Economic Impact of Arts & Culture in Hartford Region Gains Notice

When the MetroHartford Alliance and the Greater Hartford Arts Council brought business and arts leaders together at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts this week, it was the numbers that carried the day, touting the business benefits of the arts and culture industry.  The national study focused on regions across the country using data developed by Americans for the Arts.  In the Greater Hartford region, 123 local arts institutions participated, with more than 800 audience surveys. The top ten stand-out facts about the annual economic impact of arts and culture in the Greater Hartford area, which was defined as Hartford County and Tolland County:

1. Total Arts and Culture Industry expenditures in the Greater Hartford area:  $230.4 million
2. Full time equivalent jobs supported: 6,879
3. Revenue generated to local government: $5,184,000
4. Revenue generated to state government:  $16,244,000
5. Spending by Arts & Heritage Organizations;  $148,242,871
6. Event-Related Spending(total)excluding the cost of admission:  $82,005,472
7. Average Spending per person: $20.35 ($17.50 from residents of the region; $30.02 from those who reside outside the region)
8. Total Attendance:  4,028,850  (3,110,272 from within the region; 918.578 from outside the region)
9. Estimated aggregate value of volunteer hours:  $7,506,865 (7,258 volunteers donated a total of 351,445 hours to nonprofit arts and culture organizations).
10. Greater Hartford’s arts and cultural community ranks in the top 10% of metro areas across North America.

The findings also noted that of those surveyed:

• 48% of those attending a cultural event, and who live in the Greater Hartford area, would have traveled to a different community in order to attend a similar cultural experience.
• 60% of those who live outside the immediate region said the same.

The report concluded, therefore, that if the money wasn’t being spent in Hartford, it would be spent elsewhere.  The report’s overall  bottom line:  arts and culture is “an industry that supports jobs, generates government revenue, and is a cornerstone of tourism.”

The national study included 182 regions include 139 individual cities and counties, 31 multi-city regions, 10 states, and two arts districts and represent all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  Greater Hartford was one of the cities that participated in the survey, which was conducted using 2010 data.

The study results were announced at the MetroHartford Alliance's November Rising Star Breakfast, which  featured Randy I. Cohen, Vice President of Research and Policy for Americans for the Arts, and a local panel that included Catherine Smith, commission of the Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development; Thomas E. Deller, director of Hartford’s development services and Michael Stotts, managing director of Hartford Stage. The event was sponsored by The Phoenix Companies, Inc. and included remarks from Cathy Malloy, executive director of the Greater Hartford Arts Council.

Coastal Residents Tuned to Radio When Storm Hit; Ratings Soar

The arrival and immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy last month brought not only destructive weather, but the return of an old fashioned medium to temporary prominence.  While those with power looked to television, cable news channels, the internet and social media for information, those whose electricity had disappeared, particularly those in the hardest-hit areas, turned to radio. The New York Times is reporting that data from Arbitron, the radio ratings service, indicates that from 7 p.m. to midnight on Oct. 29, when the storm made landfall in the region, an average of just more than a million people in the New York metropolitan area were listening to the radio during any 15-minute period.

That is an astonishing 70 percent increase from the same period the week before. Besides the five boroughs of New York City, the metropolitan market includes five counties in New York, nine in New Jersey and part of one in Connecticut.

The audience increase was astronomical in the pummeled coastal areas. In Connecticut, Stamford and Norwalk had a 367 percent increase during that period; in New Jersey, that figure was up 247 percent in Monmouth County, and up 195 percent in Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties. These numbers increased even though some stations, like WNYC and WINS, lost their AM frequencies (although they continued to broadcast on FM.)

In some cases, as in past major storms, local stations without regular news staffs aired the audio of local television stations that were on the air with non-stop storm coverage.  For those with an abiding affinity for radio, the storm has become the preeminent recent example of the power of radio to provide critical information and reach large numbers of people in an emergency situation.  Some broadcast officials continue to urge the Federal Communications Commission to take action to encourage cell phones to have an FM radio receiver installed, harkening back to the generation for whom transistor radios were as ubiquitous as today’s cellphones.

