CT Ranks in Top 10 for Lowest Total Carbon Emissions, Lowest Per Capita Emissions

Connecticut ranks in the top 10 among the states in both the lowest total state energy related carbon dioxide emissions and emissions per capita.  The state ranked second, tied with California and just behind New York, in the lowest emissions levels per capita.  In total state energy related emissions, Connecticut placed in a tie for tenth place. Greenhouse gas emissions for all sources were considered in compiling the data, according to Bloomberg.com, which published the rankings last month, based on 2011 U.S. Census population estimates and statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.  Sources of emission include electric power production, industries, residential heating and transportation.

The lowest state emission levels per capita, in metric tons of carbon dioxide, are New York (8.1), Connecticut (9.2), California (9.2), Oregon (9.3), Vermont (9.6), Massachusetts (10.0), Washington (10.1), Idaho (10.1), Rhode Island (10.5) and Maryland (11.0).  The highest levels per capita were in Wyoming (112.6), North Dakota (79), Alaska (52.7) and West Virginia (51.7).

In total state energy related carbon dioxide emissions, by million metric tons, the states with the lowest emission levels are Vermont (6), Rhode Island (11), Delaware (12), South Dakota (14), New Hampshire (16), Idaho (16), Maine (17), Hawaii (19), Montana (32), Connecticut (33) and Nevada (33).

The states with the highest emission levels were Texas (656 metric tons), California (346), and Pennsylvania (245).

Feds Disband National Blueway Program, CT River is Sole Survivor

It seemed like a good idea at the time. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ken Salazar designated the Connecticut River as the nation’s first National Blueway, in recognition of conservation efforts underway. That was two years ago – the first of what was intended to be a series of similar designations across the country. Fast forward to 2014. The fledgling federal program was abruptly discontinued by current Ag Secretary Sally Jewell, after a departmental review. Since it’s auspicious start, only two official designations were made.

The first was the Connecticut River, which runs through Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. The second was the White River, which spans more than 700 miles through Missouri and Arkansas. But that second designation was revoked after local opposition. And now the entire program is history, with the Connecticut River grandfathered in as the short-lived program’s sole survivor.

The National Blueways System was created in May 2012 under President Barack Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative. The program was voluntary, didn’t include any new regulations, and a designation brought no additional funding, the Associated Press has reported. It was intended to promote watershed conservation and support sustainable and healthy water supplies.

Federal officials insisted the program would not include any new protective status or regulations, but opponents in Missouri and Arkansas — largely conservative groups — weren’t convinced, the AP reported. Published reports indicated that some feared the conservation recognition program would lead to increased regulation and land seizures. That led first to the revocation of the White River designation last summer, followed by the end of the entire initiative earlier this year.

In riverfront ceremonies in Hartford on May 23, 2012, Interior Secretary Salazar designated the 410-mile-long Connecticut River as America's first National Blueway, saying restoration and preservation efforts on the river were a model for other American rivers. The blueway designation was intended to support existing local and regional conservation, recreation and restoration efforts, and does not establish a new protective status or regulations for a river, Salazar said at the time.

He was joined at Riverside Park in Hartford by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal; U.S. Rep. John Larson; Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Terrence “Rock” Salt; Friends of the Silvio O. Conte Refuge Chairman Patrick Comins and other members of the conservation and business communities.

That would be the program’s high water mark, so to speak.

“The National Blueways Committee will be deactivated, but the department will continue to encourage collaborative, community-based watershed partnerships that support sustainable and healthy water supplies,” a department spokeswoman told the AP this year, explaining the department’s decision to end the program. She reiterated that the Connecticut River will maintain the National Blueway designation it received two years ago – and now will be the only one in the country.

Mystic Aquarium Honored at White House Ceremony with National Medal

Mystic Aquarium has earned some high profile attention this month, recognized at a White House ceremony hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) honored Mystic Aquarium as the only aquarium or zoo nationwide to receive its National Medal for Museum and Library Service for 2014. Impressively, Mystic Aquarium was one of four Connecticut finalists considered for the National Medal, along with the Hartford Public Library, Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury and Otis Library in Norwich. A total of only 30 institutions across the country were finalists, from which ten winners were ultimately chosen.

The National Medal is the nation’s highest honor conferred on museums and libraries for service to their communities. The Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent agency of the U.S. government with the mission to create strong libraries and museums that connect people with information and ideas, is celebrating its 20th year of saluting institutions that make a difference for individuals, families and communities.

