Innovative Start-Up Companies Seek State Funds to Propel Growth

CTNext will bring together start-up businesses seeking the financing to move forward, providing the opportunity for them  to pitch at the next Entrepreneur Innovation Awards (EIA) event scheduled for Thursday, June 15 at the LOFT at Chelsea Piers in Stamford. Connecticut's "innovation ecosystem" will be highlighted as the nine companies, from all across the state, will be competing for $10,000 grants.  The competitors include:

• Deo2go (Fairfield): Creating a topical delivery device that can be filled with a variety of products including, but not limited to deodorant, lip balms, and sunscreen
• Egghead (Danbury): Developing a new way to package and sell ice cream that brings new revenue to a mature market
• FallCall Solutions (Trumbull): Creating a tele-monitoring system for the Apple watch and other mobile systems for elders and caregivers
• Fjord Weather Systems (Wilton): Developing a way to turn every boat on the water into a weather-monitoring system
• LiquidSphere (New Haven): Creating an interactive app that will connect people who struggle with stress, anxiety, depression and addiction with therapists via text and video sessions
• Lucca Ventures (Southington): Developing a Bluetooth-enabled microphone attachment to a full-face oxygen mask, letting patients communicate clearly while wearing it
• Obvia (West Hartford): Manufacturing dual-winglet blades and semi-shroud power upgrade for Sunforce Wind Turbines that will improve efficiency and scalability for the turbines
• Sweet Equations (East Hartford): Making custom candy cakes, edible cupcake displays and other desserts through the development of an on-demand decorating device
• Trekeffect (Lyme): Developing a system to let individual travel planners buy and sell their itineraries.

To determine the finalist pool, each company’s application was vetted by a separate and independent team of reviewers who deemed their products, services and/or business ideas worthy of consideration for an EIA. Each finalist will have an opportunity to compete for a $10,000 grant as well as the judges’ and crowd favorite awards, each in the amount of $2,000 each.

The judges who will hear the company pitches and determine the winners include:

• Elena Cahill: Senior Lecturer, University of Bridgeport, Entrepreneurship Department
• Jim Kern: Co-founder, COMRADITY
• Greg Kivenzor: Associate Professor of Marketing, Director of Experiential Learning Collaborative, UCONN- Stamford
• Mark Lasoff: Founder, LearnToProgram
• Mike Roer: President, The Entrepreneurship Foundation

Throughout the year, CTNext hosts the EIA, a Shark Tank–style pitch event where Connecticut-based startups and entrepreneurs compete for grants that can be applied toward a specific project that will help accelerate growth.

CT Next support the success of companies and entrepreneurs by providing guidance, resources, and networks to accelerate their growth. CT Next is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Connecticut Innovations, described as "a network of passionate people who offer services to busy entrepreneurs." Launched in 2012, there are now more than 1,500 members. Since its inception in 2014, CTNext has held 11 total events in cities and towns all over Connecticut, awarding $544,000 to 52 unique companies.

https://youtu.be/Au4ULyo5L1g

More Daughters Mean More Venture Capital Investment, More Success, Study Shows

As the growing number of Connecticut start-up firms seek to attract venture capital funds to propel their growth, a newly published study may suggest some surprising influences on the investment decisions – and ultimately the success of venture capital investments. A National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper by Paul A. Gompers and Sophie Q. Wang from Harvard University says that gender diversity may boost performance of venture capital firms.  But it is not the gender diversity of the start-up firms leaders, or the gender diversity of the venture capitalists, who tend to predominantly be white males.

It is the gender diversity of the children of venture capitalists that appears to make the difference.

The paper, “And the Children Shall Lead: Gender Diversity and Performance in Venture Capital,” is based on a study of a dataset of gender of venture capital partners’ children. It finds that partners with more daughters than sons were more likely to hire female partners. But that’s not all.

The study also finds that having more girl children had a positive effect on deal and fund performance of these partners.  The authors indicate that the effects concentrate overwhelmingly on the daughters of senior partners than junior partners.

“Taken together, our findings have profound implications on how the capital markets could function better with improved diversity,” they say in the paper’s abstract.

Venture capital firms are typically deep-pocketed, small companies that bet on startup success by investing millions in exchange for an ownership interest and hopes of high returns.  Published reports indicate that according to the study, firms that increased their gender diversity by hiring more women saw their deal success rate increase by nearly 3 percent. Their profitability, as measured by internal rates of return, rose by more than 3 percent.

Venture capital in Connecticut is available from a range of private and quasi-public sources, including Connecticut Innovations.