Family Owned Businesses May Spur State's Economic Recovery

A hint of optimism goes a long way.  At least that’s the hope of Connecticut’s small businesses heading into 2013.  A new survey has found almost two-thirds of respondents project sales and revenue growth next year, which, if realized, could be just the boost the state’s economy needs. That growth is increasingly coming from beyond the state’s borders, the survey found.  While 47% of family businesses surveyed identify Connecticut sales as their greatest source of growth, 42% trace the majority of their revenue to other U.S. states, and 11% to international sales. This represents a significant shift from as recently as 2009, when 59% said Connecticut was their largest customer base and only 2% reported international sales as their greatest source of revenue.

The 2012 Survey of Connecticut Businesses, produced by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association and the University of New Haven’s Center for Family Business, highlights the challenges, concerns, and growth prospects a critical sector of the state’s economy.  Almost half of the businesses surveyed said their workforces will remain stable, while 43% plan on hiring new employees in 2013. In addition, many said they anticipated making significant investments in equipment, IT systems, facilities, and training.

Industries represented in the survey included manufacturing, services, retailing, construction, finance, insurance, real estate, wholesale trade, transportation, communications, and utility services.  Many cited the high cost of doing business in Connecticut as the single greatest obstacle to growth.  A lack of skilled workers, particularly in computer/IT knowledge, engineering and mechanical skills, and management and leadership also were noted as ongoing concerns.

Employment looks brighter in 2013: in addition to 43% of family busi­nesses planing  on hiring new employees in 2013 (compared to 30% in 2012), nearly half (48%) expect no change in their company size in 2013. Only 9% expect a decrease in their workforce in 2013, compared with 13% in 2012.The survey questionnaire was emailed to top executives at 3,000 family companies in August 2012. There were 580 responses, for a response rate of 19.3%, and a +/- 4.15% margin of error.

The average tenure for employees at Connecticut’s family businesses is 20.2 years for family members and 12.7 years for non-family members—both substantially higher than the national average for employees overall (4.6 years as of January 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Family businesses are vital to their communities and to the economy. The survey found that more than three-quarters of family business owners (77%) consider it important or very im­portant that they leave a positive, lasting legacy, and 53% intend to pass their business on to the next generation.

Overall, family businesses comprise 80%−90% of all businesses in North America, contributing 64% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), employing 62% of the U.S. workforce, and outperforming non-family firms on measures such as operating return on assets.

The 2012 Survey of Connecticut Businesses is part of CBIA’s Family Business Program, an initiative designed to support and grow the state’s thousands of family businesses.  Sponsored by CohnReznick, First Niagara Bank, and Reid and Riege PC, the program features forums and networking opportunities where business leaders can discuss solutions to issues ranging from family governance to succession planning.

Multi-generational homes increasing; CT below national average

The number of multi-generational households - grandparents, parents and children living together under the same roof - has been steadily increasing in recent years, though not as much in Connecticut.  More than 4.3 million, or 5.6 percent, of the 76 million family households in the U.S. today are families living together that include a grandparent, parent and children as well as other family members, according to a study by the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The nationwide average of 5.6 percent compares with 3.7 percent of U.S. households that were multi-generational in 2000 and 4 percent in 2010. The American Community Survey conducts small-area estimates on a wide range of statistics about people and housing for every community across the country and Puerto Rico. Among the latest findings:

• There were more than 76 million family households in the United States. Of these, about 4.3 million (5.6 percent) were multi-generational households.
• In the Northeast, only New Jersey (6 percent) and New York (6.5 percent) had percentages above the national level.  Connecticut showed 5.1 percent, or an estimated 46,357 multi-generational households.  Massachusetts also had 5.1 percent, as did Rhode Island.
• Hawaii had the highest percentage of multi-generational households, accounting for 11.1 percent of all family households in that state.
• More than 85 percent of states where the percentage of family households that were multi-generational exceeded the national average were in the South or West, where more than 85 percent of states in those areas exceeding the national level. Southern states with percentages above the national level included the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi and Texas, all ranging from 5.9 percent to 7.3 percent. Western states with large numbers of multi-generational homes included Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico, each ranging from 6.2 percent to 11.1 percent.
• The state with the smallest percentage of multi-generational households was North Dakota, with around 2 percent.

