New Business Aims to Deliver Science to 8-11 Year-Olds, One Month at a Time

There’s a new Connecticut start-up launching this month, aiming to engage upper elementary school age children with the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through monthly hands-on activities delivered right to their doors.  What began as a response by two college friends to an entrepreneurial start-up challenge is now a full-fledged business, hoping to grow as it excites children ages 8-11 about the potential of the STEM fields. The business, Genius Box, delivers a “monthly STEM adventure to a subscriber’s mailbox, featuring a topic to explore and the tools to do so."  Each box will contain activities or experiments that further illustrate the topic of the month, providing hands on learning opportunities through a narrative “challenge” posed in each box.

Kate Pipa and Shivangi Shah received second place at Demo Day at Northeastern University a few years ago, and “with much excitement and encouragement,” decided to launch a company based on their idea.  Next was a successful crowdfunding campaign in fall 2013, which led to initial beta testing and feedback collection, including work with students in Connecticut classrooms to obtain reactions from students and their teachers.  Earlier this year, a prototype Genius Box was provided to middle-school age participants at the Connecticut Technology Council’s annual Girls of Innovation program.

Genius Box aims to connect kids with real life examples of science, technology, engineering, and math to further the understanding of these critical subjects “in a way that resonates with upper elementary school aged children.” The topic to be explored in December’s inaugural Genius Box will be Kaleidoscopes.  The company’s website is now accepting one month, three month or six month subscriptions for the monthly deliveries.

“We are excited to start this new chapter,” said co-founder and CEO Kate Pipa, who lives in Shelton. “And we are excited to bring kids a new box each month of hands-on fun that also doubles as a learning opportunity and is making social impact for the kids and for our partner organizations.”

Co-founder and COO Shivangi Shah adds, “We hope that the next generation of geniuses will embrace STEM and apply it to the world around them. We want them to believe they can change the world.”

Each box includes a narrative story and activity cards to explain topic and activities in a fun, engaging way, and three or more activities and experiments in each box.  Each monthly kit is “designed in a way that puts each genius in the driver's seat to solve the challenge at hand, with minimal help from adults.”

Extending the Benefits

Pipa and Shah have also added a social benefit component to their sales. For each box sold, Genius Box Inc. will donate $1.00 to a partner nonprofit. December’s partner organization is Connecticut-based ManyMentors, which connects middle and high schools students interested in the S.T.E.M. fields with near age peer mentors via interactive, engaging workshops and a highly innovative online platform.

Genius Box is also among the first social benefit corporations in the state of Connecticut, allowing the company to pursue an expanded mission that embraces societal good along with profits.  Legislation creating the new designation was approved by the state legislature earlier this year, and took effect in October.

The company’s website explains “We want to provide an experience that inspires, encourages, and empowers kids to think big. To be curious. To experiment. To make mistakes. To explore new topics. Overall, to be the change makers and problem-solvers of tomorrow, today.”  Aiming directly at its target audience, the site invites, “Adventure on, geniuses. Your monthly mystery awaits.”

The company is currently shipping only within the United States, and offers free shipping.  More information about Genius Box is available at www.geniusbox.me.

Photo:  Kate Pipa and Shivangi Shah

CT Ranks #4 in High-Speed Internet Use; #14 in Computer Ownership, Census Data Shows

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Connecticut ranks #14 in the nation in computer ownership, and #4 in high-speed internet use, according to national data compiled by the U.S. Census. Overall, 83.8 percent of U.S. households reported computer ownership, with 78.5 percent of all households having a desktop or laptop computer, and 63.6 percent having a handheld computer, according to the recently released data.

The top ten in computer ownership were Utah, New Hampshire, Alaska, Wyoming, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Maryland and New Jersey.  Also just ahead of Connecticut were Hawaii, Massachusetts and Idaho.

Nationwide, 88.4 percent of the population lives in a household with a computer.  In Connecticut, it is 90.8 percent.  Utah leads the way at 94.9 percent.  At the bottom of the list are West Virginia, Alabama, New Mexico and Mississippi, all at just under 83 percent.

