“State of Innovation” Specialty License Plate Is Latest to Join List of Choices

Connecticut, with more than 50 special license plates featuring everything from animals to war survivors, now has one more available for purchase by state residents. At the fifth annual Westport Mini Maker Faire earlier this year, it was announced that a new “State of Innovation” license plate was being developed by a non-profit organization, Remarkable STEAM.   The organization has now announced that their design has been approved, and sales of the new plate are underway.

Individuals can transfer an existing plate or obtain a vanity plate.  A portion of the proceeds goes to Remarkable STEAM, Inc, a 501(c)(3) not for profit corporation, best known for the Westport Mini Maker Faire.  Remarkable STEAM initiatives support job creation and educational programs.

State law allows the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue of special background plates on behalf of non-profit organizations. The organization must be non-profit, must submit a copy of the organization's charter or by-laws, provide a letter of good standing from the State of Connecticut Secretary of State’s Office (if required) and supply any Internal Revenue Service ruling on their non-profit tax exemption status.

The logo production and cost incurred will be the responsibility of the organization. The logo prototype design, preferred in PDF format, must be submitted to the DMV. The logo can be no larger than 2 inches wide and 3.5 inches high. DMV has final approval on all the plate and logo designs.

A liaison for the organization must be appointed. This individual will be responsible for all communications with the DMV as well as certifying and authenticating (by signature) each member’s application, submitting the logo design to DMV for approval, submitting 400 applications with the required fee prior to the manufacturing of the special background plates, and submitting a Special Interest Plate disclaimer.

Many organizations in Connecticut offer license plates to their members and the general public.  General categories include animals, colleges, environment, organizations, police and fire, cities and towns, and recreation.

Organization vanity plates include Amistad, Benevolent & Protective Order of the Elks, IUOE Local 478, Grand Lodge of Connecticut, Knights of Columbus, Olympic Spirit, P.T. Barnum Foundation Inc., Preserving Our Past CT Trust for Historic Preservation, Red Sox Foundation, Lions Eye Research Foundation, Special Olympics, Federated Garden Clubs, Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation, Keep Kids Safe, New England Air Museum and the U.S.S. Connecticut Commissioning Committee.

All fees established and collected pursuant to the United We Stand plate (except moneys designated for the administrative costs of the DMV) shall be deposited in the United We Stand commemorative account.  Funds are directed to the United States Department of State Rewards for Justice program and is used solely to apprehend terrorists and bring them to justice. The account will also be distributed to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management for the purpose of providing financial support and assistance to the former spouses and dependents of persons killed as a result of the acts of terrorism committed on September 11, 2001.

When individuals purchase a Keep Kids Safe plate, a portion of the fee goes to the Keep Kids Safe Fund, which “makes many worthy projects happen for youngsters.”  The fund awards grants to schools, hospitals, municipalities and other non-profit organizations working to make all Connecticut children safer from severe and preventable injuries, according to the DMV website.

In most cases, remake of a current plate is $70; a new vanity plate is $139, a new series plate is $50.  For others, including the UConn Huskies plate, the price tag is somewhat different.  Off-the-shelf license plates cost $55, remake of a current plate is $75, a new vanity plate costs $144, according to the DMV website.

The Support Our Troops plate sends a portion of the fee to provide funding for programs to assist Connecticut troops, their families and veterans. When you buy a Red Sox plate, a portion of the fees support and help fund academic scholarship programs in Connecticut.

Also included are 17 varieties of military specialty plates, including Disabled American Veteran, Gold Star Family, Iwo Jima Survivor, Korean War Veterans Association, Marine Corps League, Laos Veterans of America, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Pearl Harbor 1941, U.S. Submarine Veteran, National Guard Association of Connecticut, First Company Governor’s Foot Guard, First Company Governor’s Horse Guard,

Colleges with designated plates include Central Connecticut State University, Penn State Alumni, University of Hartford, University of Connecticut, and University of New Haven.  Cities with available plates include Meriden, Norwich, and Stafford.