Among multi-generational households, the majority (64.6 percent) included a householder, a child of the householder and a grandchild of the householder. Thirty-four percent contained a householder, a parent or parent-in-law and a child. Only 1.7 percent contained a parent or parent-in-law, a householder, a child of the householder and a grandchild of the householder.

Among multi-generational households nationally, nearly 65 percent included a head of household, a child and a grandchild. Thirty-four percent of multi-generational households contained a head of household, a parent or parent-in-law and a child, and those households tended to be in the Northeast and West. Only 1.7 percent of multi-generational households contained a parent or parent-in-law, a head of household, a child and a grandchild.

Nationwide, more than 10 percent of Hispanic and American Indian and Alaska Native households were multi-generational, while more than 9 percent of Black and Asian households were multi-generational.

Entrepreneurship is Focus of November Attention in CT and Beyond

November is a terrific month to glimpse the future.  Startup Weekend returns to New Haven the weekend of November 9-11.   And right behind it arrives Global Entrepreneurship Week, November 12-18. Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs with over 400 past events in 100 countries around the world a year ago. All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54 hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation.

The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback. Whether entrepreneurs found companies, find a cofounder, meet someone new, or learn a skill far outside their usual 9-to-5, everyone is guaranteed to leave the event better prepared to navigate the chaotic but fun world of startups.  New Haven and Hartford have been host to Startup Weekends in Connecticut.

Right on the heels of that weekend will be Global Entrepreneurship Week, when millions of young people around the world - including some in Connecticut -  join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and to seek better ways of doing things.

Countries across six continents come together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week during Nov. 12-18, an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity. Students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders, government officials and many others participate in a range of activities, from online to face-to-face, and from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings.

Among the Connecticut locations already signed on to participate in at least one activity during the week are Norwalk High School, Quinnipiac University, RHAM High School in Hebron, and Pathways to Technology Magnet School in Windsor.

Breaches of Personal Health Data Increase, CT in Middle of Pack

An excess of 20 million patient records have been stolen, hacked, lost, improperly disposed of and/or subjected to unauthorized access since the August 2009, according to Healthcare IT News.   The web-based publication compiled data supplied by Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) since the August 2009 Breach Notification Rule requiring HIPAA-covered entities provide notification after a data breach involving 500 or more individuals. A report by Redspin.com, using HHS data, indicates there were 385 reported breaches of protected health information in 2011, that 59% of breaches involved a business associate, 39% occurred on a laptop or portable device, and the five largest incidents resulted in slightly more than half of the data breached.

States with the highest number of patient records estimated to have been subject to data breach (exceeding 176 people per thousand population) include New Hampshire, Utah, Virginia.  The next group of states, with between 87 and 176 people per thousand, includes California, New York, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Connecticut is in the middle tier of states, with between 16 and 48 people per thousand population having had their healthcare data compromised.

Earlier this year, Attorney General Jepsen announced he is seeking more information from Hartford Hospital about why unencrypted personal information and protected health information of approximately 9,000 patients was stored on a laptop apparently stolen from a third-party vendor.

Back in 2010, a healthcare data breach in Connecticut that exposed medical information for more than 400,000 individuals resulted in action by former Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, reportedly  the first time that a state attorney general  used the new provisions of the HITECH Act of 2009 to sue a healthcare provider for HIPAA violations.  In that instance, an external hard drive containing unencrypted medical records went missing from Health Net of Connecticut. Another interesting aspect, it was reported,was that the  Attorney General sought not only monetary awards but also a court order forcing Health Net to encrypt all portable electronic devices.

