Survey Says: Hartford Is Among Nation’s Top Up-and-Coming Cities

What do Milwaukee, Syracuse and Hartford have in common? They are all – believe it or not – the nation’s most notable “up-can-coming place to live,” according to a new national analysis of the top places to live in the U.S.

In calculating the second-annual ranking of the Best Places to Live in the U.S., which evaluates the 100 most populous metro areas in the country based on qualities that Americans care about most, U.S. News looked at affordability, employment opportunities and the overall quality of life in each place.  Hartford’s ranking jumped from number 59 a year ago to number 31 this year, among the largest leaps of any city in the nation.

The leading reason cited by the publication is the increase in jobs.

"The Hartford region has seen some strong employment growth in a number of high-productivity sectors, including professional, technical services, education and health services," said Alissa DeJonge, vice president of research at the Connecticut Economic Resource Center.

The types of job opportunities that are available in the Hartford area tend to pay well, the publication points out, “with residents earning nearly $57,000 per year on average, which is significantly more than the average American's salary of $48,320 per year. United Technologies Corp. provides employment to residents in the manufacturing and engineering sectors, and the region is home to some of the country's largest financial institutions, including Aetna Inc. and the Hartford Financial Services Group.”

"Hartford is known as the 'insurance capital' of the U.S., a title substantiated with Connecticut ranking No. 1 in the U.S. for insurance employment per capita, with many of those employers located in the Hartford region," added Susan Winkler, executive director of Connecticut Insurance and Financial Services. "Connecticut is also home to the highest concentration of actuaries – many located in the Hartford region."

The U.S. News review also notes that the region features a diverse selection of restaurants and cultural attractions. Paul Pita, CEO and executive creative director of Hartford-based digital marketing firm The Pita Group, told U.S. News "Hartford is a great place to live because residents have access to what they need: great options for housing, great educational options and a wide variety of lifestyle options for food, arts, culture, entertainment and outdoor activities."

Syracuse moved from #53 to #28, and Milwaukee climbed from #72 to #47.  The top 10 places to live in the U.S., according to the rankings, are Austin, Denver, San Jose, Washington D.C., Fayetteville, Seattle, Raleigh/Durham, Boston, Des Moines, Salt Lake City and Colorado Springs.  Portland, Maine ranked #26 and Albany ranked #30, just ahead of Hartford.  New Haven ranked #81 in the top 100.

The metro areas included in the rankings were evaluated by U.S. News using data from sources including the United States Census Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Labor and U.S. News' own internal resources. This data was categorized into five indexes – Job Market (including salary and unemployment rates), Value Index (including cost of living), Quality of Life Index (including education, crime, commuting, and health care), Desirability Index, and Net Migration - and then evaluated using a methodology determined by Americans' preferences. The percent weighting for each index was determined by the answers to a public survey in which people from across the country voted for what they believed was the most important thing to consider when thinking about moving, according to U.S. News.

Changing Leadership Atop Leading Philanthropy Organizations

Two leading organizations in Connecticut’s philanthropic community are at the crossroads of leadership changes.  The Connecticut Council for Philanthropy (CCP) has announced the end of its national search for a new leader with the selection of Karla Fortunato to be its new president, effective May 1.  The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, one of the nation’s largest community foundations, has embarked on its own national search, and announced that Yvette Meléndez has been appointed interim president, effective March 20, as that search process continues. Fortunato comes to CCP after 13 years at the Health and Environmental Funders Network (HEFN), a national alliance of 60 philanthropic organizations based in Rockville, MD.

As director of HEFN, she has managed its programming, outreach, and operations, promoting collaboration on shared goals among its members.  Fortunato previously served as associate director of policy for Health Care for All in Boston, engaging in policy research, communications, and campaigns, and as a consultant for The Public Policy Institute, also in Boston.

"Karla's experience in building alliances among funders and engaging in public policy outreach make her ideally suited to lead our organization," said Judith Meyers, chair of CCP's Board of Directors. "She is a proven leader with a strong vision of how to mobilize the power of philanthropy to effect positive change--and she has a true passion for the work."