The 62-page paper was posted last week; Paul Gompers is Professor of Business Administration and Director of research for the Harvard Business School Finance Unit.  Sophie Q. Wang is a PhD student in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. They based their results on some 12,000 venture-capital investments made between 1990 and 2016, primarily by U.S.-based firms.  They also studied personal information obtained from some 1,400 investing partners.

The NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, and business professionals.

New Ventures Impress, Receive Funds to Advance Entrepreneurial Efforts

reSET, the Social Enterprise Trust (www.reSETCo.org), whose mission is advancing the social enterprise sector and supporting entrepreneurs of all stripes, revealed the winners of its 2017 Venture Showcase last night at The Mark Twain House and Museum to a sellout crowd of 200. The annual event recognizes the talented entrepreneurs and innovative businesses that have just graduated from reSET’s nationally recognized accelerator. 17 early stage enterprises graduated from the recent cohort, and last night, seven finalists competed for $30,000 in unrestricted funding.

The entrepreneurs pitched their business models to an audience of founders, investors, and community and corporate stakeholders. An esteemed panel of judges, including Tony Vengrove of Miles Finch Innovation, Michael Nicastro of Continuity, and Lalitha Shivaswamy of Helios Management Corporation, selected the ultimate winners.

Recipients of the competition’s three “reSET Impact Awards” are listed below, as is the winner of the “Tech Impact Award,” which was given by reSET’s Founding Partner and the evening’s Presenting Platinum Sponsor The Walker Group.

reSET Impact Awards:

$10,000 - Career Path  http://www.careerpathmobile.com

$6,000- Pelletric  http://www.pelletric.com

$4,000 - Phood  http://phoodsolutions.com

The Walker Group’s Tech Impact Award:

$10,000 - Phood http://phoodsolutions.com

Other finalists included:  Almasuite http://www.almasuite.com, Eureeka BI http://www.eureekabi.com, Optima Sports System http://optimasports.es,

and Sweetflexx http://sweetflexx.com/en.

The Showcase’s prize purse was made possible by a handful of reSET’s community partners: The Walker Group (Presenting Platinum Sponsor), The Hartford (Platinum Sponsor), Eversource (Gold Sponsor), AT&T (Gold Sponsor), Accounting Resources, Inc. (Silver Sponsor), Qualidigm (Silver Sponsor), CT by the Numbers (Silver Sponsor), and Aeton Law Partners (Silver Sponsor). The David Alan Hospitality Group and Capture provided in-kind services.

CareerPath is a platform that enables career planning teams to "effectively connect and communicate with students." Using a series of milestones, tasks, and events as drivers, CareerPath allows students to "tackle their career planning objectives in an organized and manageable way."

reSET also receives generous support from its Strategic Partners: The Walker Group, Connecticut Innovations, MetroHartford Alliance, and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.  reSET, the Social Enterprise Trust is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advance the social enterprise sector. Its strategic goals are threefold: to be the “go-to” place for impact entrepreneurs, to make Hartford the Impact City, and Connecticut the social enterprise state.  Since its inception, reSET has awarded more than a quarter of a million dollars to scaling ventures. Graduates of the organization’s accelerator have generated $4.4 million in revenue and have taken on $5.5 million in investment.

https://youtu.be/EAC6W3Dn_k8

Independent Analysis Sought for State's Economic Incentive Programs

Timing is everything.  Just days after the Yankee Institute for Public Policy reported that a federal grand jury has indicted a former Vernon resident for using a fake pita company to fraudulently obtain $3 million, including $400,000 from the State of Connecticut, the state legislature held a public hearing on a proposal designed to enhance Connecticut’s analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of the state’s economic development investments. State Comptroller Kevin Lembo, joined by a broad coalition of open government advocates, testified in support of the legislation.  “Connecticut can and should be one of the most economically competitive states in the nation – but that can only happen if we adopt best practice in how we analyze the success and failures of our economic development programs,” Lembo said.

“The state provides hundreds of millions of dollars in economic incentive programs to Connecticut businesses every year for the purpose of advancing economic development and job creation,” Lembo said. “The state owes it to businesses and all taxpayers to fully analyze the return on investment that these sizable and important programs actually deliver in order to assess whether such resources are fulfilling their intended purpose or, if not, whether state funds would be better deployed to other economic development or infrastructure investments.