Mystic Aquarium gives back to the community with a direct financial impact of $72.2 million annually. In addition, the aquarium buys $5 million in services and supplies from Connecticut businesses annually. The institution’s conservation efforts protect the vitality of Long Island Sound, an important revenue-generating natural resource for Connecticut. It is the largest informal science education provider in Connecticut and Southeastern New England, reaching 100,000 students annually.

The work of Mystic Aquarium was brought to the attention of Susan H. Hildreth, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, by some of Connecticut’s most prominent cultural, education and government leaders. Rodney A. Butler, Mystic Aquarium Trustee and Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, nominated the Aquarium for the National Medal, noting the pivotal role the Aquarium plays with its education and cultural exchange program for Native American high school students from the village of Point Lay, Alaska, and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in southeastern Connecticut.

A major criterion for the award is the institution’s impact on members of its local community. Dr. Stephen M. Coan, President and CEO of Sea Research Foundation, the parent of Mystic Aquarium, who accepted the National Medal from Mrs. Obama, said: “We are honored to receive this prestigious award. We are committed to our educational and public engagement programs that make Mystic Aquarium not only an enjoyable family destination, but also a research facility dedicated to protecting our oceans and its aquatic creatures.”

U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy supported the nomination along with Stonington Public Schools, which cited the Aquarium’s exemplary work with young people with intellectual disabilities. Michael Cotela, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford extolled the Aquarium’s critical educational programming for underserved communities.

Founded in 1973, Mystic Aquarium has a collection of 4,000 animals, including such species as beluga whales and the endangered African Penguin.

PHOTO (Left to right): Justin Richard, Stephen M. Coan, Mrs. Obama.

Soda Tax Won't Hurt Job Prospects, Study Finds

As the Connecticut legislature considers a proposal to implement a 2 percent tax on sodas, proposed by Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney at the suggestion of New Haven Mayor and former state senator Toni Harp, two new academic studies challenge the beverage industry’s view that state and local taxes on sugary drinks will hurt employment, and offer suggestions to policy makers based on the tobacco tax experience. Harp has said the soda tax would discourage consumption of the sugary beverages – part of her campaign to combat obesity – and bring in an estimated $144 million in revenue for the state each year. It would tax all beverages “high in calories or sugar” by two percent, but does not specify how many calories or grams of sugar would trigger the tax.

The studies, appearing in the February and March issues of the American Journal of Public Health, argue, in one case, that claims of employment losses are off base because they focus only on the effects within the industry, ignoring the economic activity that comes with people substituting lower-priced goods for more expensive products as well as new spending from tax revenues.  The other study says that tobacco taxes offer a how-to road map for policy makers.

The study to be published in March, led by Jennifer L. Pomeranz, JD, MPH, while at the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, uses as its premise that “excise taxes on sugary beverages have been proposed as a method to replicate the public health success of tobacco control and to generate revenue.”

“Sugary Beverage Tax Policy: Lessons Learned from Tobacco”  indicates that “as policymakers increase efforts to pass sugary beverage taxes, they can anticipate that manufacturers will emulate the strategies employed by tobacco companies in their attempts to counteract the impact of such taxes.”  Pomeranz suggests that “policymakers should therefore consider two complementary laws—minimum price laws and prohibitions on coupons and discounting—to accomplish the intended price increase.”

Researchers at the University of Illinois, in a just-published study in the February issue of American Journal of Public Health, found that a 20 percent increase on the price of sugar-sweetened beverages would have an overall positive impact on the labor market.

The American Beverage Association has traditionally argued that manufacturers, distributors and small business owners, particularly grocers and convenience store proprietors, would suffer were soda taxes to be imposed, but the study says that’s not likely.

In recent years, proposals to tax those beverages fell short in California, Vermont, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York and Rhode Island, Governing magazine reported.  In Maine voters passed a soda tax of 42 cents per gallon in 2008 but repealed it two years later amid a major lobbying effort from the American Beverage Association. Voters in Washington state similarly reversed their legislature in 2010.  As of the end of state legislative sessions in 2011, Governing reported, only four states had taxes specifically targeting sugary beverages, including Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, according to the Tax Foundation.

In the study published this month, researchers ran a simulation of the impact of 20-percent soda tax in Illinois and California—selected for regional differences—and found slight employment increases would occur, but the net effect would be close to nothing. They found that people choose to spend their money on other things, not to forego spending entirely, and that employment gains in other sectors of the economy far outweigh the job losses for soda makers, National Journal reported.