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The Census Bureau data also indicated that, on average, 78.1 percent of Americans live in a household with high-speed Internet use.  The top ranked states were New Hampshire (85.7%), Massachusetts (85.3%), New Jersey (84.5%), and Connecticut (83.9%).  Rounding out the top ten are Utah, Maryland, Hawaii, Washington, Colorado and Rhode Island.  The lowest percentages were in New Mexico, Arkansas and Mississippi.

In analyzing the data from metropolitan areas, the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that none of Connecticut’s metro regions made the nation’s top 30 in computer ownership, but the Bridgeport-Stamford- Norwalk metropolitan region was ranked #7 in the nation in high-speed internet use.

The data used in the report, released in November 2014 for calendar year 2013, comes from the American Community Survey, a large and continu­ous national level data collection effort performed by the Census Bureau. Computer and Internet data from the ACS are based on a sample of approximately 3.5 million addresses.

Nationwide, 74.4 percent of all households reported Internet use, with 73.4 percent reporting a high-speed connection.

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Of the 25 states with rates of computer ownership above the national average, 17 were located in either the West or Northeast. Of the 26 states with rates of high-speed Internet subscriptions above the national average, 18 were located in either the West or Northeast.

The Census Bureau also reported that although household computer ownership was consistently higher than household Internet use, both followed similar patterns across demographic groups. For example, computer ownership and Internet use were most common in homes with relatively young household­ers, and both indicators dropped off steeply as a householder’s age increased.

The most common household connection type was via a cable modem (42.8 percent), followed by mobile broadband (33.1 per­cent), and DSL connections (21.2 percent).

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Summer Olympics May Come to CT if Boston Bid for 2024 Succeeds

Boston is one of four cities being considered to be the United States entry in the international competition to host the 2024 Olympic Games.  If Boston's bid were to become a reality, at least one Olympics observer is suggesting that Connecticut may have an Olympic supporting role to play. Boston, San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles have been selected to develop bids to be considered by the U.S. Olympic Committee, which would decide which  city - if any - to support and present to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which will decide in 2017 on the host city for the 2024 Olympics.

Rosanna Garcia, associate professor of marketing in the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University in Boston, who has attended the past eight Summer Olympics, sees the city turning to Connecticut and Rhode Island to host some events.

“With more than 300 events that typically occur at the Olympics, many cities around Massachusetts, and even Rhode Island and Connecticut, will need to partner with the International Olympic Committee to host these events,” Garcia points out.

“Many preliminary competition events would need to take place outside of the main Olympic Park areas so events may occur as far away as Connecticut. This also is an opportunity for more people to get involved with the Olympic Spirit,” Garcia adds.

The Boston Globe has reported that the U.S. Olympic Committee is expected to decide early next year whether to enter a U.S. city in the international competition to host the 2024 Olympics.  That would be just after the IOC acts on recent recommendations to reform its selection process, which would take effect with the 2024 Summer Games host selection.  The IOC meets next month to consider the series of recommendations.

Members of the U.S. Olympic Committee were in Boston last week, meeting with representatives of the Boston bid and area colleges which would participate, potentially providing sports venues, dorms, and other support services.  Last month, a promotional video advocating a Boston bid was released, and a website was launched. With an eye toward innovation and efficiency, the video highlights Boston’s bid “to create a sustainable model for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games that can become the blueprint for future host cities.”

The Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau, the state’s official meetings and sports event sales and marketing organization, "supports Boston’s bid for the 2024 Olympics," said Interim President H. Scott Phelps.  "Regardless of whether or not Boston wins the Olympics, the City’s bid has helped to elevate the Boston and other New England brands to sports event planners from all over the world."  Officials noted that if the Olympic Games decide to come to Boston, "it could be great for tourism in nearby Connecticut as well, as spectators and competitors would be encouraged to come visit our State’s attractions," adding that "there might be opportunities for our state to host pre-Olympic competitions and ... athletes."

The Globe noted that if the International Olympic Committee, meeting in Switzerland in December, decides that its preference is for compact venues, as is expected, Boston is seen as a strong candidate and could gain an advantage over Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, whose plans offer less intimate settings, according to the Globe.  Supporters of the San Francisco bid have noted that the chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee, Larry Probst, lives in nearby Burlingame, CA.  The San Francisco effort is being led by Larry Baer, the chief executive officer of baseball's World Series champion Giants, according to published reports.