Organizations interested in launching a new special plate, should contact the DMV Special Plate Unit at (860) 263-5154 for further information.

Financial Capital Remains Hurdle for Women Entrepreneurs

“Data reveal that an increasing number of women are choosing entrepreneurship as a career path, and of those, a growing number of them share aspirations for growth.”  That fact, pointed out in the preface of a new book co-written by a local university professor, is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are roughly 9.9 million women-owned firms in the United States, representing over a third of all firms in the country—and the ranks of new enterprises with women at the helm are growing rapidly. Between 2007 and 2012, women-owned firms in the U.S. grew by 27 percent compared to a growth rate of 2 percent for firms overall.

“But in spite of their impressive growth in numbers,” writes University of Hartford finance professor Susan Coleman, “the business ventures women are launching today continue to lag behind those launched by men in terms of revenues and employment. So while an increasing number of women can count themselves as entrepreneurs, many appear to be running into barriers, as the vast majority of their businesses remain quite small.”

Coleman, along with Alicia M. Robb, have co-authored The Next Wave: Financing Women’s Growth-Oriented Firms (published by Stanford University Press), which points to “three essential factors that women entrepreneurs need to thrive: knowledge, networks, and investors. In tandem, these three ingredients connect and empower emerging entrepreneurs with those who have succeeded in growing their firms while also realizing the financial and economic returns that come with doing so.”

Robb is Senior Fellow with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Colorado, Boulder. She previously worked with the Office of Economic Research in the Small Business Administration and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Coleman is Professor of Finance and Ansley Chair at the Barney School of Business at the University of Hartford.

Coleman notes that “A crucial pitfall is that women face unique challenges in their attempts to acquire financial capital. Growth-oriented firms typically require substantial investment—both in the form of bank loans and external equity in the form of angel or venture capital funding—to scale up.” Studies reveal, however, that “women entrepreneurs raise significantly smaller amounts of capital than men and face continued barriers in their attempts to secure external equity in particular,” Coleman points out.

In the book’s forward, the authors explain that the motives behind women-run entrepreneurial businesses vary.  “Some of these growth-oriented entrepreneurs are motivated by a desire to pursue an opportunity or an unmet need in the marketplace.  Others are frustrated by the constraints imposed by a ‘glass ceiling’ that prevents them from reaching the most senior ranks of corporations.  Still others are drawn by the financial and economic rewards that can come from leading a firm that achieves scale.”

According to IRS data, women represent over 40 percent of top wealth holders in the United States, yet estimates from the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Venture Research indicate that they represented only 25 percent of angel investors in 2015, Coleman notes.

Optimistic about the future success of women entrepreneurs, Coleman and Robb observe that “Successful women entrepreneurs who are paying it forward in a variety of ways are a driving force” in what they describe as the “next wave.”

“In a virtuous cycle, women entrepreneurs evolve from being the recipients of human, social, and financial capital into becoming the providers of those key resources as their firms grow and create economic value. The more successful women at the helm of businesses that kick off cash, the more women there are to invest in others, and the faster we see the number of women grow in the ranks of larger businesses and investing.”

In addition to appreciation expressed to the Kansas City-based Kauffman Foundation for financial support, the book’s acknowledgements note that the Barney School of Business and the University of Hartford’s Women’s Education and Leadership Fund provided grants that helped support initial research and development of case studies on women entrepreneurs. The authors also expressed appreciation to three University of Hartford graduate assistants – Ece Karhan, Mert Karhan, and Isha Sen – who “played an invaluable role in the book’s development.”

State Arts Office Completing Outreach for Strategic Plan, Adding Staff Position

Connecticut’s Office of the Arts (COA), which operates within the state Department of Economic and Community Development, is concluding a months-long strategic planning process to inform the agency’s next five-year Statewide Cultural Strategy. The Office is also looking to hire a full-time program associate, even as budget cuts and layoffs decimate state agencies from tourism to developmental disabilities. It is just one of nearly three dozen state positions currently being advertised by the state Department of Administrative Services.