“We find there are losses in the beverage industry, but when you’re talking about the whole economy suffering job losses, you can’t just talk about your own industry,” Lisa Powell, health policy professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the study’s lead author, told National Journal. “Using job loss as a scare tactic for the economy overall is misleading.”

Public health advocates have warned of a link between added sugar and illnesses ranging  from Type 2 diabetes and obesity to heart disease and osteoporosis. The caloric intake of sugary beverages increased dramatically from 1988 to the mid 2000s, though consumption has dropped across all age groups in recent years, Governing reported, with some citing the increased public attraction to teas and other beverages.  Like Harp and Looney in Connecticut, some elected officials around the country have proposed raising taxes on sugary drinks in order to reduce consumption.  The New Haven Register reported that Harp has pointed out that revenue from the cigarette tax has decreased, showing that the effectiveness of a tax in reducing consumption.

Pomeranz is a public health law and policy researcher focusing on marketing, labeling and youth access issues related to food and beverages, over-the-counter diet drugs, and dietary supplements, publishing on topics including discrimination, the First Amendment, public health preemption, and innovative regulatory strategies to address public health problems such as obesity. She is Assistant Professor at the Center for Obesity Research and Education in the Department of Public Health and at the College of Health Professionals and Social Work at Temple University, having served previously as Director of Legal Initiatives at the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity.  She is currently the Policy Chair of the Health Law Section of the American Public Health Association and the official liaison between the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association.

Lisa Powell is a Senior Research Scientist in the Institute for Health Research and Policy and Research Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has extensive experience as an applied micro-economist in the empirical analysis of the effects of public policy on a series of behavioral outcomes.

A 2011 study by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity found that young people are being exposed to a massive amount of marketing for sugary drinks, such as full-calorie soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, and fruit drinks.  The study, described as the most comprehensive and science-based assessment of sugary drink nutrition and marketing ever conducted, found that companies were marketing sugary drinks targeting young people, especially black and Hispanic youth.

This story was reported by CT by the Numbers on February 16, 2014

Fifth Time A Charm? Vulnerable User Bill Back Before Legislature

“Study after study reveals that more people would be willing to make more trips by bike or on foot if they felt they could do so without taking their lives in their hands.”  That comment at a legislative hearing by Kelly Kennedy, Executive Director of Bike Walk Connecticut, highlights the reason behind proposed legislation that would “help hold accountable careless drives who injure or kill non-motorized users of the road.”

Dubbed the “don’t hit me” bill, it is back for a fifth consecutive year at the State Capitol, endorsed by an array of 23 organizations.  In each of the past two years, it passed the Senate but was not considered by the House.  It recognizes that “vulnerable road users,” such as pedestrians, bicyclists, first responders, and highway workers need additional legal protections, and provides enhanced penalties for careless driving resulting in injury or death of a vulnerable road user.

The "Vulnerable User" bill:

• Provides for a fine of up to $1,000 for injuring or killing a vulnerable user due to careless driving; and
• Defines a vulnerable user as a pedestrian; cyclist; animal rider or driver; highway worker; farm tractor driver; user of a skateboard, roller or inline skates; user of a wheelchair or motorized chair; or blind person and his or her service animal.

The statistics behind the effort are clear:

• Careless drivers injure hundreds of people every year in Connecticut--130 pedestrians and cyclists were killed between 2010 and 2012 and approximately 1,400 pedestrians and cyclists are injured every year, according to Bike Walk Connecticut.  Between 2006 and 2012, there were more than 10,000 deaths or injuries.
• The League of American Bicyclists' top recommendation for Connecticut in its Bike Friendly State Report Card calls for Connecticut to "Adopt a vulnerable road user law that increases penalties for a motorist that injures or kills a bicyclist or pedestrian."  (CT's Bike Friendly State ranking was #18 in 2013.)

Nora Duncan, State Director of the Connecticut AARP, testified in support of the bill, noting that “an older pedestrian is 61 percent more likely to die from a crash than a younger pedestrian.”  The bill, she said, “could improve pedestrian safety by deterring negligent behavior that puts vulnerable uses at risk of injury or death.”  In a survey, 47 percent of people over age 50 in Connecticut said they felt they could not safely cross main roads close to their home.