It is the first time that Boston has prepared a bid to host the Games, and it is being led by an organization called the Boston 2024 Partnership, a nonprofit organization formed to prepare the bid materials. The group is governed by a 36-member executive committee, and has launched a series of subcommittees aimed at master planning, fundraising, outreach, and engagement. Organizers note that no tax dollars have been spent on Boston 2024, and tax dollars will not be used to build venues or pay for the operation of the Games. Public investment will be confined to roadway, transportation and infrastructure improvements, most of which are already planned and are needed with or without the Olympics.

An Olympic games in Boston would utilize existing sports venues of both professional teams and area colleges, which could reduce potential costs.  Infrastructure improvements, such as in transportation, are already on the drawing board, and could accelerate with a Boston bid.

The U.S. last hosted a Summer Olympiad in Atlanta in 1996; a Winter Olympics in 2002.  St. Louis hosted in 1904 and Los Angeles held the Games in both 1932 and 1984. In recent years, the unsuccessful U.S. bids to the IOC was to host the Summer Games were New York (2012) and Chicago (2016).  The 2016 Games will be held in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Summer Olympics are scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan.  Other potential contenders, according to published reports, include Paris, Rome,Doha, Istanbul and either Hamburg or Berlin in Germany.

“Holding the Games in the Boston area would serve as a catalyst for growth in the region,” said John Fish, CEO of Suffolk Construction and driving force in the initiative. “We are also excited for the chance to deliver something that is both powerful and meaningful for the worldwide Olympic and Paralympic movements that will also connect more youth to sport.”

Millennials Consider Company's Causes When Accepting A Job

Millennial employees – those born in the past 20 years - prefer joining a company-wide or team-specific volunteer project rather than merely donating to a fundraising campaign.  In addition, their decision to accept a job is influenced by the company’s connections to the community, and whether they are seen as making a difference in the world. Those are among the findings in the 2014 Millennial Impact Report, issued by Indianapolis-based Achieve.  

The annual survey found that companies need to build relationships with millennial employees to spark their passions and create opportunities to engage both their professional and personal interests.  The findings indicated that employers should develop what was described as a triple platform of involvement – company-wide, department-based and interest-driven.

While only 39 percent of Millennials researched their company’s “cause work” prior to their interview, 55 percent said they were influenced to take their job after discussing cause work in their interview. Notably, 92 percent of the Millennials surveyed felt they were working for a company that was making a positive impact on the world.

In the Greater Hartford area, the survey findings would be no surprise to the leadership of HYPE (Hartford Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs).  Their mission, “to help young professionals become better engaged in community life,” responds to their generation’s strong desire to have a meaningful community connection, at work and in life.  HYPE, which is administered by the MetroHartford Alliance, has 4,000 members, and climbing.

Their efforts have been integral to Hartford’s efforts to promote a more vibrant downtown, and to boost involvement with a range of organizations and agencies that strengthen the fabric of the city.  The organization’s website offers nearly two dozen volunteer activities in the community for members, but makes clear that’s only the tip of the iceberg.  Greater New Haven has a similar organization, PULSE, a program of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce and the Quinnipiac Chamber of Commerce.

Throughout the first four years of the Millennial Impact Project, the following trends emerged and evolved:

• Millennials engage with causes to help other people, not institutions.
• Millennials support issues rather than organizations.
• Millennials prefer to perform smaller actions before fully committing to a cause.
• Millennials are influenced by the decisions and behaviors of their peers.
• Millennials treat all their assets (time, money, network, etc.) as having equal value.
• Millennials need to experience an organization’s work without having to be on site.

The report indicates that "this is a generation that has grown up with a new way of learning. Asking questions in a non-linear fashion and then finding the answers -- all while connecting with their peers, friends and colleagues to make change happen. Today's Millennials are transforming communities, relieving suffering and pursuing social change in a way that may run counter to the traditional ways of organizing, but it's because they are wired to work differently -- collaboratively, transparently, interactively, and entrepreneurially -- to affect positive change in their local communities and around the world."

Achieve, in partnership with the Case Foundation, leads the national research team of The Millennial Impact Project, which they describe as the most comprehensive and trusted study on Millennial  (age 20-30) involvement with causes.