In reviewing the causes of the data breaches of health care records nationwide, it is estimated that 50% were as a result of theft, 18% due to unauthorized access or disclosure, 12% due to loss, 9.5% due to a combination of factors, 6% due to hacking and 4.6% due to improper disposal.

The past few years have brought massive reported breaches, such as the 4.9 million records lost by TRICARE Management Activity (a Department of Defense health care program) when backup tapes disappeared, 1.9 million records lost when hard drives disappeared from HealthNet, and 1.7 electronic medical records stolen from the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation's North Bronx Healthcare Network.

State’s Mature Firms Are Key to Job Growth, Study Finds

Because new firms, by definition, can’t “destroy” jobs, only create them, analysis of “job creation” often skews towards new rather than mature firms.  But an analysis by economist Manisha Srivastava of the state Department of Labor, writing in The Connecticut Economic Digest, suggests that when one looks a gross, rather than net, job creation - it is the mature companies that lead the way.  In fact, Connecticut has outperformed the national average in gross job creation by mature companies during the past two decades (through 2007).  The research and analysis, presented at a state data conference, suggests that state policy should focus on “helping firms destroy less jobs” as well as assisting them in creating new jobs. Reviewing two decades of data, the study found that Connecticut is six percentage points above the national average on job creation from mature firms – and that most job creation comes from mature firms.  Mature firms are defined as those that have been in business for at least 11 years.

“Connecticut created about 4.35 million jobs between 1988 and 2007.  An almost equivalent number of jobs were also destroyed during the time period,“ the study noted.  But that said, the number of jobs created by mature firms – and thus “the number of employment opportunities for individuals seeking jobs, mature firms outweighed the availability of jobs from firms of all other categories, including small businesses.”

The answer to the question who creates jobs “will change depending on how the question is framed,” the report concluded.  “If the desired metric is net job creation, than new firms create the most jobs.  If the question is simply job creation, then mature firms create the most.”  If a greater percentage of those jobs can be retained, since the numbers are far larger, the impact will likely be as well.

A series of charts and graphs highlighting the report appeared in The Connecticut Economic Digest in May.

Surveys Say: Hartford Great for Working Moms, Retirement Readiness, Sweatpants & Manufacturing Jobs

If you sometimes wonder how the Hartford region stacks up against metropolitan regions around the country, the answers have been pouring in lately.  A variety of surveys – ranking retirement readiness, comfy apparel, manufacturing jobs and best places for working moms – have landed metro Hartford among the leaders. Forbes Magazine looked at the top 50 metropolitan areas in America to come up with their list of the best places for working mothers.  Columbus, Ohio, placed first followed by New Orleans, with Hartford at number three.  Providence, R.I. - the only other New England city in the top 20 - was at number five.  Criteria included average salaries, average commute time, education spending, violent crime rate and the cost of  daycare.  The region included Hartford, Tolland and Middlesex counties.

What could be more comfortable than sweats?  Experian Simmons asked survey respondents if they bought any sweats in the last 12 months, as well as the number of individual items they purchased, and for the second year in a row, the nation’s top per capita consumer of sweats is Philadelphia, PA.  Number two?  That would be Hartford, followed by Pittsburgh.  Boston is number six, just one slot ahead of New York City.

On Forbes magazine’s list of “Best Cities for Manufacturing Jobs,” Hartford landed in the top ten, at number eight, between Kansas City and Sacremento.  Topping that list was Houston.

The number of Americans who report making financial preparations for retirement dropped to 70% in 2012, the lowest level in three years, according to Ameriprise Financial's 2012 City Pulse Index. While 63% of respondents report having set money aside for retirement, only 37% feel “on track” for retirement.  The study, which examined consumer retirement planning in the 30 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, found that the country's most prepared and retirement-confident residents reside in Hartford-New Haven.  Following were San Diego and Minneapolis-St. Paul. The least prepared people, according to the survey, live in Indianapolis, Charlotte and Washington, D.C.