The proposal was also supported by the State Department of Transportation, which suggested that the definition “be all encompassing to include all users such as persons on a legal non-motorized device” such as scooters and skateboards.  Transit for Connecticut, a statewide coalition of 33 business, social service, environmental, planning and civic organizations advocating the benefits of mass transit, supported a vulnerable user law indicating that “with emphasis on energy conversation and healthy lifestyles, the number of walkers and bicyclists is growing.  These residents, along with residents living in close proximity to bus stops and transit services need proper access if they want to use public transit.”

Kirsten Bechtel of the Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, called for individuals who commit an infraction under the proposed law to “attend driver retraining and perform community service.”  In written testimony, she said that “vulnerable user laws in Oregon, Washington and Delaware include these requirements to ensure that drivers are held accountable and operate their vehicles safely in the future.”  Others, including the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, supported that idea.

Clinton resident Debbie Lundgren, in an email to the Transportation Committee, said succinctly, “pass the Vulnerable User Bill this year.  We have waited long enough!”

The  Committee is expected to consider SB 336 later this month.  If approved there, it would go on to the Senate for consideration.  A road well traveled.

Health Risks of Flame-Retardant Chemicals Require Policy Changes in CT, Nation, Report Says

The 2014 session of the Connecticut General Assembly is expected to include consideration of legislation designed to protect the public from potential health risks of flame retardant chemicals that are present in many consumer products.  Such a proposal, currently being developed, comes following a report from North Haven-based Environment and Human Health Inc. (EHHI), an organization of physicians and public health professionals, that calls on state and federal governments to institute new policies to protect the public from flame-retardant exposures that the researchers say “pose health risks to fetuses, infants, children and the human population as a whole.”

The comprehensive 107-page report, “Flame Retardants: The Case for Policy Change,” closely examines the health risks that flame-retardants pose to the general population and recommends sweeping policy changes to protect the public.

"It has become clear that flame-retardants are proving to be a health risk to both the human population and the environment,” said Nancy Alderman, president of Environment and Human health, Inc. “It is time for flame-retardants to be removed from all low fire-risk situations and products. As well, a certification program should be established where manufacturers certify the absence of flame-retardants, just as organic food programs certify the absence of pesticides.”

The report examines the history of flame-retardants and demonstrates the enormous scope of the problem, noting that flame-retardants “are now ubiquitous in our environment.”  The history of flame-retardant use in the United States is a story of substituting one dangerous flame-retardant for another, the report outlines. The country lived through decades when asbestos was used as a fire-retardant. Then when asbestos was proven too dangerous to be used, the country moved over to PCBs, and five decades later, when PCBs were deemed too dangerous for use, the country moved on to chlorinated and brominated flame-retardants.

The report points out that “the labeling of flame-retardant chemicals in consumer products is NOT required by Congress, EPA, FDA or the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  It is therefore impossible for consumers to avoid flame-retardants in their purchases.”  Sources of exposure cited in the report include carpets, mattresses, children’s and baby products, furniture, and electronics. 

In the 1970s, a flame-retardant called "Tris" was added to children's sleepwear. Tris was later found not only to be carcinogenic but also capable of being absorbed through the skin. Tris was finally banned in children's sleepwear in 1977, according to the report.  Tris is still used in many other infant products, such as crib mattresses, changing tables, nap mats, and infant car seats, the report indicated.

"Tris was, and remains, carcinogenic," said Dr. D. Barry Boyd, oncologist at Greenwich Hospital and Affiliate Member of the Yale Cancer Center.  There is ample evidence concerning the health risks from Tris to conclude that it should be removed from all infant products."

John Wargo, Ph.D., first author of the report and the Tweedy-Ordway Professor of Environmental Health and Political Science at Yale University, said, "Flame-retardants are not required to undergo health and environmental testing, and they are not required to be labeled on the products that contain them. Because exposures to flame-retardants carry health risks, they should only be used when the risk of fire outweighs the risk from flame-retardant exposures. When risk from fire is high, such as in airplanes, then the use of flame-retardants is warranted; when the risk from fire is low, flame-retardants should not be used."

Recent toxicological studies demonstrate that flame-retardants pose the greatest risk to the normal growth and development of fetuses, infants and children. "Manufacturers should start labeling their products so that consumers can understand when flame-retardants have been added," said Dr. Andrea Asnes, associate professor of pediatrics at the Yale School of Medicine.

Environment and Human Health, Inc. (EHHI) is a non-profit organization composed of physicians, public health professionals and policy experts, dedicated to protecting human health from environmental harms. EHHI does not receive any funds from businesses or corporations.   The organization’s mission is “to conduct research to identify environmental harms affecting human populations, promote public education concerning the relationships between the environment and human health, and promote policies in all sectors that ensure the protection of human and environmental health with fairness and timeliness.

