Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com July 31, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 13 price. I think playing up the more kind of funky, ethnic flavor of Hartford would help a lot. We can't compete with Boston. We can't compete with Manhattan. We can't compete with a lot of places. But there's a lot here that you can't easily get in those places. I think Hartford has the interestingness of a much bigger city. Mitch: Hartford is a Capital City with a small-town feel, whose culture is as rich and diverse as the residents. We have to play to our strengths. We're not going to be a Bos- ton or New York. We can compete with Bos- ton and New York, but we have to compete with them on our terms, and what we have, like insurance or advanced manufacturing and things like that. So, in that sense, there is a lot that Hartford can offer Millennials. From the people that I've known who have moved here, a lot of the common reactions that I hear is, 'Wow, I didn't know Hartford had this,' or 'this is incredible,' or 'Hartford's a lot better than I thought,' things like that, where there's all these misperceptions. The city has so much to offer. I think what we need to focus on is what we have and how we can build on that vs. hav- ing what everyone else has. You know, Roger Federer isn't competing against LeBron James. They have to stay in their wheelhouse. In Hartford's wheelhouse, we have Dil- lon Stadium for soccer, which we should totally build up and improve upon and just bring from all the regions the kids that come down and play soccer. As far as the XL Center is concerned, I think we should renovate it completely and expand it, and add more seats. That way, you can draw bigger artists because they'll get more revenue from ticket sales. Then, we won't have to compete with the casinos. Chris: HYPE's doing their part to reach out to all the businesses in the area, and make them aware of what we're doing so we can get their young employees to come and meet us. Part of HYPE's mission is getting young professionals to understand what the area has to offer, showing them that this is a great place to live and work. How concerned are you about the city's fiscal woes and publicity surrounding Aetna's plans to relocate HQs to Manhattan? Mitch: Aetna is only moving their top executives, about 250-plus people to the Manhattan office in order to compete in that space. Good luck to them because that's a very savage pool there. My intern- ship was at Aetna when I was in school, so I have nothing but positive things to say. But as far as Hartford is concerned, in the short term, we'll be fine. I think it's more important now than ever that businesses unite, especially with the MetroHartford Alliance, and figure out ways to keep Hart- ford afloat. Once that gets laid out over the next couple years, I think we'll better understand if the city is truly ripe for people to move, grow and pursue a career here. The legacy here is incredible. The cul- ture is amazing. The people are great. I think it's built to succeed. I honestly think Hartford is in the position where there's too much history here for the city too fail. And too many people here care about the city. You can see that with the fireworks that the city cut funding for last year but it was privately funded this year. There's too many people who care about this city to watch it fail. So, there's hope for the long term. Andie: I'm actually, and have been for some time, looking at entrepreneurship in the city. The current situation makes me nervous — I'm sure it makes other people nervous — you want to see how things shake out before you commit and invest in the city. For me personally, this holding pattern is frustrating. In fact, I'd almost rather it shake out. I know a lot of people say that they don't know what the tax rate is going forward and whether they should invest in property or not. The uncertainty at the state level and local level is the bad thing. Obviously, nobody wants Hartford to go bankrupt, but it's happened in other cities. It can be a cleansing process on some level if it works out. Chris: It would be detrimental or very ill-advised during a coming election year to let the Capital City go bankrupt. If Hartford wants Millennials to become lifetime resi- dents of the city, the people that are thinking about staying here long term are thinking about the financials of the city and of the state, obviously. It's not just a Hartford problem. It extends throughout Connecticut. Does downtown Hartford need a supermarket? Chris: Downtown is very walkable. But people that live in the suburbs still get in their cars and drive to the grocery store, so why should it be any different for us. I don't think it's an issue. There are plenty of grocery stores in Hartford and the surrounding towns. Per- sonally, I use a delivery service for my gro- ceries. … There are plenty of small places that if you need something in a pinch, you can stop on your way home. Mitch: It would be nice if I could walk to a Stop & Shop or a Whole Foods, … but we have sufficient delis and semi-markets. n 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 The Belknap White Group, Hartford, CT | 2012 | 15,300 sq. ft. Northeast Beverage, Orange, CT 2006 | 97,000 sq. ft. Contact us at 1-855-BUILD-86 or visit us on the web. assets underappreciated Renovating and expanding downtown Hartford's XL Center (above) would sustain the city's "fun'' factor with Millennials, who prize its diversity of people and activities. P H O T O | H B J F I L E

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