Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • September 11, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 27 www.HartfordBusiness.com August 21, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 25 SPONSORED CONTENT 2017 Awards Breakfast Highlights Bradley Development League By Susan Shalhoub Businesses locating or expanding around Bradley International Airport have a valuable framework of tax incentives and zoning arrangements, with the Bradley Development League having paved the way. The smart- growth organization — a collaborative effort of the towns of Granby, Windsor, Windsor Locks and Suffield — has been hard at work since 1995, said President Jim Hayden, 1st Selectman in East Granby. "It was all towns working together," said Hayden, with key representatives from these towns carrying on a legacy of collaboration spanning many years. With significant development around the airport over the past decade, there are about 2,000 acres of land still available. And companies looking to locate or grow there have the opportunity to build on the synergy that has evolved with the League's initiatives. Manufacturing and industrial businesses benefit from the Bradley Development Zone (BDZ), which the League helped get through the Legislature in 2012, producing a formalized tax reduction from the state. Optical-fiber manufacturer Nufern is one example of BDZ success in the area, said Hayden. "It doubled its size in past years," he said of the East Granby facility. "They went from 25,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet, adding 75 high-paying jobs." On a larger, global scale, Griffin Land was able to get a foreign trade-zone designation a few years ago, further building on the momentum of the airport, highways, and the businesses around it. The Greater Hartford Foreign Trade Zone offers certain tax and quota advantages to manufacturers, exporters and importers. And growth continues to ramp up at the airport itself, too, which generates $4 billion in overall economic impact to the region, said Hayden. He said the facility is seeing more routes added, with more direct flights and more foreign flights. "It shows vitality and that's really important to businesses. They want to be in an area where they have access to highways, air freight … They want to be in the communities that want to have them." And the Bradley Development League does want to have them, to thrive and help fuel the region's economy. With strength in numbers, collaboration with other economic and community groups has been key in achieving what the League has achieved so far: strategic, streamlined development that reduces barriers and provides incentives. "Working with the MetroHartford Alliance and other entities [such as the Connecticut Airport Authority], we're working to capitalize dollars and subsequently, jobs," said Hayden. Jim Hayden, President

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