Fortunato graduated magna cum laude from the Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Virginia and earned an MBA (also magna cum laude) from George Washington University. She serves on the Health Leadership Circle of MomentUs, a campaign for climate change solutions. She served as a member of the Serving Communities Committee of the National Conversation on Public Health and Chemical Exposures and as a citizen representative on the Montgomery County Citizen's Advisory Board. A native of Connecticut, she and her family look forward to relocating here from their current home in Jacksonville, Florida.

The Connecticut Council for Philanthropy (CCP) is an association of grantmakers committed to promoting and supporting effective philanthropy for the public good. CCP's 114 members are foundations (private, corporate, community), business and corporate giving programs, bank trusts, donor-advised funds, individual philanthropists and those serving the philanthropic sector. CCP members annually grant more than $858 million from assets of more than $7.6 billion.

Meléndez has served on the Hartford Foundation's board for close to 12 years, the last three as chair. She has more than 30 years of successful managerial experience in state government, higher education and at Hartford Healthcare, from which she is recently retired. She will take a leave of absence from the board during this time, and will serve as interim until a new president is named. Meléndez is not a candidate for the position. Linda J. Kelly announced her retirement as president of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, last March, effective next month, after 10 years leading the organization.

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding communities.  In 2015, the Foundation celebrated ninety years of grantmaking in the Greater Hartford region, made possible by the gifts of generous individuals, families and organizations.  It has awarded grants of more than $680 million since its founding in 1925.

PHOTO:  Karla Fortunato (left), Yvette Meléndez (right)

Whalers Hartford Attendance 20 Years Ago Exceeds Islanders in Brooklyn

For Hartford hockey fans of the Whalers vintage, a peek at this year’s National Hockey League (NHL) attendance figures are either demoralizing or encouraging – or both.  It has been two decades since the Whalers were uprooted by ownership, replanted in North Carolina and renamed the Hurricanes, and two weeks since Gov. Dannel Malloy and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin took their first shot at the now Brooklyn-based New York Islanders. Lowest attendance in the NHL this year belongs to the Carolina Hurricanes, at 12,025 through 24 home games, followed at the bottom of the league by the Islanders, averaging 12,829 through 32 home games, as of this week.

Last year, the 2015-16 season, the Hurricanes averaged 12,203 for their 41 home games, last in the league, while the Islanders were third lowest in the NHL at 13,626.  Both are lower than the Whalers average attendance in their final season in Hartford, nearly two decades ago.

In comparison, the top teams in the league this year for home attendance are the Chicago Black Hawks, averaging 21,669 and Montreal Canadians, seeing 21,288 per game thus far this year.

In their final season on Long Island at the Nassau Coliseum in 2015-16, the Islanders average home attendance was 15,189, an increase from the immediate previous seasons.  The Carolina Hurricanes had the second lowest attendance in the league that year, at 12,594.  During the 2012-13 season, the Islanders attendance was the lowest in the 30-team league, at 13,306.

With more than 1,000 obstructed seats in the Barclay Center arena that the Islanders share with the New York Nets in Brooklyn, rumors have circulated since last year of a possible move to a new arena in Queens built for hockey, unlike the Islanders current home, first and foremost a basketball arena.  There has been local opposition to that possibility.  Recent published reports have also indicated that the Barclay Center and Islanders could part company after the 2018-19 season or a year earlier if the team decides to relocate.

With no official word one way or the other, Connecticut officials are taking their shot, with a possible assist from a $250 million makeover of the XL Center, former home of the Whalers.  That proposal must be approved by the state legislature, a tall order at a time when the state budget deficit is approaching $2 billion.

In the Whalers’ final season in Hartford, 1996-97, attendance at the Hartford Civic Center had grown to 87 percent of capacity, with an average attendance of 13,680 per game.  Published reports suggest that the average attendance was, in reality, higher than 14,000 per game by 1996-97, but Whalers ownership did not count the skyboxes and coliseum club seating because the revenue streams went to the state, rather than the team.  Attendance increased for four consecutive years before management moved the team from Hartford. (To 10,407 in 1993-94, 11,835 in 1994-95, 11,983 in 1995-96 and 13,680 in 1996-97.)