By promoting effective communication of environmental health risks to those exposed and to responsible public and private officials, EHHI hopes to empower individuals and groups to take control over the quality of their environment and be more protective of themselves and their families.  The report was issued in November 2013.  Among the recommendations :

• States should pass laws that protect their citizens from flame-retardant exposures.  Industry will always work to pre-empt states’ legal authority to set safety standards that are more stringent than those adopted by the federal government. States should have the right to protect their citizens when the federal government fails to do so.
• States should restrict flame-retardants in infant and toddler products.  Recent toxicological studies show that flame-retardants pose the greatest risk to the normal growth and development of fetuses, infants and children. Infants and small children’s body weight is so low that their exposures to flame retardants, in relation to their body weight, is simply too great. The health risks that all infants and children are experiencing, due to the federal law mandating that flame retardants be in many of their products, far outweigh the risk of fire.
• States should require that products containing flame-retardants be labeled.  Any product containing a flame-retardant should be labeled as such. Labels should include which flame-retardant has been used.
• States should promote fire-prevention programs.  States should invigorate their fire prevention programs. Promotion of fire prevention is the most effective, least expensive, least environmentally damaging priority our nation could pursue to reduce loss of health, life and property from fires. States should promote low-cost and highly effective early warning technologies. Smoke alarms save lives. They should be available to all, regardless of income status.
• States should offer opportunities to recycle electronic products.  Foam that contains flame-retardants remains a problem for landfills. State and local governments have primary responsibility for managing the disposal of solid and hazardous wastes. Most solid wastes in Connecticut are disposed of via incineration, but some are still placed in landfills. The broad failure to effectively recycle electronics, building materials, auto plastics and foam means that most products containing flame-retardants are released to the environment at the end of their life-cycle.

CT, NY, NJ Should Expect Unprecedented Flooding by Mid-Century, Scientists Predict

It will get worse, not better, for shoreline residents and businesses in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey within range of the Atlantic Ocean.  That’s the likely scenario based on newly completed research by a team of geoscientists who are predicting that the New Jersey shore will likely experience a sea-level rise -- about 1.5 feet by 2050 and of about 3.5 feet by 2100 – that will be 11 to 15 inches higher than the average for sea-level rise globally over the century.

That would mean that by the middle of this century, the one-in-10 year flood level at Atlantic City, for example, would exceed any flood level seen previously, including the natural disaster that was Superstorm Sandy.  The scientists suggest, based on their research, that “planners should account for rising sea levels,” noting that “where the consequences of flooding are high, prudent planning requires consideration of high-end projections” outlined in their study.

Geoscientists at Rutgers University and Tufts University base their projections in part upon an analysis of historic and modern-day records of sea-level rise in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region. Their research appears in the inaugural issue of the journal Earth's Future, published this month by the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

While much to the work centers on the New Jersey shore and The Battery in Lower Manhattan, Rutgers researcher Ken Miller told Connecticut by the Numbers that their analysis included both Montauk on Long Island and Bridgeport.  Since Connecticut lies on bedrock, Miller said, it will largely behave like The Battery in New York City.  “I believe that the projections for bedrock locations are applicable throughout Connecticut,” said Miller, a professor of earth and planetary sciences in Rutgers' School of Arts and Sciences. 

Miller collaborated in the study with colleagues Robert Kopp, Benjamin Horton and James Browning of Rutgers and Andrew Kemp of Tufts. Kemp, an assistant professor of earth and ocean sciences at Tufts since May, joined the faculty from Yale University, where he was a Postdoctoral Associate at the Yale Climate and Energy Institute (YCEI).  The new research builds upon a recent study by Kemp, Horton and others that reconstructed a 2,500-year record of sea level at the New Jersey shore. Horton is a professor of marine and coastal sciences in Rutgers' School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

"It's clear from both the tide gauge and geological records that sea level has been rising in the mid-Atlantic region at a foot per century as a result of global average sea-level rise and the solid earth's ongoing adjustment to the end of the last ice age," Miller told Rutgers Today. "In the sands of the New Jersey coastal plain, sea level is also rising by another four inches per century because of sediment compaction -- due partly to natural forces and partly to groundwater withdrawal. But the rate of sea-level rise, globally and regionally, is increasing due to melting of ice sheets and the warming of the oceans."