Connecticut Ranks #2 in Access to Justice, Report Concludes

The nonprofit National Center for Access to Justice has produced rankings on how well state court systems serve poor and disabled residents and other members of the public – and Connecticut is among the nation’s leaders. Connecticut ranks #2 overall in a composite index compiled by the organization, called the “Justice Index,” which includes a range of access factors.  The state ranks in the top 10 in each individual category, including access to attorneys, language assistance, disability assistance, and ease of self-representation.

The top 10 in the overall rankings (100 being highest), are:

1. Washington, D.C. 80.9
2. Connecticut 73.4
3. Hawaii 69.9
4. Minnesota 69.4
5. New York 67.4
6. Delaware 66.7
7. Washington 65.6
8. Colorado 65.6
9. Wisconsin 65.2
10. Tennessee 64.0

At the bottom of the list were Illinois (34.5), Kentucky (33.4) and Oklahoma (23.7).

The Justice Index is a snapshot of the degree to which certain selected best practices for ensuring access to the civil and criminal justice systems have been adopted across the country. The aggregate map shows summary views of the national and state-by-state commitment to providing access to the civil and criminal courts for some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations.  The report website includes maps illustrating state rankings in each of the categories.

Connecticut ranked #8 in the nation in the number of civil legal aid attorneys per 10,000 people in poverty.  The states ahead of Connecticut in the rankings were D.C., New York, Maryland, Hawaii, Arkansas, Massachusetts, and Oregon.  The data indicated that Connecticut also ranked in the top 10 (at #4, behind D.C., New York and Massachusetts) in the number of attorneys per 10,000 people, at 60.

The report also indicated that more than 80% of litigants appear without lawyers in matters as important as evictions, mortgage foreclosures, child custody and child support proceedings, and debt collection cases. “Making courts user-friendly for these self-represented litigants is imperative if we are to keep the promise of equal justice for all,” the report indicated.  In comparing the 50 states’ systems for self-represented litigants, Connecticut ranked #9.  The top states were Hawaii, California, Delaware, Arizona, Iowa, Indiana, Washington, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

More than 25 million people in the United States have limited proficiency in the English language, according to the report.“ While many of these people use English at work and in their daily lives, understanding what happens in a courtroom can be more difficult. Many others have less facility with English and are lost in telling their story – whether inside the courtroom or speaking with court clerks – without the support of a trained and qualified interpreter and without translation of official court documents.” Here again, Connecticut’s justice system was among the best, ranking #3, behind only Delaware and Minnesota.

In ranking the states for their support of people with disabilities, Connecticut joined five other states tied with a #1 ranking.  The other top-rated states were Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota and Tennessee.  The report noted that ‘for those who cannot see, hear, speak or otherwise navigate a courthouse, or for those with emotional and cognitive challenges that make it difficult for them to participate in their own cases, access to justice depends on support from the justice system.”

The Justice Index was created by NCAJ with the pro bono help of Pfizer, Skadden Arps, other law firms in the Pfizer Legal Alliance, UBS, students at Cardozo School of Law and University of Pennsylvania Law School, Deloitte, and MSDS. The Justice Index measures selected elements of state justice systems and highlights statewide laws, rules, and policies.

Income Inequality Ranked as World’s Top Challenge; CT Has Among Widest Disparities

Income disparity increased in all 50 states in the last few decades, including Connecticut, according to a study released earlier this year.  Now, new data indicates that the problem of inequality goes well beyond the borders of Connecticut and the United States, and is increasingly viewed as the world’s top trend requiring attention. Connecticut’s top 1 percent captured 63.9 percent of the total income growth from 1979 to 2007 and 50 percent from 2009 to 2011, the study from the Economic Analysis and Research Network found. The top 1 percent in Connecticut also ranked number 1 out of all 50 states for the most income growth from 1979-2007 with 414.6 percent growth - over 14 times the income growth for the bottom 99 percent over the same period.  They experienced 29 percent growth. 

New York and Connecticut had the largest gaps between the average incomes of the top 1 percent and the average incomes of the bottom 99 percent. In both states, the top 1 percent earned roughly 40 times that of the bottom 99 percent.