During the team’s tenure in Hartford, average attendance exceeded 14,000 twice – in 1987-88 and 1986-87, when the team ranked 13th in the league in attendance in both seasons.

In recent years, the Islanders have been at or near the bottom of the league in home attendance:

• 2015-16       28^th
• 2014-15      25^th
• 2013-14      26^th
• 2012-13      30^th
• 2011-12      29^th
• 2010-11      30^th
• 2009-10      29^th

Whalers merchandise continues to sell well, despite the team not having played a single game in this century.  Whalers merchandise was Reebok's top selling non-current NHL team, according to published reports in 2015. While the company has expanded its lineup to include Whalers logos from different eras, the Hartford Business Journal reported, gear featuring the team's original logo remained the most popular and continues to be offered on the NHL Official Shop website, on multiple websites and in retail locations in the U.S. and Canada.

The Connecticut officials said “this is a ready market anxious for an NHL team, eager to fill seats, buy merchandise, and support your team,” reminding Islanders officials that ““Your AHL affiliate is in nearby Bridgeport, allowing quick and easy access to your minor-league players, and represents a footing in Connecticut of the Islander franchise.”

The NHL has given no indication that it will approve a move out of the New York market, according to NBC Sports, although Commissioner Gary Bettman has said that the teams owners “are reviewing the situation and looking very seriously at what their options are.”

The only statement released by Islanders ownership after receiving the letter last week from Malloy and Bronin said the team does “look forward to another great year of New York Islanders hockey at Barclays Center next season.”  No word on what might, or might not, occur after that.

Norwalk, Stamford Gain New Businesses, Taking From Each Other

Octagon Inc., a sports and entertainment marketing and talent management agency, is relocating its headquarters to the Shippan Landing complex in Stamford. The company, which is moving from Norwalk, has signed an 11-year lease to occupy 57,009 square feet across the entire third floor and a section of the second floor of the property at 290 Harbor Drive along the Stamford waterfront. The move apparently comes without state financial incentives, and comes months after another corporate citizen made the reverse move – from Stamford to Norwalk – with a boost from state incentives.  Less than 15 miles and 15 minutes apart, two of Fairfield County’s leading cities are experiencing the corporate version of “Trading Places.”

Crius Energy, through its wholly owned subsidiary Regional Energy Holdings, announced plans last year to move its headquarters from Stamford to Norwalk, placing 200 jobs in the city and committing to add 225 more over the next four years, according to an announcement in May from the Governor’s Office.

Officials said the company – launched in Connecticut – has become one of the largest independent energy retailers in the United States, supplying electricity, natural gas and solar energy products to more than 900,000 customers across 19 states and the District of Columbia, including 100,000 in Connecticut. According to officials, Crius also has operations in Florida, Texas and Australia.  They had outgrown their Stamford facility, which led to plans for a $29 million project in Norwalk, to include the renovation of 48,000 square feet of an existing building. 

To encourage the move, the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) said it would provide a 10-year, $8 million low-interest loan to support the project, funding that can be used for fixtures and equipment and leasehold improvements. Crius is also eligible for up to $2 million in tax credits through the Urban and Industrial Sites Reinvestment Tax Credit Program, as well as a $100,000 grant to train employees, according to state officials.

The Crius Energy website points out that “Although based in Connecticut, many members of our leadership team have relocated great distances to become a part of Crius Energy. Together, they bring more than a century of combined industry and functional expertise as well as a deep-rooted passion for transforming the retail energy sector.”

It was a year and a half ago, in May 2015, that the first lease signing was announced for the then newly-renovated five story, 185,000 s/f office building within the 17-acre Shippan Landing waterfront office park in Stamford. That tenant was Stamford-based Workpoint, a provider of co-working environments geared to the needs of media firms along with independents and professionals.