The aim of the strategic planning effort is to move perception of the arts from "nice to necessary," according to the agency’s website. “To do this, we've engaged a firm to help guide our discussions and considerations and are utilizing a Design Thinking approach to this process.”

The firm, Austin-based Public City, is a culture-driven public engagement consultancy and studio. Public City works “to create authentic culture-based experiences that allow our clients to deeply connect with their publics.”  The firm’s website cites 25 years of experience “strategizing, designing, commissioning, exhibiting, and partnering with cities, businesses, artists, designers, and curators.”  Connecticut is listed first on the company’s client roster, which includes numerous Texas organizations and others from throughout the country.

COA has used social media, Survey Monkey, and regional charrettes for data collection in Connecticut.  Regional charrettes were conducted in collaboration with regional partners and were “small think tank discussions by invitation which represent a wide sampling of voices.”  Facebook and Twitter sites were used, along with the hashtag #CTArts.

The Office of the Arts develops and strengthens the arts in Connecticut and makes artistic experiences widely available to residents and visitors, according to the agency website. Through its grant programs, COA invests in Connecticut artists and arts organizations and encourages the public’s participation as creators, learners, supporters, and audience members, the site explains.

In addition, the Office of the Arts plays an ongoing convening role and provides an array of training and professional development opportunities, and also collects and disseminates state, regional, and national arts information resources via web communications, directories, publications, data-sharing, one-on-one consultations, and referrals.

The staff position that COA seeks to fill will report to the state’s Director of Culture and work “independently to support the grant-making, researching, and developing activities necessary to implement arts and cultural programs in a wide range of artistic areas.”  Applications for the position – with an anticipated salary range between $62,973 and $81,493 – are due by September 22.

Following data collection and analysis in the strategic planning process, COA anticipates sharing results and engaging in further outreach. The final plan was set to emerge this week, according to the COA website.

Veteran-Owned Small Businesses Will See Expanded Price Preference for State Work, Beginning Oct. 1

Applications are available for a new Connecticut initiative designed to “spur veterans to start a business and to help small veteran-owned businesses to flourish.”  The law, which takes effect on October 1, is the most generous of it’s kind in the nation, and provides veteran-owned businesses with a price preference of up to 15% for certain state Department of Administrative Services open-market orders or contracts. These businesses must have a gross revenue of up to $3 million in the most recently completed fiscal year, and at least 51% of the ownership must be held by one or more veterans. Under existing law, a “veteran” is anyone honorably discharged or released from active service in the U. S. Armed Forces or their reserve components, including the Connecticut National Guard performing duty under Title 32 (such as certain Homeland Security missions).

The legislation, which began as Senate Bill 2 in the 2016 session of the state legislature, was unanimously approved by the Veterans Affairs Committee and Government Administration and Elections Committee, before gaining unanimous approval in the Senate and House and the Governor’s signature.

The National Veteran-Owned Business Association, in testimony before the state legislature in March, said passage of the new law would “make Connecticut the most ‘Vetrepreneur-Friendly”state” in the U.S.  The organization noted that 27 states have programs in place “to create opportunities for veteran-owned businesses, and that New Mexico had recently increased its preference to 10 percent.  At the time, Connecticut’s veterans preference also stood at 10 percent.

Senate leaders Martin Looney (New Haven) and Bob Duff (Norwalk) said the move to 15% was part of a multi-year effort by the legislature to “improve the lives of our vets, and help them earn a living.” State Comptroller Kevin Lembo, testifying in support of the proposal, told the legislature it would “decrease a bit of the burden on those veterans who are doing much more than just getting by.  These veterans have not only re-entered their communities as productive taxpayers, but have taken the risk of starting up their own business to realize their piece of the American dream.”

“We applaud your leadership of the important piece of legislation that will enhance and expand opportunities for the small businesses” owned by veterans, said Matthew Pavelek, Vice President of the national organization, NaVOBA, based in Pittsburgh.

To receive the fifteen per cent price preference, a bidding business must first obtain a Veteran-owned Micro Business certification from the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs. The Certification is valid for six months or until such time as the business is no longer in compliance with the statutory requirements, whichever occurs first.  Applications for the certification are now available from the state Department of Veterans Affairs.