Looking at inequality worldwide, Crédit Suisse reports people with a net worth of more than $1 million represent just 0.7 percent of the global population, but they have 41 percent of the world’s wealth. Meanwhile, those with a net worth of less than $10,000 represent 69 percent of the population, but just 3 percent of global wealth.

A new report by the World Economic Forum ranks rising inequality as the top trend facing the globe in 2015 (it was ranked #2 last year), according to a survey of 1,767 global leaders from business, academia, government and non-profits.

A recent Pew Research Center survey highlights the extent to which people across the globe agree that inequality is a serious challenge. In all 44 nations polled, majorities say inequality is a big problem facing their country, and majorities in 28 nations consider it a very big problem. Concerns about inequality are widespread in nations that were deeply affected by the Great Recession. For instance, more than seven-in-ten in Greece (84%), Spain (74%) and Italy (73%) say the gap between rich and poor is a very big problem.

In the United States, 46 percent view inequality as a very big problem and another 32 percent consider it to be a problem – a total of 78 percent.

The World Economic Forum’s global agenda for 2015 concluded “The inherent dangers of neglecting inequality are obvious. People, especially young people, excluded from the mainstream end up feeling disenfranchised and become easy fodder of conflict. This, in turn, reduces the sustainability of economic growth, weakens social cohesion and security, encourages inequitable access to and use of global commons, undermines our democracies, and cripples our hopes for sustainable development and peaceful societies.”

CT Ranks #7 in USA in Women in State Legislature; Number Unchanged in State, Drops Nationally

Election results indicate that there will be fewer women serving in state legislatures around the country  in 2015 than this year.  In Connecticut, the number remains unchanged from this year, slightly below the recent peak in 2009. Approximately 1,750 women legislators will be in office in 2015, compared to approximately 1,784.this year. The national percentage of female to male legislators will be approximately 23.7 percent, a slight decrease from the 2014 figure of 24.2 percent.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Connecticut will have 8 women in the State Senate and 45 women in the House of Representatives when the 2015 session opens. That is a total of 53 women holding 28.3 percent of the 187 seats, ranking the state tied at #7 in the number of women serving in the state legislature and at#14 in the percentage of women in the legislature.  Although a number of office-holders changed, the numbers remained constant from 2014 to 2015 in Connecticut.

The national percentage of female state legislatures reached 20 percent in the 1992 election, but has not grown more than 4.5 percentage points since then.  Colorado is expected to have the highest percentage, 43 percent, of women serving, and Oklahoma the lowest at 12.1 percent.  South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming will each have only one woman serving in their senates.

While the number of women in Connecticut's 36-seat Senate has remained relatively static for the past six years at 8 or 9, the representation of women among House members has dropped from 51 in 2009 to 45 in the upcoming 2015 session.  In 2013, there were 46 women in the House and 9 women in the Senate – 29.4 percent of legislators.  In 2009, the breakdown was 51 and 8, for a total of 59 – 31.6 percent of the legislature.

There will be one woman among legislative leaders.  State Rep. Themis Klarides of Derby was chosen by her House Republican colleagues as their caucus leader, the first woman to be selected to lead the Republicans.  The House Speaker, House Majority Leader, Senate President Pro Tempore Senate Majority Leader, and Senate Republican Leader for the 2015 session are men, as was true in the previous legislative session.  Connecticut has seen a woman Speaker of the House, but there has not been a woman selected to serve as Senate President Pro Tempore or Majority Leader.

In other elected offices in Connecticut, three of the state’s six statewide Constitutional offices are held by women – Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman, Secretary of the State Denise Merrill and State Treasurer Denise Nappier.  All three were re-elected this year.  Of the state’s seven members of Congress, both U.S. Senators, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy are men (and former state legislators) and two of five U.S. House members are women, Elizabeth Esty (a former state legislator) and Rosa DeLauro.  Both House members were re-elected this year, as were Congressmen Joe Courtney, Jim Himes and John Larson.

NCSL points out that conventional wisdom has held that one reason women are less likely to run for office is because of greater family caregiving responsibilities. A recent study, however, found that family situation had no effect on a potential candidate’s ambition to run for office—and this held true for both women and men. Other factors that may be at play include women’s perceptions of their qualifications (women tend to think they are less qualified than men), and political party systems of candidate recruitment.