The researchers suggest that “additional work is needed to integrate site-specific sea-level rise projections with storm tide statistics to guide planning decisions and investments that may have time frames of 20 years, 40 years, or longer.”  They indicate that sea-level rise in the mid-Atlantic region also results from changes in ocean dynamics. The researchers said sea-level rise could be higher -- 2.3 feet by mid-century and 5.9 feet by the end of the century -- depending on how sensitive the Gulf Stream is to warming and how fast the ice sheets melt in response to that warming.

The study found that the eight inches of climate change-related regional sea-level rise in the 20th century exposed about 83,000 additional people in New Jersey and New York City to flooding during 2012's Superstorm Sandy.  The research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Earth’s Future, with its inaugural issue, joins AGU’s prestigious portfolio of peer-reviewed research publications, including Geophysical Research Letters and Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres. Both are ranked among the top ten most-highly cited research publications on climate change over the past decade.  The American Geophysical Union is dedicated to advancing the Earth and space sciences for the benefit of humanity through its scholarly publications, conferences, and outreach programs. AGU is a not-for-profit, professional, scientific organization representing more than 62,000 members in 144 countries.

Local Entrepreneur Brings Social Benefits to Coffee Sales with Innovative Product

It took root when he was a 9-year-old earning nickels and dimes at the Hartford Regional Market,  gained impetus at Hartford High School and was cultivated at the University of Richmond.  By the time Ray Fraser graduated college in 2011 with a business degree in marketing and finance, he was convinced that his life’s work would not center solely on making a profit, but on simultaneously making the world a better place.  He’s doing just that, one tree at a time.

With a relentless work ethic and an engaging, easy-going personal style, Fraser’s start-up business – growing rapidly in just a few months – is called Tree Sleeves.  His mission:  to produce and sell reusable cup sleeves that combine comfort and utility with charity – “to help eradicate the cycle of deforestation affecting our planet.”

 For every Tree Sleeve sold, a tree is planted in a part of the world affected by deforestation.  It is a simple but profound concept, and the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive from a rapidly growing roster of retailers and consumers.  With a retail price of only $2.00 - a Tree Sleeve is perfect for daily use while on the go, quite affordable, and reusable.

Fraser has never shied away from challenges – in fact, he has consistently sought them out since he first visited the local Regional Market and asked what he could do to earn some money.  Told he needed to dump some boxes, he did – and came away with a nickel for his efforts.  Thus began a working relationship – and first-hand glimpse of what it takes to succeed in business – that continued as a part-time job through high school.  (The pay improved somewhat over time.)

As a teenager, Fraser was an Eagle Scout (his Eagle project was organizing a blood drive accompanied by a canned food drive for a homeless shelter) and an athlete who excelled in football, wrestling and track.  He discovered a knack – and enjoyment – in working with people, as well as an aptitude for business.  He would be the first in his family to attend college, encouraged by his parents, a machinist and teacher who resettled in Hartford from the West Indies and took education and diligence seriously.  Missing a day of school for being sick, Fraser recalls, was simply not an option.

In college, he developed an affinity for brands with a cause, and in addition to working as a Resident Assistant on campus, had motivating internships with United Technologies in Connecticut and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City.  Both would express interest in hiring him after graduation, but by senior year Fraser had decided to chart his own entrepreneurial path, the example of Tom’s Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie (the subject of a college research paper), among others, serving as his frame of reference.

“I had looked at the corporate ladder,” Fraser recalled recently, “and I wanted to have a bigger impact, to do more than just bring home a paycheck.  I wanted to expand my mind, and make a difference.”

Innovative Idea

After graduating from college and returning to Hartford, Fraser tried to develop an entrepreneurial business with friends that didn’t quite come together, stymied by software development issues.  Then one day in January, in a local Starbucks working on elements of that initial attempt at enterprise, the frequency which employees needed to empty trash cans overflowing with disposable cardboard sleeves caught his attention, and imagination.  He thought there must be a better way, and then went about inventing it.

“They’d empty the trash, and then two hours later they’d do it again.  The waste was astronomical.  When I looked into the numbers on paper sleeves, I was shocked.  We throw away 3 billion a year,” he emphasized.  “That translates into thousands of trees cut down needlessly each year.”

The traditional disposable cardboard cup sleevemakes carrying easier and holding the cup possible by providing an extra barrier to reduce the heat from the cup. Based on his extensive and resolute research, Fraser has done the disposable cup holder one better, with purpose.