Prompted by Economy, Only Half of Nation's Millennials Plan to Work for Same Company Next Year, Gallup Survey Says

Millennials are entering the workforce in increasing numbers, and are the intense focus both of governments – including Connecticut – and businesses seeking to attract and retain them.  As Connecticut’s economic ranking among the states continues to hover near the bottom, the job choices of millennials become increasingly important to future economic vitality. Even amidst less than favorable comparisons in recent rankings, Connecticut has managed to achieve recent employment figures that show improvement. Last month, the state added some 3,000 jobs in the private sector and wages have also risen slightly in recent reports after a period of stagnation, WNPR reported recently.

Heather Ziegler, managing partner for Deloitte in Stamford, told WNPR that in her view the state is doing some things right, like encouraging high technology industries and fostering entrepreneurship. "But what I think is most effective, and one of the challenges at the same time," she told WNPR, "is getting individuals with the right skill sets interested in staying in the area and staying in Connecticut, versus moving on to the larger metropolitan areas that we are right between."

Millennials are already in a tough situation – they’re better educated, yet earning less than their counterparts in 1990, points out Christine Schilke of Young Energetic Solutions (YES CT), a statewide initiative seeking to empower young people to create a vibrant Connecticut.  She indicates that “while 28% of millennials hold bachelor’s degrees compared to 24% in 1990, only 67% are employed, compared to 74% two decades ago.  Those who are working earn an average $40,849, versus $46,569 by their predecessors.”

“Today’s millennials,” Schilke adds, “are also burdened with college debt, and are less likely to be married, live alone or drive. Adding to these challenges is the fact that Connecticut has some of the highest homeownership and rental costs in the nation (6^th and 8^th most expensive, respectively), creating a tough living environment for today’s young adults.”

Nationwide, according to a recent Gallup poll, six in 10 millennials say they're open to different job opportunities, and only 50% plan to be with their company one year from now. Millennials are cracking under the weight of too much debt, according to Merrill Lynch's 2016 Workplace Benefits Report, which points out that only 24% of millennials surveyed say that they are in control of their finances.

Technology is the primary facilitator of millennials' job research: 81% of millennials indicate that they view the websites of organizations they're interested in, and a majority (62%) report that they conduct a general web search to learn about job opportunities, Gallup reports.

Not surprisingly, “millennials are extremely digitally connected, and smartphones have become a ubiquitous accessory for them.” Gallup found that 91% of millennials owned smartphones in 2013, compared with 83% of those in older generations. And compared with other generations, millennials are:

• almost 40% more likely to say they sent or read email messages "a lot" within the past day
• 2.5 times more likely to say they posted or read messages on Facebook, Instagram or another social media site "a lot" within the past day
• 11 times more likely to say they used Twitter, including posting or reading tweets, "a lot" within the past day
• more than 2.5 times more likely to say they sent or read text messages "a lot" within the past day

To attract the best workers, Gallup suggests, “organizations need brand strategies that account for millennials' motivation and ability to find the best employers -- especially considering that millennials currently make up 38% of the U.S. workforce, and some estimate that they will make up as much as 75% of it by 2025.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkOmyg5lJbQ

Nonprofits, Local Companies See Benefit From Business Arrival in Capital City

The arrival of Blue State Coffee in downtown Hartford has been more than a convenient place to grab a cup of coffee for supporters of a number of nonprofit organizations in the Capitol City.  It has also meant the introduction of a new revenue stream for organizations they care about, at a time when budgets have been particularly tight. Most recently for Our Piece of the Pie, Journey Home, Unified Theater, The iQuilt Plan, Partnership for Strong Communities, Dream Camp at Trinity College, CT ALIVE and Hartford Food System, Blue State Coffee’s policy of sharing two percent of their profits with local organizations suggested by their customers has been most welcome.

Turns out it can make a difference with a retail business with a commitment to social benefit comes to town.