Looking ahead to the 2015 legislative sessions, the highest percentage of women in legislative bodies are in Colorado (42%), Vermont (41%), Minnesota (33%), Washington (33%), Nevada (32%), Arizona (31%), Illinois (31%), Oregon (31%), Alaska (30%), Maryland (30%), New Jersey (29%), Maine (29%), Hawaii (29%) and Connecticut (28%).

Based on returns from the 2014 election earlier this month, when state legislatures convene early next year, New Hampshire will have 112 women, Vermont will have 74, Minnesota will have 67, Maryland 56,  Illinois 55, Maine 54, and Connecticut and Georgia, 53 each.

The partisan composition of women the nation’s 50 state legislatures is 683 Republicans and 1,058 Democrats.  (As well as 4 Third Party office-holders and 10 non-partisan in Nebraska.)

Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, comments by women legislators

Economic Survival is Daily Struggle for 35 Percent of State Households, Report Reveals

For more than a generation, the federal poverty level has been the threshold driving policy conversations about the working poor nationwide.  Now, led by United Way agencies in six states including Connecticut, the income level below which working families cannot make ends meet is being redefined. The result reveals what is described as a more realistic income threshold that is three times higher than the traditional poverty level.  And that means more than one-third of Connecticut’s population (35 percent) is facing very real, daily financial hardship, struggling to make financial ends meet.

The numbers have been hiding in plain sight, official say. The first-of-its-kind report documents that the number of Connecticut households unable to afford all of life’s basic necessities far exceeds the official federal poverty statistics. United Way calls this newly revealed demographic ALICE, an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.

Statewide, there are nearly half a million households (474,445) unable to pay for the costs of basic household needs in Connecticut, according to the study.

Every city and town in Connecticut has ALICE households. More than two-thirds of Connecticut's cities and towns have at least 1 in 5 households that fit the ALICE definition for financial hardship.  In four of Connecticut’s six largest cities – New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, and Waterbury – more than 50 percent of households have income below the ALICE threshold.

Even with one of the country's highest median hourly wages, 51 percent of all jobs in Connecticut pay less than $20/hour ($40,000/year if full-time). The average annual income needed by a family of four (2-adults with 1-infant and 1-pre-K child) in order to survive in Connecticut is $64,889. This is more than double the official U.S. poverty level.

Connecticut has joined with five other states (California, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, and New Jersey) to release statewide ALICE Reports in 2014. The Connecticut ALICE Report is sponsored by the sixteen Connecticut United Ways.  The original ALICE project was undertaken in New Jersey in 2009.  The reports are researched and coordinated by Rutgers University-Newark’s School of Public Affairs and Administration.

There are 35 municipalities in Connecticut with more than one quarter of their population under the ALICE threshold – struggling to pay for basic needs such as housing, healthcare, childcare, transportation and education.  They include the cities of Hartford, New Britain, New London, New Haven, Waterbury, Bridgeport, as well as communities including Windham, Ansonia, Norwich, North Canaan, West Haven, East Hartford, Putnam, Meriden, Killingly Torrington, Derby, Canaan, Naugatuck, Vernon and Groton.  Also among the 35 communities are Bristol, Winchester, Griswold, Sprague, East Haven, Middletown, Manchester, Thompson, Windsor Locks, Westbrook, Hamden, Plainfield, Canterbury and Southbury.

The ALICE threshold and report places a spotlight on a “large population of hardworking residents who work hard, but still struggle to make ends meet,” the report points out. “For some, this means not being able to save for their family's future or to weather an emergency without falling into poverty.”

The 129-page report is the most comprehensive depiction of financial need in the state to date, using data from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Census and the American Community Survey. The Report unveils new tools based on income levels and expenses, that quantify the number of households in Connecticut's workforce that are struggling financially. And the ALICE Report also seeks to analyze in more detail why many working families continue to struggle.

A total of 332,817 Connecticut households fall into what the study describes as the ALICE population. These are households earning more than the official U.S. poverty level, but less than the basic cost of living.