Published reports indicated that since being acquired in 2012 by George Comfort & Sons in a partnership venture with Angelo Gordon & Company, the six-building, 758,000 s/f office park, formerly known as Harbor Plaza, saw an extensive repositioning and modernization program, which was then nearing completion. Workpoint leased a total of 15,173 s/f, including a 1,000 s/f multicamera studio with green screen, control room, and editing facilities on the building’s second floor, according to published reports at the time.

“Shippan Landing continues to be the preferred destination for some of the nation’s top creative companies and we are pleased to welcome Octagon to our tenant roster,” said Peter S. Duncan, president and CEO of George Comfort & Sons.  Among Octagon’s many clients are household names from the sports world - Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, members of the World Series champion Chicago Cubs and other major league players, current and retired, and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles.

Shippan Point offers what the company describes as “truly is the best business location in the Stamford area,” with “spectacular grounds and magical stretching views.”

Back in 2013, the state Bond Commission approved $1 million in borrowing to help an emergency home repair company move its headquarters from Stamford to Norwalk.  The bonding was aimed at assisting the HomeServe USA Corporation in relocating its headquarters as part of an agreement to create 130 jobs and maintain another 109. In addition to a $1 million grant, the company was also eligible for a $3 million, partially forgivable, loan and up to $5 million in tax credits, local media reported.  The company’s customer call center is located in Tennessee.

And last May, the State Bond Commission approved $22 million in grants and loans for the world's largest hedge fund despite what press reports described as bipartisan complaints that the wealthy company can afford the move without state incentives.  The commission voted 7-2 to award the package to Bridgewater Associates, a financial industry powerhouse operated by Greenwich billionaire Ray Dalio, one of the nation's wealthiest individuals.

At the time, state officials indicated that the financial package helped to prevent the company from potentially relocating from Connecticut to nearby Westchester, N.Y.  The money was expected to be used to renovate and expand the firm's Westport headquarters, along with operations in Wilton and Norwalk, published reports explained. In addition to the loan, Bridgewater was said to also be eligible for two grants: $3 million for energy-efficiency upgrades and $2 million for job-training efforts.  The state apparently initially offered Bridgewater $130 million in loans and grants but the amount was scaled back after the company scrapped plans to build a new corporate complex in Stamford, south of I-95, in the face of local opposition, reports indicated.

https://youtu.be/7mfWZhlN4rE

Percentage of Unbanked, Underbanked Households Continues to Climb in CT, Now Exceeds 1 in 5 Households

One in five Connecticut households is unbanked or underbanked, according to data compiled by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the percentage of residents unbanked – those that do not have an account at an insured institution - has climbed in the state over the past six years. The percentage of Connecticut households considered unbanked has risen steadily, from 5.3 percent in 2009 to 6.2 percent in 2015, the most recent year for which data is available.  Connecticut ranked 21st in the nation in the percentage of unbanked households. 

Overall, the percentage of state households thatare either unbanked or underbanked increased slightly, from 20 percent to 21 percent between 2013 and 2015.  Those considered unbanked had a checking or savings account but also obtained financial products and services outside of the banking system.

Connecticut’s percentage of unbanked and underbanked individuals is better than the national average, which is 26.9 percent.  Nationally, 68 percent are considered to be fully banked, with an account or accounts at an insured institution, compared with 73.3 percent in Connecticut.

To assess the inclusiveness of the nation’s banking system, and in partial fulfillment of a statutory responsibility, the FDIC conducts biennial surveys of households to estimate the proportion of households that do not fully participate in the banking system.  The survey provides estimates of the proportion of U.S. households that do not have an account at an insured institution, and the proportion that have an account but obtained (nonbank) alternative financial services in the past 12 months.

Estimates from the 2015 survey indicate that 7.0 percent of households in the United States were unbanked in 2015. This proportion represents approximately 9.0 million households. An additional 19.9 percent of U.S. households (24.5 million) were underbanked,

The 2015 FDIC National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households presents new data and insights on the size of unbanked and underbanked markets at the national, regional, state, and large metropolitan statistical area (MSA) levels. This is the fourth installment of the report.