Blue State Coffee, founded in Rhode Island in 2007, provides their customers at each of their store locations to choose four local non-profit organizations twice a year for a six-month period. Each time a customer makes a purchase he or she may vote for one of the four non-profits being supported at that time. They then allocate 2 percent of sales based on the number of votes each organization receives during the six month donation period.

Since their first store opened in July of 2007, the company reports they have donated over $635,000 to more than 250 non-profit organizations. In total, the company operates eight cafes: four cafes in Connecticut, two in Rhode Island, and two in Massachusetts.

Hartford, which opened just under a year ago at 777 Main Street, was the fourth location in Connecticut, following three in New Haven (84 Wall Street opened in January 2009, 276 York Street opened in May 2010, and 320 Congress Avenue opened in September 2012).  There are also two locations in Boston and two in Providence.   In New Haven, nearly 100 nonprofit organizations have received support since the first coffee shop opened in the Elm City.

Blue State is also very much a part of the trend to use local farms, local goods and local vendors.  The Hartford location, for example, features eggs from Bloomfield, milk from Lebanon, bread from Deep River, Bagels from Cheshire, produce from Simsbury and maple syrup from North Grosvenordale. 

As the company website points out, “We will continue to grow, creating community within our stores and demonstrating that business can be a positive force for good.”

Two CT Companies Among Inc. 500 As Fastest Growing Private Businesses; 40 in State Reach List of 5,000

Two companies with Connecticut addresses are among the 500 fastest growing private companies in America, cited in the annual survey published by Inc. magazine in their September edition.  Saatva, which sells “America’s best priced luxury mattress” exclusively on-line, is ranked at #316 and Discover Video, a video hardware and software company that works across multiple industries, is ranked #428. They were the only two companies to earn a slot in the top 500.  An additional 38 Connecticut companies were listed on the Inc. 5000, also announced recently.

Wallingford-based Discover Video provides software and hardware to corporations and educational institutions that seek to improve their communications through the use of video. The company ranks #428 on the Inc. 500, is ranked #5 among America’s fastest growing media companies, and #2 in Connecticut. The company has grown 893 percent in the last three years.

“We are thrilled to be recognized” said Rich Mavrogeanes, Discover Video CEO. “We provide great products, love our customers, and have a fantastic team. Our customers take comfort in our financial stability and long term prospects, and this award certainly demonstrates that.”

Founded in 2009, Discover Video, LLC provides “powerful and affordable video streaming and digital media solutions to organizations of all sizes in three ways: Products, Services and Expertise,” according to the business website. Clients include the Emmy Awards, the National Association of Broadcasters and the White House, according to the company.

Ranked at #316 on the Inc. list, Saatva’s three year growth is 1,220.9 percent.  The company constructs and sells luxury mattresses.  The company’s administrative mailing address is Wright Street, in Westport; another administrative office is located in Austin, TX.  The online Inc. summary indicates they are a Connecticut company; the magazine’s print edition lists the company as based in New York City, where back-office logistics emanate.  The business has 18 factories around the country; the CEO is Ron Ruzdin.

The seven-year-old Saatva was named to Forbes Top 100 "America's Most Promising Companies" last year, and was ranked the 8th fastest growing e-tailer in the Top 500 Guide for 2015 by Internet Retailer.  The company sells exclusively online and does not have showrooms. Saatva provides “nationwide in-home delivery and set-up,” and highlights it’s mattresses’ “individually wrapped coils, edge & lumbar support, steel coil support base, organic cotton cover, and euro pillow top with a memory foam enhancement in the lumbar area.”

Also reaching the Inc. 5000 were Saffron Road Foods, a consumer products and services business (American Halal Company) based in Stamford, at #703; Votto Vines Importing, a food and beverage business in Hamden, at #786, and Continuity, a New Haven software company, at #955, launched in 2008.

Saffron Road is the culmination of Founder and CEO Adnan Durrani’s life’s work.  Right after the turn of the 2000 millennium, the natural food pioneer first envisioned a halal food brand which also embodied ethical consumerism: halal, sustainably farmed, authentic, anti-biotic free, and 100% vegetarian fed, all harvested on family-owned farms, the company’s website explains.

