Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • April 2, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com G reater Hartford's diverse palette of "industry brands," from manu- facturing to finance to insurance to bioscience, each has a story to tell, and David Griggs says it's one he's here to share more of worldwide. "There's an opportunity to take on globally leading sectors and let more of the world know who we are,'' said Griggs, 52, the newest and only the second chief executive officer of the MetroHartford Alliance, the region's economic-develop- ment promoter. He succeeds R. Nelson "Oz" Griebel, who retired at the end of 2017 and is running as an independent candidate for governor. "If you look at manufacturing as a whole,'' he said, "we have some of the best manufacturers in the world that I don't know the rest of the world knows about.'' Griggs, an economic-development professional for nearly 20 years who was recently recruited to Hartford after working 6 1/2 years at the Greater Minneapolis St. Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership (Greater MSP), is known for his pen- chant for deep data analysis and other research to identify opportunities to recruit employers while enabling existing ones to thrive. Griggs also is respected for his extensive Rolodex of global contacts that helped bring tens of thou- sands of jobs and nearly $4 billion of investment to the 16-county Minneapolis-St. Paul region in the last six years. "For every industry, there's a whole new group of people we need to know,'' Griggs said of his contact list. Chief on that list, he said, is the global network of "site selectors,'' mostly real estate brokers-advisors and relocation and site consultants such as CBRE and Jones Lang Lasalle. Firms like those, Griggs said, typically occupy the top rung of direct contacts and influencers with employers looking for regions like Connecticut and Hart- ford for expansion and/or relocation. "We need them to understand,'' he said of site selec- tors and their clients, "who we are and the kind of companies we're trying to attract. We need to specify why they should come to Hartford and what is our sales proposition.'' In research- ing the Hartford region's economy, state data track- ing Connecticut exports caught his attention, he said. The value of goods shipped from Connecticut to outside the U.S. totaled $14.8 billion in 2017, up 2.5 percent from a year earlier. "Some of the numbers that stuck out to me were about this state's exports,'' he said, primarily manufactured parts and equipment. "This state exports way above its weight class. … So this state is already globally connected, and this region is already globally connected.'' On the same day (March 26) when he was publicly introduced as CEO at a packed MetroHartford Alliance breakfast at the Hartford Marriott Downtown, Griggs sat with HBJ at Alliance offices on Pratt Street for a wide-ranging con- versation about his career, his vision of economic development and the opportu- nities he sees for the Hartford region. According to Griggs and peers, he has crafted a career helping communi- ties discern and communicate their economic-development identities. He landed at the Greater MSP after 8 1/2 years in Buffalo, N.Y., and several years in Niagara Falls and Orleans County, N.Y., before that. "The opportunity, when I took the position in Minneapolis-St. Paul, we had some folks question my sanity in mov- ing from Buffalo to a community that was relatively unknown,'' Griggs said. Minneapolis-St. Paul, which shares with Hartford UnitedHealthcare and Travelers Cos. as major corporate ten- ants, has companies in manufacturing, aerospace and biomedical that, too, are global leaders in their sectors. However, Griggs said, they were "letting their neighbors [outside the region and Min- nesota] tell the world who they are.'' Griggs' success there drew attention to him from other U.S. communities, not just Hartford. "I had options,'' Griggs said. "I'd got- Hartford's Storyteller New MetroHartford Alliance CEO Griggs seeks to globalize region's economic message HBJ PHOTOS | STEVE LASCHEVER David Griggs is only the second CEO in the history of the MetroHartford Alliance, which promotes economic development in the Greater Hartford region. "If you look at manufacturing as a whole we have some of the best manufacturers in the world that I don't know the rest of the world knows about.'' David Griggs , Chief Executive Officer, MetroHartford Alliance

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