Noting that “the cost of basic housing, child care, transportation, food, and health care in Connecticut increased by 13 percent during this 5-year period,” the report points out that “there are serious consequences for both ALICE households and their communities when these households cannot afford the basic necessities. ALICE households are forced to make difficult choices such as forgoing preventative health care, accredited child care, healthy food, or car insurance. These “savings” threaten their health, safety, and future – and they reduce Connecticut’s economic productivity and raise insurance premiums and taxes for everyone. The costs are high for both ALICE households and the wider community.”

Among the key areas of concern highlighted in the report is housing.  “The cost of housing is especially high in Connecticut, and the units that are affordable to ALICE households are often far from jobs or older and in disrepair,” the report explained. “Structural changes that make quality affordable housing more available would ease the housing burden on many Connecticut families.”

Watch You Tube video.

Municipal Equality Index Finds CT Above Average for LGBT Residents

Connecticut cities continue to rank above-average when compared with municipalities across the country in the level of equality provided to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) residents.  Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, Stamford and Storrs (Mansfield) were the five Connecticut municipalities included by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights organization, in an assessment of LGBT equality in 353 cities across the nation.

The 2014 Municipal Equality Index (MEI), the only nationwide rating system of LGBT inclusion in municipal law and policy, shows that cities across the country, including in Connecticut, continue to take the lead in supporting LGBT people and workers, even when states and the federal government have not.

The average score for the five municipalities in Connecticut was 74 out of 100 points, comfortably above the national average of 59.  The individual scores in Connecticut, largely unchanged from a year ago, were New Haven: 100, Hartford: 92, Stamford: 62, Storrs (Mansfield): 59, and Bridgeport: 57.  The scores earned by Hartford and Bridgeport dropped slightly from a year ago, and New Haven scored at 100 for the second consecutive year.  Because of changes in the legal landscape from year to year, the MEI report has revised the scoring assessment criteria, which has impacted scores in some municipalities.

Cities are rated on a scale of 0-100, based on the city’s laws, policies, benefits, and services. Key findings contained in the 70-page MEI report, issued in partnership with the Equality Federation, provide “a revealing snapshot of LGBT equality in municipalities of varying sizes, and from every state in the nation,” the report noted.

The MEI rates cities based on 47 criteria falling under six broad categories:

• Non-discrimination laws
• Relationship recognition
• Municipality’s employment policies, including transgender-inclusive insurance coverage, contracting non-discrimination requirements, and other policies relating to equal treatment of LGBT city employees
• Inclusiveness of city services
• Law enforcement
• Municipal leadership on matters of equality

The cities researched for the 2014 MEI include the 50 state capitals, the 200 most populous cities in the country, the four largest cities in every state, the city home to each state’s largest public university, and an equal mix of 75 of the nation’s large, mid-size and small municipalities with the highest proportion of same-sex couples.

The report found that “momentum for municipal equality is not a coastal trend or mega-urban phenomenon – it is something cities of all sizes in all parts of the country are doing because the people in those cities demand equality of treatment for all.”  Cities had an opportunity to review the draft scorecard and offer feedback prior to publication.

Equality and Economic Development

The report also indicates that “a growing body of research has shown that cities that have vibrant gay and lesbian communities have higher levels of income, life satisfaction, housing values, and emotional attachment to their community as well as higher concentrations of high-tech business. The Fortune 500 has long recognized that top talent is attracted to inclusiveness. In fact, the private sector has been using fair workplaces as a tool to recruit and retain top talent.”

The report adds that “Businesses will increasingly have to evaluate the legal landscape offered by a potential new location in its calculation of where to expand operations.”  Connecticut’s state laws – such as marriage equity and non-discrimination protections – provide a hospitable environment for its cities to employ equitable practices, officials said, but municipalities also have the capacity to take the lead, in Connecticut and elsewhere.  In ten states, cities fare well despite restrictive state laws.

“From Mississippi to Idaho, mid-size cities and small towns have become the single greatest engine of progress for LGBT equality--changing countless lives for the better,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “In just three years, the number of municipalities earning top marks for their treatment of LGBT citizens has more than tripled. Simply put, in this country there is an ongoing race to the top to treat all people, including LGBT people, fairly under the law, and it’s time our state and federal laws caught up.”