In the Hartford-East Hartford-West Hartford metropolitan statistical area, a slightly higher percentage of households are unbanked or underbanked – 25.6 percent.  In the New Haven-Milford MSA, that percentage is slightly lower than statewide, at 19.5 percent.  The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk MSA is lower still, at 18 percent.

Lembo Develops Plan Aimed at Bringing Drug Costs Within Reach

State Comptroller Kevin Lembo, after what was described as “exhaustive research and consultation with representatives across all sectors of the health care industry,” has developed a five-point plan to address “skyrocketing pharmaceutical drug costs.” Lembo’s proposed legislation, which is to be considered by legislators in the five-month session that began earlier this month, aims to be comprehensive in addressing a range of interrelated issues.  Those issues include requiring justifications for sharp price increases, establishing oversight of drug costs that exceed certain thresholds, ensuring that consumers benefit from rebate savings, promoting insurance plans that emphasize affordable co-pays and preventive care, and eliminating incentives that perversely encourage providers to prescribe the most expensive drugs.

“In a divided country,” Lembo said, “when we’re desperate to find common ground, virtually everyone can agree that prescription drug costs are out of control and must be fixed.  This rise in patient cost share, combined with the rising prices of pharmaceuticals is creating a significant financial burden for Connecticut residents,” Lembo added, noting that “consumers are increasingly bearing a greater share of those costs.”

Lembo, who served as Connecticut’s first Healthcare Advocate prior to being elected State Comptroller in 2010, currently administers the state health plan on behalf of approximately 200,000 people.  The plan includes:

• Require pharmaceutical manufacturers to justify launch prices and price increases over a certain threshold

To address rising drug prices that appear to be arbitrary and unjustifiable, Lembo proposes a requirement that when drug manufacturers increase prices beyond certain thresholds, (for example, list prices increase over 50 percent in the last five years or 15 percent in the last year or launch prices 30 percent or more above the average price for other drugs in a therapeutic class) they must provide the state with information about total costs for producing specific drugs and costs for research and development, marketing, different prices charged for the drug, total profit from specific drugs, research and development efforts that have not resulted in any approved drugs, details about discounts and rebates provided and, of course, a justification for the launch price or the price increase in question.

The findings of a state review would be reported to the legislature and governor to evaluate the appropriateness of the price increases in question.

• Limit the launch price and annual increases of certain high cost drugs

Establish a working group to evaluate the potential of using the information reported above to regulate drug prices in certain egregious instances through the creation of a state-level drug price review board. The authority would review the launch prices of new drugs and annual increases of existing drugs that exceed certain thresholds. The working group should recommend a process for determining if the launch prices or price hikes are justified and recommend possible state actions to take when increases are deemed unjustified.

• Promote the adoption of value-based insurance design

The state Department of Insurance (DOI) and the state health exchange should be required to promote the adoption of plans that use a value-based insurance design. Value-based insurance for prescription drugs generally encourage medication adherence by reducing or eliminating co-payments and deductibles for drugs that help control chronic conditions.  Better managed chronic diseases reduce in-patient hospital stays and emergency room visits by individuals with chronic diseases. The state employee plan has seen significant increases in medication adherence since adopting a lower co-pay structure for maintenance drugs through the state Health Enhancement Plan.

• Allow consumers to benefit from negotiated drug rebates.

Require health plans to base co-insurance and deductible payments on the net price of the drug, post rebate, rather than the list price, allowing the consumer to share in rebate savings negotiated by the pharmacy benefit manager or plan administrator.  For certain highly rebated drugs the list price can be as much as three times more than the final price paid by a health plan after manufacturer rebates.

• Remove incentives for physicians to administer higher cost drugs.