Votto Vines is a family-operated business focusing primarily on the importation and wholesale distribution of fine wines produced by leading boutique vineyards around the world as well as high-profile private label and wine licensing transactions.

Continuity provides a combination of technology, expertise and leadership “designed to make compliance a seamless part of how your institution does business,” providing compliance management solutions.  By combining regulatory expertise and cloud technology, Continuity provides a proven way to reduce regulatory burden and mitigate compliance risk. In addition to its New Haven headquarters, the company has an office in Boston.

Connecticut-based fast growing businesses on the first-half of the list of 5,000 nationwide also include HPC Wireless Services (#1,033), InterMerchant Services (#1,392), Charles IT (#1,631), Northeast Private Client Group (#1,786),eEuroparts.com (#1,912), Clarity Software Solutions (#,2108), Johnson Brunetti (#2,380), Square 9 Softworks (#2,387), and DGDean (#2,436).

The full list of Connecticut companies is at http://www.inc.com/inc5000/list/2016/state/ct/

Travelers Initiative Aims to Predict Chronic Pain from Workplace Injuries

Can chronic pain, often the lingering result of a workplace injury, be predicted? The Travelers Companies, Inc. believes the answer is yes.  The company has developed what it describes as the first predictive model designed to reverse a sharp rise in chronic pain caused by workplace injuries.

The Travelers Early Severity Predictor (patent pending) identifies the likelihood of an injured employee developing chronic pain so that they can avoid it in recovery and reduce the need to use opioids or other painkillers.

“Millions of American workers are injured on the job each year, and the number of cases in which chronic pain interferes with an employee’s recovery has risen from less than 10 percent a decade ago to more than half of all serious injuries today,” said Dr. Adam Seidner, the National Medical Director at Travelers, when the initiative was announced in April.

According to A.M. Best, Travelers is the largest workers compensation carrier in the United States. The company manages more than 250,000 workplace injury claims and 3.5 billion medical treatments per year.

“When someone develops chronic pain, they are prescribed opioids or other painkillers more than 90 percent of the time. Our goal is to work with injured employees and their doctors to eliminate or substantially reduce the need for painkillers that can slow their recovery or lead to devastating long-term addiction.”

The Travelers Early Severity Predictor has been applied in more than 20,000 cases since early 2015. Of those, more than 9,000 injured employees were identified as being at risk of developing chronic pain. These employees received a customized, sports medicine-like regimen of treatment precisely sequenced to aid and accelerate their recovery, the company explained.

Injured employees who participated in the program in the past year have, on average, recovered and returned to work more quickly, the company said. They were also far less likely to receive a prescription for opioids, and when they did, it was typically a lower dosage or only for short-term use. At the same time, medical expenses, which cost American employers an average of nearly $40,000 per injury, were reduced by as much as 50 percent.

In 2014, there were 107.1 cases of nonfatal occupational injuries or illnesses requiring an employee to miss work for every 100,000 full-time American workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the website IPWatchdog reported. Although this represented a decline from 2013’s workplace injury numbers, it still resulted in 1,157,410 days away from work among private, state government and local government employees. BLS statistics show that workplace injury incidence rates were highest in the industries of transportation and warehousing as well as health care and social assistance, according to the website.

Two patent applications published this year by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office cover technologies associated with the Early Severity Predictor project, IP Watchdog reported.

The Centers for Disease Control issued a guideline earlier this year, the Insurance Journal reported, for primary care physicians for treating chronic pain. The new CDC guideline aims to lessen opioid use disorder and overdose. When opioids are used, doctors should prescribe lowest possible effective dosage, according to the guideline. The CDC guideline also suggests increasing the use of other effective treatments available for chronic pain, such as non-opioid medications or non-pharmacologic therapies.

According to research into physician dispensing of opioids, the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) noted that three out of four injured workers with pain are prescribed opiods, with the amount per claim varying by state, the Insurance Journal reported.  Nearly 1 in 12 injured workers given narcotics are still on them 3 to 6 months later as few doctors appear to be following recommended treatment guidelines to prevent abuse, according to WCRI research in 2012.

