Hartford Business Journal

www.CTGreenGuide.com SprinG 2015 • Connecticut Green Guide 15 the street from the CTfastrak station — for transit- oriented development. In Hartford, a leading nonprofit group will continue to stabilize and restore the Swift Factory — which once made the gold leaf that adorns the State Capitol — into a community-driven hub of food manufacturing, healthcare, and sustainable technology. Absent this public investment, these sites would continue to languish as blights on their surrounding communities. Instead, these former eyesores are now being reimagined as new businesses, new homes, new open space, new cultural resources, and in some cases even new urban agricultural land. Brownfields are having second acts as economic engines. Every acre of brownfields that can be redeveloped is an acre of job- creating development that doesn't consume precious green space or farmland. Brownfields leverage existing infrastructure like sewers, water, energy, and transpor- tation. Investing in brownfields pays multiple dividends. Despite this historic commitment of state resources, the challenge facing the state remains daunting — there are thousands of contaminated legacy industrial sites throughout the state where redevelopment faces significant technical and financial challenges. So in 2015, DECD and our partner, the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) will continue to pri- oritize brownfield revitalization with a goal of returning the most promising of these sites to productive use as quickly and efficiently possible. Connecticut's brownfields are a legacy challenge left behind by the past — but with concerted investment and focus, they can be converted from liabilities into assets that will fuel the state's future. Tim Sullivan is the deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development. Northeast Neighborhood Partners received a $1 million DECD loan to revitalize the former Swift Factory in Hartford. The city is pursuing a federal Promise Zone declaration for the neighborhood -- a program designed to clean up blighted areas -- that would help the nonprofit restore the property. PHOTO | HBJ FiLE Celebrate the achievements of someone you know! Nominate Today! Nominations accepted year round Go to: HartfordBusiness.com/nominate Have a friend or colleague whose successes deserve recognition? Hartford Business Journal award winners are highlighted in print, online, and at a corresponding special event. HigHligHting tHe acHie vement s of area business leaders

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