In 2004, Medicare began to reimburse physicians 6 percent of the acquisition cost of drugs for administration. Commercial payers, which often base their reimbursement policies off Medicare, quickly followed suit. The new policy created a perverse incentive in which physicians were paid more for using more expensive drugs even when lower cost equally effective alternatives were available. It also incentivized drug manufacturers to significantly increase prices. As a result, many physician-administered drugs have seen massive price increases since 2004, with many oncology drugs well in excess of $100,000 per regimen. The state should require state-regulated insurance plans to completely delink the reimbursement for physician-administered drugs with the costs of the drugs administered in order to eliminate such perverse incentives.

“This plan emphasizes transparency, accountability and common-sense health care policy that puts quality and wellness for everyone above the corporate profits of big Pharma,” Lembo said in recommending the five-part plan.

Over the past several years, Lembo has been working with state leaders and Connecticut’s congressional delegation to investigate flaws in the pharmaceutical market and implement policies to address the problem.   Last year, he co-hosted a forum at the State Capitol with the Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS) that brought together physicians, pharmaceutical companies, academicians, patient advocates and other industry experts to address the skyrocketing cost of medications.

Lembo also serves on a working group of the NASHP (National Academy for State Health Policy), which recently issued a report recommending proposed state action, some of which is reflected in Lembo’s legislative proposal.  The Office of the Healthcare Advocate, which Lembo led for six years a decade ago, is an independent agency that helps consumers when they have disputes with their health insurance company. They also educate people about their health care rights and serve as a watchdog over Connecticut’s healthcare marketplace.

Nominations Open for State's First Connecticut Entrepreneur Awards

A consortium of public and private associations and agencies, higher education institutions and entrepreneur-assisting nonprofit and for-profit organizations is launching the CT Entrepreneur Awards, designed to celebrate “the entrepreneurs and support system that make Connecticut work.” The inaugural awards, to be presented this spring, will recognize a variety of individuals and organizations that connect, collaborate and communicate amongst each other to help entrepreneurs succeed, according to organizers of the initiative. Nominations are now open for the CT Entrepreneur Awards, which will recognize the individuals and organizations that are instrumental in running the state’s ecosystem. From community builders and events to government officials and advisors that continuously support entrepreneurs, the awards are intended to highlight local leaders “that make a difference.”

Award categories include: Venture, Community Builder, Program, Space, Event, Education, Funding, Corporate/Institutional, and Government.

The CT Entrepreneur Awards are described as “community driven,” reflecting the easy online nomination form. The nine main categories were established in an effort to gather and honor “a broad array of leaders that create the foundation for entrepreneurs to succeed.” Individuals are asked “to nominate as many leaders that deserve recognition for their work in the community.”

During January, nominations are being sought and collected. From that broad list, the consortium will narrow the field and hold final online voting in February. Plans are to hold an awards in late March or early April, with event serving to “bring together all of the people dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs throughout the state.”

The CT Entrepreneur Awards are a product of the CT Entrepreneur Event Organizers consortium, an all-volunteer cooperative effort of people and organizations that host and facilitate entrepreneur facing events in throughout the state.  Proceeds from the CT Entrepreneur Awards will be directed to fund the statewide Entrepreneur Events Calendar, www.ctevents.co.

Consortium members include Accelerated Ventures, Axis 901, Baypath University, BEACON, Bridgeport Innovation Center, Business New Haven, CBIA, CCSU, ColoDesk.com, Congressman Jim Himes, Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc., Connecticut Innovations, CTNEXT, Connecticut Small Business Development Center, Connecticut Technology Council, CountMeIn!Hartford, Crossroads Venture Group, CT Entrepreneur Meetup, CT Hackerspace, CT Invention Convention, CT User Experience, Design Professionals CT ,Women's Small Business Development Council, CURE, and Danbury Hackerspace.