A 2012 study in the Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine found that when long-acting opioid painkillers are prescribed, workers’ compensation claims are nearly four times more likely to turn into catastrophic claims with costs tallying more than $100,000.

“Helping employees avoid chronic pain and the slippery slope to possible opioid dependency is critical to reversing this disturbing and costly health crisis,” Seidner emphasized.

The Travelers Companies, Inc. is a leading provider of property casualty insurance for auto, home and business. The company’s main offices are in New York, Hartford and St. Paul.  A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Travelers has approximately 30,000 employees and generated revenues of approximately $27 billion in 2015.

New Documentary, Travelers Championship Heighten Attention to ALS, Sports is Once Again Common Theme

Public awareness of ALS - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – has been intertwined with sports since Lou Gehrig played with the New York Yankees, and saw his career and his life, tragically shortened by the neurodegenerative disease eight decades ago.  Gehrig’s Yankee Stadium speech in 1939 has endured as one of the century’s most memorable. Earlier this month, the Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour raised more money for charity than in any previous year, when $2.8 million was raised with ALS as the primary charity.  Travelers Executive Chairman of the Board Jay Fishman announced in August 2015 that he had been diagnosed with ALS.

And now, a new motion picture documentary telling the story of a former NFL player afflicted with ALS is reaching theaters across the country, including Connecticut.  The film, Gleason, goes inside the life of Steve Gleason, the former New Orleans Saints defensive back who, at the age of 34, was diagnosed with ALS and given a life expectancy of two to five years. Gleason played for the Saints from 2000-2008.

The primary beneficiary for the 2016 Travelers tournament was the ALS Clinic at the Hospital for Special Care (HSC) in New Britain. Each year, HSC cares for more than 250 Connecticut residents with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). HSC is the only facility in Connecticut that is part of the ALS Association’s national network of Certified Treatment Centers of Excellence and is certified by the Muscular Dystrophy Association for ALS care.

According to the ALS Association, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. When a muscle has no nourishment, it "atrophies" or wastes away. "Lateral" identifies the areas in a person's spinal cord where portions of the nerve cells that signal and control the muscles are located. As this area degenerates it leads to scarring or hardening ("sclerosis") in the region.  Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their demise.

ALS burst back into the public conversation during the 2014 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, as millions of people started talking about ALS. Recently, there have been some indications that the money raised during that social media explosion may have helped to advance research into ALS.

As the movie tells it, just weeks after his diagnosis, Gleason found out his wife, Michel, was expecting their first child. A video journal that began as a gift for his unborn son expands to chronicle Steve’s determination to get his relationships in order, build a foundation to provide other ALS patients with purpose, and adapt to his declining physical condition—utilizing medical technologies that offer the means to live as fully as possible, according to the movie synopsis appearing on the film’s website. The documentary was highly regarded at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and is making its Connecticut debut at Cinema City at the Palace 17 in Hartford.

ALS usually strikes people between the ages of 40 and 70, and approximately 20,000 Americans can have the disease at any given time (although this number fluctuates), the ALS Association reports. For unknown reasons, military veterans are approximately twice as likely to be diagnosed with the disease than the general public.

The Greater Hartford Walk to Defeat ALS will take place on September 25 in East Hartford.  The New Haven Walk will be held on October 2 in New Haven.

https://youtu.be/WgkQU32XSFQ

Metro Hartford Progress Points Report Looks at Promise in Communities Amidst Considerable Challenges

First, the bad news.  The Metro Hartford region “has not produced meaningful job growth in the past 25 years, despite having advanced industries that offer a family-sustaining wage and having residents eager to work.”  The region’s spending on local schools continues to increase, even as enrollment declines, and the region “retains the fewest four-year graduates of any metro region in the country – with 60 percent of recent graduates citing jobs as their primary reason for leaving.”  Even in the region’s traditional strength in advanced industries, such as aerospace manufacturing and computer systems designs, “our competitive advantage may be eroding.” If the goal of the latest edition of the Metro Hartford Progress Points report, driven by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, is to push a region-wide conversation that spurs progress, the data highlighting five key issues impacting the region’s 38 communities may have just enough unsettling news and rays of hope to do just that.  “The need for systemic change,” the report indicates, “requires leadership and more regional coordination and integration.”

