Hartford Business Journal

14 Hartford Business Journal • July 24, 2017 www.HartfordBusiness.com 3-Jul ECONOMICS Land area (sq. miles) 34 Business profile (2014) Pop./sq. mile (2010) 698 Sector Units Median age (2014) 44 Construction 49 235 Households (2014) 8,731 Manufacturing 13 517 Median HH Inc. (2014) $109,823 Retail Trade 55 1,085 67 2,408 Population (2014) 61 954 2000 23,234 Total Government 22 1,125 2010 23,511 2014 23,681 2020 23,208 LABOR FORCE Commuters (2014) Race/Ethnicity (2014) Commuters into town from: White 20,827 Simsbury 2,054 328 Black 573 West Hartford 471 296 Asian Pacific 1,055 Granby 448 Hartford 282 Native American 33 Town % State % Avon 372 Other/Multi-race 600 1,756 11% 28% Hispanic 1,189 1,100 7% 7% 10,616 65% 37% Labor Force (Residence) 12,685 HOUSING 12,133 Housing stock (2014) GOVERNMENT 552 Existing units (total) 9,154 4.4% % single unit 80.0% New permits auth. (2015) 93 Place of Work (2014) as % existing units 1.00% 744 Demolitions (2015) 1 9,558 Residential sales (2013) 280 517 Median price $334,800 TOP 5 GRAND LIST Top 5 Employers Company Amount % of Net $42.5M 0.2% $23.4M 0.1% Connecticut Light & Power $22.2M 0.1% $17.2M 0.1% Hoffman Auto Group $13.2M 0.1% Employment The New McLean Simsbury Board of Education Simsbury 933 Hopmeadow Street Simsbury, CT 06070 (860) 658-3200 Annual debt service (2014) as % of expenditures as % of state average per capita Educational attainment (2014) Persons age 25 or older High school graduate Associate's Degree 128.7% Finance and Insurance Canton Bristol Accommodation and Food Services Employed Unemployed 39.3% Government form as % of expenditures Unemployment Rate # of units Total Employment Manufacturing Employment Total revenue (2014) Per capita tax (2014) $38,609,436 Total indebtedness (2014) Total expenditures (2014) as % of state average $99,794,245 Simsbury Hopmeadow Street Executive Risk Indemnity Inc E and A/I and I and G Commons LP Hartford Life and Accident Ins Co $1,610 $3,192,698,507 7.7% $7,557,907 69.5% Bachelor's or more Equalized net grand list (2010) Ensign-Bickford Industries as % of state average 92% per capita $133,168 Chubb Insurance $3,474 Selectman - Town Meeting $98,275,421 SIMSBURY Town Hall: 933 Hopmeadow Street Simsbury, CT 06070 (860) 658-3200 TOWN PROFILE Source: Connecticut Economic Resource Center, www.cerc.com from page 1 is important to Connecticut, where employers requested nearly 8,300 skilled worker visas in fiscal year 2016. Meantime, immigrant-owned businesses in the state earned $1.1 billion in rev- enue in 2014, while immigrant households paid $1.8 billion in state and local taxes that same year, according to New American Economy. The International Entrepreneurs program would have provided accepted applicants with two years — known as "parole" status — to work to grow their businesses in the U.S. To qualify, applicants would have to raise $250,000 in venture capital financing or $100,000 in gov- ernment grants, or show that their company would create "significant public benefit." In the past, immigration officials have typically only granted such parole status on humanitarian grounds. Hartford immigration attorney Dana Bucin said the program's delay didn't happen in a vac- uum, and it signals another step toward a more protectionist immigration stance. The delay came in the wake of a travel ban President Donald Trump proposed earlier this year that seeks to restrict visas for travelers from six Middle Eastern majority-Muslim coun- tries and another executive order that called for a review of the country's largest worker visa program for skilled workers, known as H-1B. Bucin, who said she had more than a dozen clients excited about the International Entrepreneurs program, said government is shooting itself in the foot. "There are highly talented folks from U.S. colleges and universities who are very much in demand and they are forced to figure out some other avenue," said Bucin, who chairs Murtha Cullina's immigration practice. "You're shrink- ing the [talent] pipeline. This is not good." Bucin said skilled immigrants could choose to move to Canada, which in March revised its own skilled-worker visa program to allow for application processing in 20 business days. In the U.S., H-1B visas can take months to clear. Hopes dashed For one Greater Hartford immigrant- entrepreneur, the program delay announced July 10 struck a blow. "I was astounded, frustrated, incredulous," said the woman, who has been in the U.S. legal- ly for the past 12 years but requested her iden- tity be withheld because she was concerned public statements could impact a separate visa application that's pending. If she is unable to secure an extended visa status by a certain point, she may have to leave the country. She has worked in the nonprofit sector and earned two graduate degrees from UConn, where she later worked with STEM entrepreneurs. She wants to build a company that teaches business skills to university scientists and guides the development of new startups. She still hopes the International Entrepre- neurs program will move forward next year, but in the meantime she is weighing her options. "Right now I'm on a very thin rope," she said. One option could be to apply for an inves- tor visa known as an E-2, which would require a substantial investment of her own money (likely $40,000 or more) into a company. Though she'd rather build her own busi- ness, she said she has an offer to become a part owner in a manufacturing company. Another option would be a move north, though she would lose the Connecticut net- work she has built up over the years. "People like me have options, very real options," she said. "I look at Canada, which is say- ing 'come here,' and I say 'why am I doing this?' " H-1B The delay of the International Entrepre- neurs program comes after another year of high demand for H-1B visas. Congress has long allotted 85,000 H-1B visas per year (20,000 of which are specifi- cally for workers with advanced degrees), and for the past five years, applications have maxed out within just four days. Immigration officials received just under 200,000 applications in the recent April applica- tion cycle. Though demand remains high, that was a dip from 233,000 applications last year. Some suspect Trump's executive orders played a role in the declining applications. "I certainly think it had to do with skepti- cism about the future of the program in gen- eral," said Adam Mocciolo, an immigration attorney with Pullman & Comley in Bridgeport. Connecticut IT and professional services firms — East Hartford's Cyient, Glaston- bury's GSS Infotech and Danbury's Genpact — were the largest H-1B visa applicants in the state in fiscal 2016. In addition, for companies that sponsor H-1B prospects, the costs can add up. Mocci- olo said each application costs several thou- sand dollars, plus legal fees. If a sponsoring company has not done well in the annual H-1B lottery, they may scale back their efforts. Both Mocciolo and Bucin said the true impact of the executive orders may not be felt until next year or the year after, since employers are able to temporarily hire immigrant college graduates as they pursue a longer-term visa. Colleges, too, will likely see the impact over the next few years, said Bucin, who gives immi- gration presentations to area students. n CT immigrants fear visa program delay H-1B Visa Applications Submitted by CT Employers S O U R C E : F E D E R A L D A T A C O M P I L E D B Y I M M I H E L P. C O M ( F Y 1 6 I S L A T E S T A V A I L A B L E ) 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Visa application requests Fiscal year 7,823 7,447 8,917 10,141 8,268

• Cover