Consortium members also include the state Department of Economic & Community Development, Digital Surgeons, Economic Development Corp of New Haven, Enhanced Capital, Entrepreneurship Foundation, Fairfield University, Founderstood, Goodwin College, Hartford Business Journal, Help CT Grow, Innovate Hartford, Innovation Destination: Hartford, Launch EZ, LEARN TO PROGRAM MEDIA, LootScout, M5 Information Services, Madison Mott, MakeHaven, MakerspaceCT, Metro Hartford Alliance, Miles Finch Innovation, and MJX Asset Management

Also participating in support of the initiative are National Invention Convention, New Haven Chamber of Commerce, New Haven Lean Startup Meetup, Remarkable Technologies, reSET, SCORE – Hartford, SCORE - Western Connecticut, Senator Chris Murphy’s office, Spark, SPARK MakerSpace, Stamford Innovation Center, Stamford Tech Meetup, Startup Grind - New Haven, Startup Hartford, TAN2000 International, Test My Pitch, The Business Council of Fairfield County, The Diversion, The Grove, The Refinery, Thrise, Town of Old Saybrook, and Transactions Marketing, Inc.

Members also include the U.S. Small Business Administration, University of Connecticut, UConn - Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, UConn - Entrepreneurship and Innovation Consortium, UConn - School of Business, UConn - School of Engineering, UConn - Technology Incubation Program, University of Hartford - Entrepreneurial Center, University of Hartford - Women's Business Center at Entrepreneurial Center, University of New Haven - Tagliatela College of Engineering, Wesleyan University, Western Connecticut State University, Westfair Communications, Whitneyville Cultural Commons, Yale Center for Molecular Discovery, Yale Entrepreneurial Institute, Yale Office of Cooperative Research & Yale Entrepreneurial Institute, Yale School of Management, and Yale University.

State’s First Law Incubators Set to Launch in Hartford, Bridgeport

Connecticut’s first law incubators are due to open early this year at the Center for Family Justice, a Bridgeport-based nonprofit, and at UConn School of Law,  being established to provide affordable legal services to people who need them and help lawyers establish solo practices. The Connecticut Community Law Center, an initiative of the law school and the Hartford County Bar Association, aims to help people who have traditionally been underserved by the justice system: low- and moderate-income clients who don’t qualify for legal aid but can’t afford standard legal fees, the UConn School of Law announced this month.

“Too many people face legal problems concerning essential human needs without proper representation because they fall into the growing access-to-justice gap, between the very poor who qualify for legal aid and those with the financial means to pay a private lawyer,” said attorney Mark Schreier, who was appointed director of the Connecticut Community Law Center. “Standing alone and without professional guidance, those individuals enter our justice system at a tremendous disadvantage.”

The incubator is set to open in February in William F. Starr Hall on the UConn Law campus in Hartford. In addition to the services of the director, the law school will provide office space and support – including training, guidance, and legal research resources – for up to six solo practitioners. The Hartford County Bar Association and the law school faculty will provide mentors, and Greater Hartford Legal Aid will help with training and referrals.

The subsidized working environment will allow participating lawyers to provide legal services at a modest cost that is lower than standard legal fees, with each lawyer setting the fee on a case by case basis. Schreier said he expects cases to involve a wide range of legal problems, including family, consumer, probate, housing, bankruptcy, employment, immigration, and other general civil matters.

In Bridgeport, the Center for Family Justice, a Bridgeport-based nonprofit that provides services to trauma survivors affected by domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse, will house the incubator.

The Center is working with Connecticut law schools to help build the center’s legal apparatus, Fairfield County Business Journal reported, with several professors from Quinnipiac University on the steering committee to help develop the parameters of the program.  Four attorneys are being sought.

Lawyers in the incubator program at the Center will provide the legal advices services and representation needed by victims of domestic violence, including restraining orders, divorce proceedings, child custody and support, housing and immigration issues.  An Open House was held in September to interest local attorneys in participating.

“A legal incubator is like a business incubator,” Jennifer Ferrante, who joined the Center for Family Justice staff as the coordinator for the new service, told the Journal.  At the center’s office at 753 Fairfield Ave., “We are going to be housing four attorneys here on site,” she said. Two of the first attorneys who applied and were accepted in the program are recent law school graduates.

The American Bar Association counts more than 60 lawyer incubators around the country, three-fourths of them established since 2014. The Connecticut Community Law Center and the Justice Legal Center at the Center for Family Justice in Bridgeport, will be the first in Connecticut.

