Bioscience Innovation Fund aimed at commercializing DECD Commissioner Catherine H. Smith Continued P H O T O | H B J F i l e PWorld-Class Music Every Week! P4-Star Bistro PSpecial Event Mecca! PCorporate Ticket Program! Tickets at: www.InfinityHall.com H Toll Free: 1-866-666-6306 860.560.7757 H 32 Front St., Hartford, CT UpComIng SHowS Many more at InfinityHall.com H Bela Fleck with The Knights H Riders on the Storm H Ladysmith Black Mambazo H XG Extreme Guitar Tour feat. Uli Roth and Vinnie Moore with Black Knights Rising and Old James H Robert Randolph and The Family Band H Maceo Parker H Bob Marley Birthday Bash feat. Anita Antoinette (from The Voice), Jesse Royal, I Anbassa and Knight Blade Hosted by Nikki Z from Hot 93.7 H Leon Russell H Robert Earl Keen H Dianne Reeves with Peter Martin, Romero Lubambo, Reginald Veal, Terreon Gully H Infinity Hall Mardi Gras Party H Buckwheat Zydeco - The King of Louisiana Zydeco Music now opEn! ank You For Your Patronage!