Hartford Business Journal

20 Hartford Business Journal • February 23, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com OpiniOn & Commentary editorial Malloy's budget offers good, bad, and uncertainty G ov. Dannel P. Malloy's two-year, $40 billion budget offers a mixed bag for busi- nesses. While the second-term Democrat offered a few carrots that aim to sweeten businesses' appetite to the spending plan, numerous proposals will increase the cost of doing business in Connecticut. Here's an assessment of the good, bad, and uncertainty created by Malloy's budget. the Good Small employers have long abhorred the $250 business entity tax, levied by the state every two years. Malloy is proposing to eliminate the tax, providing minor relief. However, Malloy's budget also calls for increasing from $20 to $100 fees paid by most companies that file annual reports with the Secretary of the State's office. That will reduce the tax cut's overall impact. Municipalities were largely spared from major funding cuts, making property tax increases less likely. Malloy also avoided introducing new business taxes, and he left most tax credit programs intact. Hundreds of millions of dollars have also been set aside for economic development initiatives ranging from brownfield revitalization to providing cheap capital to manufacturers. the Bad During last year's election, Malloy promised not to raise taxes to close projected billion-dollar deficits, but his budget clearly falls short on that promise. Among his ploys to raise revenue Malloy wants to indefinitely extend the 20 percent surcharge on the corpora- tions tax and limit the use of credits businesses can use to offset that tax. The Connecticut Business & Industry Association said Malloy's budget will make Connecticut less competitive, and we agree with that. Connecticut already is a high- cost place to do business, and Malloy's budget only adds to that. To be fair, Malloy faced difficult decisions. He could have slashed municipal aid, likely forcing many cities and towns to raise property taxes. And at least one UConn economist warned any serious government belt tightening could severely damage Con- necticut's recovery and hinder long-term job growth. Malloy may have been caught between a rock and a hard place, but the budget reflects his view that state government must play a significant role in citizens' lives. We think that role is too big. the Uncertain The business community has offered strong support for making transportation investments, and Malloy pitched an ambitious agenda, including spending $10 billion over the next five years on various bridge, highway, and rail projects. Long-term, Mal- loy wants to spend $100 billion over 30 years on highways, rail, bicycle paths, airports, and seaports. The problem is Malloy has not identified the source for a significant chunk of the future funding. That is huge cause for concern for businesses, which already expressed reservations about adding tolls to Connecticut highways. Malloy's budget chief Ben Barnes said tolls are possible, but he didn't rule out raising other state taxes to pay for infrastructure investments. The business community believes the state needs to invest in a modern, 21st century transportation system that safely and efficiently moves goods and people throughout Connecticut, but at what cost? If the state adds tolls and a host of other tax and fee increases to pay for Malloy's ambitious plan we could just end up building bridges and roads companies use to move their operations to lower-cost destinations. n other VoiCes Intellectually disabled offer manufacturers workforce solution By Stephen E. Morris "M anufacturing in Connecticut is dead!" That's a phrase that was heard for many years in and around the Nutmeg State. The word was that manufacturers were moving their operations offshore. However, a recent report by the U.S. Census Bureau has demonstrated that manu- facturing is again gaining a strong foothold, particularly in Hartford County. According to the report, Hartford County has a healthy 1,261 manufacturers employing a sizeable 57,000 workers. Don Klepper- Smith, chief econo- mist of DataCore Partners, calls manufacturing the "primary engine of economic growth" in Connecticut, but adds that the issue is how to keep that engine firing on all economic cylinders. One growth strategy that some Connecti- cut manufacturers are using is hiring people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD). People with even significant IDD can do complex and routine jobs leaving higher skilled and educated employees to focus on aspects of the job more fitting to their pay grade. This is a cost effective and strategic advantage that is catching on. Organizations like Favarh — the Arc of the Farmington Valley — provide manufacturers with crews of four or five workers and a job coach to do complex yet routine assembly tasks like creating slat carriers at Trumpf, the large manufacturer of industrial lasers in Farmington; assembling intricate boxes at Rowley Spring and Stamping Corp. in Bristol; packaging electrical boxes and attaching gas- kets to sheet-metal components at Legrand Wiremold in West Hartford; and packaging specialty "brushes" into cellophane bags at Microcare in New Britain. Other manufacturers like Reliable Spring in Bristol outsource tasks to workers with IDD like inserting tiny screws into battery con- nectors used in the lights on miners' helmets around the globe. The key is that all these tasks are both complex and routine, making them ideal for some IDD workers. Organizations that sup- port workers with IDD work hard to match the right workers to each employer and teach the necessary skills, steps, and techniques; sometimes modifying the space or creating workarounds to allow for efficient work flow. Once taught, these workers become produc- tive employees, often proving to be more reli- able and more enthusiastic than their cowork- ers without disabilities. Heather Gombos, vice president of business operations at Microcare, noted that her com- pany just recently started using a crew of work- ers with IDD, but already she is seeing results. "It has allowed us to better utilize our existing staff on more intricate work. It means we don't have to hire temp workers to do the more routine, repetitive work," she said. "Meanwhile, we ship our products all over the world so the things they touch here in New Britain will be used in manufacturing plants in places like China, Brazil and Germany. They are very enthusiastic when they come to work and that enthusiasm is infectious." Bill Joyce, personnel and accounting man- ager at Rowley Spring, said the crew that works at his company, "lights up the room every day with their energy and their enthusiasm. We watch them grow, interact, learn and have fun. We are delighted with their influence on our organization and our culture. They are proud of their achievements and their contributions to our business. We all feel lucky to have them as part of the Rowley family." Mike Kijak, plant manager of Legrand Wire- mold, said the cost effectiveness of employing workers with IDD, coupled with their ability to master repetitive tasks, plus their sincere enthu- siasm, makes the arrangement very worthwhile. "Using our crew to do the repetitive aspects of our operation isn't just cost effective; it gets the job done in a way that boosts everyone's spirits," he said. "Every time you go into a store like Home Depot to buy something like a Wire- mold electrical box, you're buying a product that was partially assembled and packaged by a worker with intellectual disabilities." People with IDD work in manufactur- ing and a wide variety of other industries throughout Hartford County and many work independently and competitively. They are contributing employees, community vol- unteers, neighbors, and friends. They have so much to contribute and when given the chance, they are eradicating erroneous and antiquated stereotypes. Hartford County manufacturers are clearly the powerhouse behind economic growth. Some of them, the smart ones, are also driving internal diversity in ways that boost efficiencies, improve morale, and increase productivity. Hiring people with intellectual and developmental disabilities isn't just good will, its good business. n Stephen E. Morris is the executive director of Favarh — The Arc of the Farmington Val- ley— headquartered in Canton. hartfordBUsiness.Com Poll Will Gov. Malloy's two-year budget hurt or improve CT's business environment? ● Hurt ● Improve ● Minimal impact To vote, go online to HartfordBusiness.com. Last week's poll results: Is hiring a nonviolent ex-convict a good idea? 77.3% Yes, as long as they are productive. 22.7% No, it's too risky. Stephen E. Morris Send Us Your Letters The Hartford Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and guest commentaries for our opinion pages. Electronic submissions are preferred and welcome at: editor@HartfordBusiness.com. Or you may fax submissions to Editor, Hartford Business Journal, at (860) 570-2493.

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