Taken together, that would suggest that for a working mom seeking employment in a manufacturing job, who enjoys wearing sweats in her off hours while planning for retirement, Greater Hartford is the place to be.

Holistic Chamber of Commerce to Launch in Connecticut

The Connecticut chapter of the Holistic Chamber of Commerce (HCC) will have its first meeting later this month, one of three new chapters around the country that are being launched.  (The others are in Houston and Washington State.)  The HCC – which began in California - is a growing national network of holistic professionals and businesses, and the organizations that encourage and promote a holistic lifestyle. The Connecticut chapter - led by local business owners - will kick-off at an inaugural meeting on Tuesday, October 23 at 6 PM at Sacred Rivers Yoga, 2934 Main Street in Glastonbury.  The newly forming Connecticut chapter becomes part of a member-based organization representing and promoting holistic and eco-friendly products, services and solutions for health, lifestyle and business, and supporting the professionals and practitioners who make holistic/eco-friendly choices available.

The organization promotes community outreach and social awareness of holistic and eco-friendly alternatives. Members also take part in networking opportunities, educational forums and learn business development skills designed to enhance business, life and community.  Individuals or business owners interested in learning more may contact Chapter President Kimberly Gedney at 860-965-1559 or CT@HolisticChamberOfCommerce.com.

How one man's idea became the world-wide leader in sports broadcasting

ESPN Founder Bill Rasmussen addressed students at the University of Connecticut last week, and  in a Forbes magazine article recalls how it all began, highlighting a series of marvelous, insightful and often-ironic anecdotes, as well as some sit-up-and-take-notice numbers:

• “A salesman once told me that every sale starts with a ‘no.’ We knew we were going to be really be big because we got lots of ‘no’s’ in the beginning. Now there are over six U.S. networks and 46 international networks that have grown from the original ESPN.”
• “I met with the man from RCA along with my son, Scott. He told us all about what satellite packages were available, including a 24-hour package that no one had ever bought. When Scott went over the pricing structure, he realized the 24-hour package was the best option. Of course, we didn’t have any money, but I called the man from RCA the next day and said, ‘We’ll take one of those things.’ ‘One of what things,’ he asked. ‘One of those 24 hour things.’”
• “When we first went out to meet with the cable systems around the country, we asked them to pay the ridiculously exorbitant $.01 (cents) per day per subscriber -– a cost of $.30 (cents) per month -– triple that of Ted Turner‘s already established SuperStation WTBS. They practically laughed us out of the meetings.”
• “We ended up costing cable systems 2.4 cents per subscriber per month – and when the word started to get out, especially during the 1980 NCAA Basketball tournament, we had cable systems calling us trying to get on board. Now ESPN charges $5.13 per subscriber per month and has over 100 million households in the U.S. alone.”
• “NBC had the national TV contract back then, but only aired the Final Four and some regional tournament games, a handful of contests in all. I told Mr. Byers (NCAA President), ‘We want to do every single game you haven’t committed to the (major) networks.’ He said, ‘Every single one?’ I said yes.”
• “We (Bill and Scott Rasmussen) were in traffic on I-84 in Connecticut, it was sweltering hot, and we had all the windows rolled down. And we were trying to come up with ideas to fill 8,760 hours a year of television programming. We had been talking back and forth for a while, until Scott finally said something like, ‘Play football all day, for all I care.’ And suddenly, the ideas started coming fast and furious during that car ride, we came up with the idea for ‘Sports Center.’”

And how did it all begin?  “In 1978, I was working as the Communications Director of the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association, and when the Whalers didn’t make the 1978 WHA playoffs, most of the front office staff – including me – were fired.”  So, Rasmussen began working on an idea he had to telecast Connecticut college sports – somehow- and provide more than the traditional three-minutes on the evening local news that were traditionally devoted to sports.  Needless to say, one thing led to another, and the quickly incorporated E.S.P. Network soon evolved into ESPN, among the most recognizable sports broadcasting brands in the world.