The third annual edition of the report is the result of collaboration between nine stakeholders representing local government, businesses, nonprofits, academic and philanthropic institutions and organizations committed to making long-term progress in the region.

The 2016 report focuses on five related themes: attracting and retaining a skilled workforce; better connecting people to opportunity; aligning workforce and economic development strategies; ensuring a quality education for all despite scarce resources and building collaborative leadership and civic engagement to create long-term progress.

The data suggests that the region may be poised for greater success, but not without accelerated efforts, noting flatly that “more is needed.”

The report notes that the beginnings of “meaningful change” is evident, with towns creating walkable areas near transportation through transit-oriented development along the CT Fasttrak corridor and the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail line, expanding transportation options to meet the needs of today’s population and employers, an expanding presence of colleges in downtown Hartford, and regional collaboratives creating career pathways and bridging the divide among differing aspects of the education system from middle school through the workforce.

Local and regional organizations and associations, such as the MetroHartford Alliance’s HYPE, reSET, United Way’s Emerging Leaders and the Urban League’s Young Professionals “engage and connect millennials” and offer “business advisory services and other supports to help small businesses thrive,” the report explains, providing “a great start” on what needs to be done.

The report notes that “regional thinking is not new to Metro Hartford, even if successes have been intermittent. Without regional government, we must rely on informal, voluntary collaboration among leaders to address regional challenges.”

Among the findings:

• Most job openings in the future will be in either high-wage jobs that require advanced degrees (27 percent) or low-skill jobs with wages that cannot sustain a family (72 percent).
• While school enrollment in our region has declined by 7 percent since 2001, amounting to 29,000 additional empty seats in our region’s classrooms, education expenditures have increased 25 percent.
• Millennials are projected to be the largest workforce segment by 2025, but who are they? Nearly half (43%) of the region’s 18- to 34-year-olds live in households that don’t earn family-sustaining wages.
• Millennials and those aged 45-64 are moving out of our state in large numbers, along with those with post-secondary education, and are taking $912 million of their income with them. Overall, college graduates, individuals with advanced degrees and older residents are moving out of state, while younger and less educated people are moving in.

Regarding economic growth – or the lack thereof – the Hartford region ranks at the bottom of the list among Cleveland, Buffalo and New Orleans over the past quarter-century.  Topping the list are Austin, Las Vegas, Orlando and Raleigh.

The report includes a timeline of past efforts aimed at addressing the region’s long-standing challenges, “not to be disheartening, but instead to highlight where positive changes have been made” and how collaborative efforts can “create opportunities for all Greater Hartford residents.” The report also indicates that:

• While net job growth in our region has been flat, the region’s smaller and locally-owned businesses have increased employment by 23 percent between 1995 and 2013. Unfortunately, larger and employers headquartered out of state have decreased employment by 10 percent during this same time period.
• New and proposed rail, bus and highway projects offer the promise of access to jobs, housing and amenities that can spur economic growth.
• Many of the region’s residents – of all ages – would like to live where they can walk to shops, restaurants and other amenities, compared to where they lie today. That is true of 60 percent of those ages 18-20, and more than 40 percent of other age demographics.

The Metro Hartford region consists of 1 million people living in Hartford, New Britain and the 36 surrounding communities.  The partners in the initiative expressed the hope that the latest edition of the Progress Points report creates the “sense of urgency necessary to address shared regional challenges.”

The Metro Hartford Progress Points Partners are: Capitol Region Council of Governments, Capital Workforce Partners, City of Hartford, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Hispanic Health Council, MetroHartford Alliance, Trinity College Center for Urban and Global Studies, United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut, and Urban League of Greater Hartford.

https://youtu.be/0zTQjsbNlw0