It didn’t happen overnight.  He visited local coffee shops to talk to owners about their business, customers, and interest in a potential product.  He had informal conversations with friends, inquiring whether they’d buy a reusable sleeve, and what attributes would make it attractive.  (Being good for the environment was a recurring theme.) He scoured the internet in search of potential manufacturers, first in this country, then overseas.  He taught himself about nations that produce coffee, and learned of the challenges many face due to deforestation.

Building A Business

Fraser carefully nurtured relationships, engendering trust and crafting a business that he sees as having limitless potential – and enduring impact.  He developed and produced an attractive, lightweight design made of 100% food grade silicone, a reusable sleeve that makes going green easy.

Research completed and initial business relationships established, it was time to take a leap of faith.  With initial start-up funds borrowed, the 24-year-old ordered 1,000 silicon sleeves in July.  He was quite optimistic that he would be able to sell them to retailers.  But not certain.

After printing some promotional signs from his computer, buying handful of baskets at the local dollar store and a fistful of rubber bands at an office supplies store, Fraser set out to area coffee shops, bundles of product in hand.

One of the coffee shop owners he visited months previously to engage in speculative conversation was not surprised when he returned with a well-produced product – but he didn’t necessarily expect he’d be back.

“He was a nice polite young man, but I didn’t know that he’d actually do something.  We try to encourage renewables, so I thought I’d buy some, and if people liked the idea, they’d buy it,” said Bill Sze, owner of Jojo’s Coffee Roasting Company, with locations in Hartford and New Haven.  His initial order was for 100, this summer.  “I’ve been going through them at a good rate.  Most people like the idea.”  Sze just re-ordered, another 100 for each location.

Within a couple of months, Fraser – pounding the pavement and meeting with coffee shop owners – had Tree Sleeve locations grow from a handful, to a dozen, to now nearly 30.  By late October, he ordered the second batch of 1,000 to be manufactured, and continues to visit coffee shops personally, extolling the virtues of a product that allows purchasers to impact the planet, and people’s lives.

Along the way, he has patched together an informal set of advisors, including two of his former professors at Richmond, two volunteers from the Hartford chapter of SCORE (Senior Corps of Retired Executives), a local marketing professional that he learned of through CT NEXT, and a growing array of local coffee shop owners willing to give the product a try.

Another of the initial locations, J. Rene Coffee Roasters in West Hartford Center, has also re-ordered in recent weeks, based on solid sales.  Current locations include Avon, Stamford, Windsor, New Haven, Middletown, and Shelton.   But Fraser’s sites are set on a broader reach, and impact.

Having An Impact

The initial tree planting is being handled by Eden Reforestation Projects.  Since 2005, the California-based Eden has employed thousands of workers in Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Haiti who have planted millions of seedlings that are growing into healthy forests. They will be planting trees quarterly for Tree Sleeves, and Fraser now looks forward to 2,000 trees being planted in December.

Eden’s website explains that radical deforestation is a major cause of extreme poverty and oppression in impoverished nations, and that deforestation, which can result in soil erosion and destructive flooding, contributes to the climate change crisis.

The local start-up company’s slogan of “Grab 1 Plant 1” is quite concise: GRAB 1 - customers purchase tree sleeves and the company provides the necessary funding to a non-profit tree planting partner; PLANT 1 - Tree Sleeve's nonprofit partner plants and nurses tree seedlings in greenhouses located within deforested parts of the world. Upon maturity, trees are then transported and planted in areas most affected.

With patent pending, Tree Sleeves are currently manufactured overseas, but Fraser hopes that as the business grows he will be able to bring manufacturing to the U.S., while keeping prices affordable for consumers and continuing to impact the environment and vast populations.  Not unexpectedly, he is optimistic.  “Our generation wants to make a difference.  Impact is huge for me, and this is a huge issue.  I want to be the one who helps to solve it.”

Always looking ahead, co-branding, college stores and internet sales may be on the horizon, Fraser says, and perhaps a college intern to provide support.  Right now, to help pay for the gas his car requires to get him around the region, Fraser is working an overnight job at a local warehouse distribution center while building his own business by day.

Don’t even ask when he manages to sleep -that’s not a priority.  Fraser has been taking samples of Tree Sleeves to retailers since early summer, shows no sign of slowing down, and is encouraged by the response.  He’s also quite proud to be launching his business in the city where he grew up.  “It feels good.  I went away to school, I came back.  We certainly have the resources here to get this off to a great start.”