The proposal, House Bill 7316, would improve how Connecticut analyzes the success and failures of its economic development investments in several ways, according to the Comptroller’s Office. It will streamline the reporting requirements, while expanding the scope of reporting to include all business assistance and incentive programs. It will subject business assistance and incentive programs to performance reviews by the Auditors of Public Accounts and require the Auditors to review the analysis and reporting performed by DECD on such programs – providing necessary independent oversight.

Lembo pointed out that “Connecticut is now one of only two states in the nation where the success of economic development programs is analyzed by the same agency that administers the programs. An unbiased assessment of the performance and administration of these programs has in other states resulted in opportunities for savings.

The Comptroller noted that his office has worked with both the Auditors of Public Accounts and the Department of Economic and Community Development, to “come to mutual agreement on the bill’s language.” The legislation would also require specific legislative committees to hold public hearings to discuss the results of the evaluations and receive input from stakeholders.

The Yankee Institute report indicated that the state’s Small Business Express program, which offer grants and loans to small businesses, awarded the now-indicted former resident a $300,000 loan and a $100,000 grant in 2012.  The report said that the state funding was meant to retain 11 jobs and hire 25 more people.

A broad coalition of open government advocates and organizations submitted testimony in support of the legislation.

On behalf of The Pew Charitable Trusts, Robert Zahradnik, Director of Policy, State Fiscal Health, said, “In Connecticut, as in many other states, business incentives are both a primary economic development tool and a major budget commitment. For that reason, The Pew Charitable Trusts’ research shows that studying the results of incentives is a vital step for states to create jobs, raise wages, help businesses to grow, and to maintain a balanced budget.”

Derek Thomas, Fiscal Policy Fellow at Connecticut Voices for Children, said, “Unlike general fund spending on education, roads, and other spending on the building blocks to a healthy economy, business tax breaks lack transparency. Once on the books, they can remain for years, or even decades, without scrutiny. A more efficient, transparent, and fair budget process would include regular reviews of all economic development incentives to ensure that tax expenditures are yielding the promised economic development benefits. Just like spending, business tax breaks should undergo regular scrutiny to determine their effectiveness.”

The Small Business Express program, which gives grants and loans to smaller to medium sized businesses, has “assisted 1,687 companies — ranging from 'mom and pop' stores to advanced manufacturing firms — with $267 million in loans and grants to retain 18,671 and create 6,795 jobs,” according to the DECD 2016 Annual Report.  In 2016, there were 194 businesses receiving assistance in exchange for commitments to retain 2,912 jobs and create an additional 931.  Total funding commitments were $35,408, 428 in grants and loans.  A year ago, DECD celebrated the 1,500th company to take part in “the governor’s keystone small business development program, the Small Business Express program,” the DECD report indicated.

Joe Horvath, Assistant Policy Director at Yankee Institute for Public Policy, said, "Good economic policy is broad-based and does not favor single businesses, or even industries. This bill would help provide state officials with critical information in determining which economic development programs fail to provide the returns promised, an important step to ending waste and cronyism in Connecticut." Added Daniel J. Klau, President of the Connecticut Council of Freedom on Information (CCFOI):  “CCFOI is very pleased to support this legislation that enhances public confidence in the effectiveness of economic development investments.”

The streamlined report will focus on the most pertinent information, Lembo said, including economic impact of each program, the extent to which it is meeting statutory and programmatic goals, and the efficiency with which the program is being administered. “These incentive programs reduce tax revenue at both the state and local level, and increase state borrowing. It is essential that the legislature review their impact and make informed decisions about the continuation, expansion or elimination of each program. The changes proposed in this legislation will help our state make data-driven decisions about tax credit and abatement programs, ensuring that we are focusing state resources toward their highest and best use.

Municipal Finance to be Focus of Conference, State Leaders

State aid to municipalities will be the focus of attention Wednesday at the State Treasury’s Public Finance Outlook Conference, when Office of Policy and Management Secretary Ben Barnes is joined on a panel by House Minority Leader Themis Klarides and House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz before an audience of finance officials and municipal leaders from communities across the state. Proposed reductions and revisions to municipal aid, a by-product of the state’s anticipated deficit, have been the source of much conversation and contention in recent weeks, with leaders of the state’s cities and towns raising concerns about plans that would have them pay more for resident state troopers, teacher retirements, K-12 education and other programs.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) recently pointed out that while the state economy grew by 17 percent between 2006 and 2015, state expenditures grew by 48.9 percent during the same period. The organization also reported that excluding K-12 education, local general government expenditures in Connecticut rank 50^th out of all states and the District of Columbia as a percentage of the U.S. Treasury’s measure of total taxable resources.

