State Unveils Business Recruitment Video Promoting “Place People Love to Live”
/“It’s a state where people wanna be,” exclaims Gov. Ned Lamont in the state’s new business recruitment video. The 7-minute video has an impressive line-up of a dozen co-stars, extolling the state’s virtues and urging corporate decision-makers from elsewhere to “Choose Connecticut.”
As the video’s narrator intones “Where you work can determine how successful you can be,” scenes of Connecticut businesses and landscapes appear on-screen, leading to the verbal and visual welcome mat - “welcome to a place people love to live.”
Not mentioned: the spate of “why I’m leaving Connecticut” op-eds that have steadily appeared in local newspapers, Connecticut’s sluggish recovery from the national economic downturn, high profile business departures in recent years, and the unceasing battle over the imposition of highway tolls.
Connecticut, Lamont points out, is “naturally positioned to lead” in areas such as bioscience, and is an “innovation hub.” Strengths in insurance, defense, education, and innovation are proclaimed. Says Christina Lampe-Onerudd, Founder-CEO, Cadenza Innovation, “Connecticut is in this pretty cool stage right now, where the state is really trying to do things.”
Among the roster of business and government leaders who appear in the video, highlighting various aspects of the Connecticut experience, and their own:
David Salinas, Founder/CEO, District New Haven
Mary Sirico, Director of Talent Acquisitions, Culture Curator, Octagon
Melissa McCaw, CT State Budget Chief (Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management)
Carolyn Kuan, Conductor, Hartford Symphony Orchestra
Congressman Jim Hines
Christina Lampe-Onerudd, Founder-CEO, Cadenza Innovation
Jim Loree, CEO, Stanley Black & Decker
Sara Smolley, Co-Founder, Voiceitt
Mike Soltys, VP, Corporate Communications, ESPN
Sam Flood, President, NBC Sports Production Group
Cindi Bigelow, CEO, Bigelow Tea
Chintan Shah, President/Managing Partner, KNB Communications
Terrence Cheng, Director, Stamford Campus, University of Connecticut
Highlighted categories include “quality of life,” “quality of businesses,” “quality of workforce,” “quality of location,” and “quality of education.”
The common thread among those who live in small towns and big cities throughout Connecticut: “they’re happy!” the video narration declares. Also interspersed is data underscoring Connecticut’s attractiveness to prospective companies and relocating families:
250 miles of scenic coastline
#3 healthiest state in the U.S.
#4 in the nation for bioscience patents
#4 in the U.S. for private R&D per capita
#1 in the U.S. for insurance employees
#4 in the nation for productivity
#3 state for employees with advanced degrees
#5 for Pre K-12 education
#3 state for high school advanced placement scores
#1 state for college readiness
Connecticut is home to 38 top colleges and universities
Bradley International Airport ranked #5 by Conde Nast Traveler
The video also notes that “Connecticut’s cost of living is 14-48% less than NY/Boston,” and there much is happening in Connecticut, with “people and talents all in the New York City area, here in Connecticut.” Highlighting the virtues of rail, the video points out that “thousands of people reverse commute into Connecticut from New York, tens of thousands from New York into Connecticut from Massachusetts into Connecticut.”