According to the report, the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Western regions of the United States – where marriage equality states have predominated – tend to do better than the national average when it comes to municipal equality. The reported pointed out, however, that every region has at least one 100-point city, such as New Haven. For example, in the Southeast, Florida boasts three 100-point scores, and Atlanta repeats its perfect score again in 2014; in the Southwest, Austin repeats its perfect score; and in the Plains, Iowa City joins two perfect scores in Missouri with St. Louis and Kansas City.

Thirty-eight cities earned perfect 100-point scores, up from 25 in 2013 and 11 in 2012, the first year of the MEI. New Haven earned a 100-point score, helping to set a standard of LGBT inclusiveness with exemplary policies ranging from non-discrimination laws and equal employee benefits, to cutting edge city services.

Among the report’s striking findings:  A dramatic increase in the number of cities offering transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits, and the fact that 32 million people have better protections from discrimination on the basis of gender identity at the local level then they do from state law. The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/mei.

Network TV, National Advertising, Breakfast Food Boost UConn

UConn is making a splash these days in some unfamiliar places. Think iconic stadium, all the news that’s fit to print, and cereal– all of which have headlined the state’s flagship university in recent days. This past Saturday, the Huskies football team played Army at Yankee Stadium – the University’s first appearance at the ballpark in the Bronx.  While UConn came up short on the scoreboard, the game was competitive and offered the school visibility in the New York metropolitan area and on CBS Sports Network, which televised the game. 

Fans who happened to be reading the print edition of The New York Times on Friday may be been surprised to see a full-page ad promoting the university.  The ad touted the university’s “unprecedented moves to unleash the solutions of tomorrow,” specifically highlighting a $3.6 billion investment in additive manufacturing, gnomic medicine and cybersecurity, the hiring of 300 faculty in fields including cognitive science human rights and intellectual inquiry, and recruiting 6,500 additional students to “lead their generation in addressing the most important challenges of our time.”

The ad was a one-time placement strategically timed to several significant events happening in New York City, including the Army-UConn game, an alumni gathering, and a meeting of the UConn Foundation board.  UConn has a very active and robust alumni network in New York City and the region, officials noted.

The ad was purchased at a negotiated rate and ran not only in New York City, but nationwide in The Times. It was paid for with funds from the university’s marketing budget (approximately $43,000) and private dollars (approximately $10,000), specifically designated by donors to elevate the University through advertising.  The UConn tagline, “Innovation unleashed,” was included in the ad, which featured text reading “Dear UConn, Thank you.  Sincerely, The Future.” Total average print circulation for The New York Times for Monday-Friday was 680,905, as of March 2014.

For those who read their morning paper with a bowl of cereal – there’s more UConn to come.

Just arriving on the market is a new, limited edition Husky Heroes cereal.  “The one and only cereal to honor both the UConn Women’s and Men’s National Championship basketball teams,” according to a newly launched website, is a honey nut toasted oat cereal and comes in a 14 oz. box.  Basketball coaches Geno Auriemma and Kevin Ollie are each featured on the commemorative cereal box, which is sold in a two-pack. 

Marketed by Pittsburgh-based PLB Marketing, described as the “premier source for athlete-endorsed, quality food products,” there is a limited edition of 25,000 boxes being produced.  The company also is currently promoting Miggy’s Salsa, with a likeness of Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera, Fastball Bars, a chewy chocolate chip granola bar featuring his teammate Justin Verlander, and Gronk Flakes, featuring New England Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski.

The Husky Heroes cereal is available on-line at www.huskyhereoscereal.com, with delivery anticipated later this month.  The price is $14.97 for a two-box set, plus UPS shipping charge of $9.95, for a total of $24.92. The cereal is officially licensed by UConn through the university’s licensing agency, the Collegiate Licensing Company.  The university receives a standard 12 percent royalty on sales of all licensed products bearing UConn trademarks.

In addition to web purchases, the cereal will be distributed locally in the coming weeks to some Connecticut retail locations by Bozzuto’s (retailers to be announced).  It will also be sold at the UConn Coop.  For those inclined to stock up early, bulk orders of 500 boxes are eligible for special pricing directly from PLB.  Advance sales are just underway, and as of Monday afternoon there were 24,848 boxes remaining.