Participating lawyers will spend 18 to 24 months at the Connecticut Community Law Center before moving on with their practices. The training and experience they receive will not only help them jump-start their practices, it will spread seeds of innovation in the delivery of legal services at an affordable cost, UConn Law Dean Timothy Fisher said.

Clients who qualify for services at the Hartford incubator will be those whose incomes exceed the limits for legal aid but fall within three times the federal poverty level. For a family of four, this would mean a maximum household income of $72,900. Clients wishing to apply for services may do so beginning in February, when information will be available at the center’s website: cclc.law.uconn.edu.

“I think it will give the low- and moderate-income community a real chance in getting their legal needs met and ending their cycles in abuse and poverty,” Ferrante said of the new Bridgeport center.

Planning for the legal incubator has been ongoing since 2009. Although the Center for Family Justice is focused on serving six Fairfield County municipalities – Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Stratford and Trumbull – it also welcomes those seeking help from elsewhere in the state, officials said.

CT Seen As Hiding Bad Budget News

In an article headlined “Bad Budget News? Some States Just Bury It.” Connecticut is one of two states selected as a poster child for what a national publication describes as “hindering transparency.” The Connecticut policy that brought the unwelcome attention was put in place last year.  As Governing explains:

“Connecticut ended its practice of current services projections. That’s a boring-sounding way of talking about how much programs will cost over time, assuming there are no policy changes. It’s a baseline against which to compare any proposed cuts or increases in spending.”

Ben Barnes, Connecticut’s budget director (Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management), said last year that it didn’t make sense to project shortfalls or surpluses into the future, Governing explains. “There’s no such thing, in my view, as a deficit or a surplus in years in which there is no appropriation in place,” said Barnes, whose photo accompanies the article.

Some legislators complained that the new rules would be a blow against transparency in the budget. The change was adopted anyway, the publication noted, adding that a majority of states already choose not to publish current services projections.

“There is kind of a tendency for policymakers to focus on the immediate and not the future,” Liz McNichol of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told Governing. “This reduces the outside pressure to look beyond one year.”

The publication’s report notes that Connecticut “will have to fill a shortfall of more than $1 billion in its budget this year.”

The other state highlighted in the article is Kansas, where a state task force recommended that the department stop releasing monthly budget reports after numerous reports indicated that the state had fallen short of anticipated revenues.   The Governor’s administration also “decided to kill a quarterly economic report that was also habitually filled with bad numbers.”

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CT Employers Less Optimistic About Hiring in First Quarter

Employers nationwide are slightly more optimistic about hiring in the first quarter of 2017 than employers in Connecticut, according to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, although both expect to hire at a favorable pace during the first quarter of 2017. From January to March, 17 percent of Connecticut companies interviewed plan to hire more employees, while 7 percent expect to reduce their payrolls. Another 73 percent expect to maintain their current workforce levels and 3 percent are not certain of their hiring plans. This yields a Net Employment Outlook* of 10 percent.

For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in Durable Goods Manufacturing, Nondurable Goods Manufacturing, Transportation & Utilities, Wholesale & Retail Trade, Financial Activities, Professional & Business Services, Education & Health Services, Leisure & Hospitality and Government. Employers in Construction, Information and Other Services plan to reduce staffing levels.

“Hiring intentions are weaker compared to Q4 2016 when the Net Employment Outlook was 12%,” said ManpowerGroup spokesperson Betty Gooding said about the Connecticut outlook. “The hiring pace is expected to pick up compared to one year ago when the Net Employment Outlook was 8%.” Of the more than 11,000 employers surveyed in the United States, 19 percent expect to add to their workforces, and 6 percent expect a decline in their payrolls during Quarter 1 2017. Seventy-three percent of employers anticipate making no change to staff levels, and the remaining 2 percent of employers are undecided about their hiring plans.

When seasonal variations are removed from the data, the Net Employment Outlook is +16 percent, a slight decrease compared to the Quarter 4 2016 Outlook, +18 percent.  That’s a somewhat more optimistic view than employers in Connecticut, the survey found.