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www.HartfordBusiness.com April 3, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 9 Quality Construction + Butler Manufacturing = Repeat Customers www.borghesibuilding.com © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. 2155 East Main Street • Torrington, Connecticut 06790 Stevens Manufacturing, Milford, CT | 1990 | 22,000 sq. ft. 1998 | Addition — 5,000 sq. ft. 2009 | Addition — 8,300 sq. ft. 2016 | Addition — 29,000 sq. ft. Contact us at 860-482-7613 or visit us on the web. MULTIFAMILY AND HEALTHCARE LOAN SALE 2017-1 Approximate Portfolio Size Unpaid Principal Balance: $59 Million Total Number of Loans: 10 Multifamily Loans – 2 Healthcare Loans - 8 Scheduled Bid Date: April 26, 2017 For further information, please visit the HUD MHLS 2017-1 website at www.hud.gov/fhaloansales MHLS 2017-1 includes mortgage notes secured by properties in the following states: CT, IL, MI, NC, TX, and USVI This announcement is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy mortgage loans. Information concerning the mortgage loans will be furnished only to, and bids will be accepted only from, bidders who certify that they have such knowledge and experience in financial and business matters so as to be capable of evaluating the merits and risk and who certify that they have the resources to bear the risk of a purchase of the mortgage loans. Transaction Specialist: J.S. Watkins Realty Partners 4600 East West Highway Suite 610 Bethesda, MD 20814 301-215-7269 mhls2017-1@debtx.com @jswpartners $700 million lapse out of a major category like Medicaid or municipal aid, so it's likely going to come from personal services, staff salaries, staff benefits, which means lay- offs," McClure said. A concession package, though, may not necessitate any workforce reductions, he said, adding that it's possible the state could achieve $700 million in cuts without any appreciable changes to overall state staffing, with savings reached exclusively through a concession package. While not speaking for unions, "it's pos- sible that some of these concessions could force retirements because people would no longer want to work and contribute or take part in a sys- tem that they don't find as beneficial as they used to," McClure said. The state report- ed 2,662 retire- ments last year, or about 550 more than in 2015, adding to cost savings from layoffs that also occurred last year. "The layoff separations had an impact, most certainly, but the volume of retire- ments we saw was really high last year," McClure said. Two unions with heavy representation among state workers, the Connecticut AFL- CIO and 1199 New England SEIU, which represents 7,000-plus healthcare workers in state agencies helping those that include the disabled, mentally ill, drug addicted and abused children, resent being the fallback position for budget cuts. "State workers have proven time and time again that they are willing to come to the table and to help come to a resolution together," said Lori Pelletier, president of the state AFL-CIO. "They don't mind being partners, they just don't want to be prey." Pelletier and Jennifer Schneider, spokes- woman for 1199, called for addressing issues like large corporations that pay their employees so little that their workers have to utilize state services, essentially subsi- dizing the businesses' low wages. There has to be a discussion about revenue, including issues like raising the capital gains tax, Schneider said. "There is a view that state workers are the only solution to a problem, which is just so myopic," she said. State services and workers keep get- ting reduced, but the deficit keeps growing, Schneider said. "The only real solution … is to really address the revenue side of it," she said. Private-sector concerns Pete Gioia, an economist for the Con- necticut Business and Industry Associa- tion, said government employment has probably peaked for at least the next five or six years. Private-sector employment is noth- ing to brag about either, and overall, employment was flat last year, down 200 jobs, according to 2016 revisions from the state. "The numbers were awful, I mean we had a net 200 job loss," Gioia said. "We should have added 12,000 to 15,000 jobs last year." Contributors include a lack of skilled manufacturing workers in the state and proposed negative, anti-business legisla- tion such as a $15 minimum wage and new paid family and medical leave program in Connecticut, Gioia said. "All that has done is driven a lot of firms in the retail, construction, medical and particularly food-service businesses … screamingly into automation and robots," he said. "That, I think, has been going on with a vengeance for at least the last 10 months." "I think we have the opportunity to add thousands and thousands of workers, but we've got to find a way to deal with the skills gap," Gioia said. Connecticut also has to find a way to encourage more companies to expand here, he said. "I think both of those are possible and doable, but it really needs to move up in the priority schedule of the policymakers," Gioia said. n Gambling Jobs on the Decline in Connecticut State Government Retirements Connecticut's Government Sector Shrinking (in 000s) The numbers below represent individuals employed in local, state, federal, tribal (casino), and higher-ed government jobs. All Government Year Employment 2008 254.8 2009 250.6 2010 246.4 2011 242.8 2012 241.0 2013 240.5 2014 240.1 2015 239.0 2016 236.4 S O U R C E : F E D E R A L , S TAT E , L O C A L C T D O L C U R R E N T E M P L O Y M E N T S TAT I S T I C S ( C E S ) Marcia Leclerc, Mayor, East Hartford Lori Pelletier, president of the state AFL-CIO S O U R C E : Q U A R T E R L Y W O R K F O R C E I N D I C A T O R S ( Q W I ) F R O M T H E U . S . C E N S U S B U R E A U S O U R C E : S T A T E O F F I C E O F P O L I C Y A N D M A N A G E M E N T 0 5 10 15 20 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12 '13 '14 '15 '16 Number of employees (in 000s) 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 2016 2015 Number of employees 2,662 2,106