Hartford Skyline's Phoenix Boat Building Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Dubbed the "Boat Building," it is the world's first two-sided building and in 2013 celebrates its 50th anniversary. The headquarters of The Phoenix, located in downtown Hartford at One American Row, was an architectural original, and half a century later, continues to stand out amongst newcomers to the Hartford skyline.

Completed in 1963, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is an exceptionally significant example of the Modernist architectural style.

Distinguished by its unique form and lenticular plan, the building was designed by Max Abramovitz, a recognized 20th century master. Abramovitz -- widely acclaimed for his role in designing two of New York City's landmarks, the United Nations and Lincoln Center -- envisioned the locally dubbed "boat building" as a reflection of a daring and progressive company.

The construction of One American Row cemented Phoenix's commitment to the renewal of Hartford, where the company was founded in 1851, and reflected its forward-thinking and innovative business approach. The company decided to remain in Hartford in the 1960’s – and since then – choosing neither to move to the suburbs or to the planned Constitution Plaza nearby, which was the first urban renewal project in Connecticut and one of the earliest in the nation.

The 13-story tower is properly called an elliptic lenticular cylinder and is 225 feet along its axis and 87 feet wide at maximum width. It is oriented so that its pointed ends face east and west and the sides face north and south. The building was designed by one of the nation's foremost architectural firms, Harrison & Abramovitz, of New York. Ground was broken in 1961 and the contractor, George A. Fuller Company, completed construction in November 1963.

In 2010, the building was awarded Silver Leed® certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, and is one of a small number of buildings that are both Leed® certified and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Phoenix was named one of the region’s top workplaces by The Hartford Courant in 2012.

In 2013, the plaza surrounding the building was renovated with environmentally friendly planted areas. The "green" plaza renovation was the first completed private property piece of Hartford's iQuilt Plan, which promotes creative urban design to strengthen pedestrian links between downtown destinations.

The Phoenix Companies, Inc. is a boutique life insurance and annuity company serving customers' retirement and protection needs. Insurance products are available through select independent distributors, supported by our wholesaling team at Saybrus Partners.  Founded in 1851, Phoenix is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PNX. Corporate offices are in Hartford, CT, and there is a customer service center in East Greenbush, NY. As of December 2012, they reportedly had approximately 600 employees.

Good News, Bad News as Connecticut Seeks Economic Rebound

The assessment of the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) is good news, bad news for Connecticut’s economic recovery.  In a presentation to The Alliance for Nonprofit Growth and Opportunity, CERC Vice President of Research Alissa DeJonge and Research Analyst Carmel Ford reached two central conclusions:

•  Connecticut has structural problems that continue to make its economy recover more difficult.  Structural problems include workforce and industry compositions that are not particular strengths in the overall U.S. ecnomy.
•  Connecticut has advantages in some areas such as healthcare employment, and we may see improvements in the state’s housing market as forecolousres start to diminish and inventory supply inequities become smaller.

Among the key stats that contributed to the overall analysis from CERC:

1. Connecticut ranked 5^th lowest among the states in per capita energy consumption in 2010.  However, Connecticut ranked 3^rd highest in total energy prices and had the highest energy expenditure among all New England states.
2.    Connecticut’s youth unemployment rate was 17.1 percent in July 2013, compared with the national rate of 16.2 percent.
3.   The unemployment rate in New London county hasn’t decreased significantly since 2010, and in Tolland County since 2011.  Overall, the states unemployment rate by county has been decreasing steadily in the state’s other six counties.
4.   Median prices of single family homes in Connecticut increased 2.7% to $429,000, according to most recent data, and the inventory of single homes went down by 12.9% compared with a year ago.
5. Newly issued housing permits in July 2013 incased slightly to 420 from 375 in July 2012.
6. Connecticut remains the richest state with a per capita income of $58,908.

The CERC officials also pointed out that some of Connecticut’s leading industry categories, such as insurance and finance, are not performing well nationally, thus slowing the opportunities for the state’s economy to advance.

Based in Rocky Hill, CERC is a public-private partnership that provides economic development services consistent with state strategies, leveraging Connecticut’s unique advantages as a premier business location.  CERC was recognized earlier this month  for excellence in economic development marketing by key industry group, the Northeastern Economic Development Association (NEDA).  The award was presented at the recent NEDA annual conference in Portland, Maine among more than 130 economic development professionals from across the Northeast.