In a report recommending changes in the state’s fiscal relationship with cities and towns, CCM observed that “for over a decade prior to the Great Recession, governments in the state benefited from a strong economy and stable revenue. But this stability depended on reliable, adequate state aid and the local property tax. The lack of diversity in revenue sources and uncertainty at the state level are now eroding the capacity of local governments to meet their obligations to the public.”

State Rep. J.P. Sredzinski (R-112) wrote last month that “Monroe ranks among the top ten ‘biggest losers’ in terms of how much municipal aid was cut compared to their town budgets. For Monroe, the costs that the governor’s budget proposal will shift onto taxpayers clock in at a whopping $6.5 million for this year alone – nearly 10% of our revenue. This unprecedented transfer of costs is neither predictable, nor sustainable.”

The day-long conference on March 29 will also include a panel discussion with the U.S. Head of Government Regulations and Regulatory Policy, Bret Hester, and a review of methods to protect municipal governments from cyber hacking and theft, featuring David Geick, Director, IT Security Services, Bureau of Enterprise Systems and Technology, State Department of Administrative Services; Christopher Hauser, 2nd Vice President, Cyber Risk, The Travelers Companies, Inc.; Jack McCoy, Chief Information Officer, Town of Manchester.

An economic update, highlighting current and anticipated trends, will be provided by the state Department of Labor’s Patrick Flaherty, Assistant Director of Research and Information, and the Treasury’s Short-Term Investment fund and Municipal Employees Retirement Fund will provide updates.

The Treasurer’s Short-Term Investment Fund (STIF) is a Standard & Poor’s AAAm rated investment pool of “high-quality, short term money market instruments,” the Treasury website explains. STIF serves as an investment vehicle for the operating cash of the State Treasury, state agencies and authorities, municipalities, and other political subdivisions of the State. As of June 30, 2015, the fund administered 939 active accounts for 67 state agencies and authorities and 222 municipalities and local entities in Connecticut.

The conference will be held at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

Connecticut Main Street Center Award Winners Reflect Excellence, Community Involvement

A downtown management organization engaging the community in envisioning two underutilized parks as places that downtown residents, visitors, workers and families can mingle with artists and creatives, and a regional planning organization that created a program focused on supporting local businesses, creating jobs and filling vacant spaces in eight village centers are just two of this year's Awards of Excellence winners being recognized by the Connecticut Main Street Center (CMSC). In total, eight recipients have been selected to receive the prestigious awards, including organizations and initiatives from Bridgeport, Unionville Village in Farmington, Hartford, Meriden, New Britain, New Haven, and the Northwest Corner.  The awards will be presented at CMSC's Vibrant Main Streets event in the atrium of the Legislative Office Building on May 18 in Hartford.

The other winning entries include:

• a 14-acre flood control project that created a public park and mixed-use economic development in downtown Meriden;
• a comprehensive and complete overhaul of the City of Hartford's zoning language and process;
• an interpretive wayfinding/signage program that connects Walnut Hill Park, Little Poland and Downtown New Britain;
• the restoration of a historic ball bearing mill on the banks of the Farmington River into a mixed-use campus in the heart of Unionville Village;
• a Twilight Bike Race & Street Festival that celebrates biking, food, culture and entertainment in Downtown New Haven; and
• the redevelopment of a 1903 factory building into 72 units of market rate housing within easy walking distance of jobs and transit in downtown Hartford.

"This year's winners represent both catalytic and keystone initiatives that ignite and support significant positive change in Main Street communities," said CMSC Associate Director Kimberley Parsons-Whitaker. "From engaging the community in playing a proactive role in local economic development and envisioning new life for their historic public places, to the complex redevelopment of historic mills and factories for modern residential and commercial uses, our 2017 award recipients are leaders in re-imagining Main Streets."

In addition to its Awards of Excellence, CMSC also named the recipient of its 2017 Founder's Award, presented by Eversource Energy. CMSC founding President & CEO John Simone, who will retire in August, was selected to receive the Founder's Award for his more than 17 years of leading the organization's evolution as the voice of downtown, and for championing the tools, resources and political will needed for Connecticut's Main Streets to thrive.

Connecticut Main Street Center's mission is to be "the catalyst that ignites Connecticut’s Main Streets as the cornerstone of thriving communities."  CMSC works at both the local and State level to create and implement successful downtowns that meet the needs of residents and visitors. The organization describes a successful downtown as "one that incorporates housing, retail, social and business opportunities with transportation options for all users – walkers, cyclists, motorists and more."   Created in 2003 to recognize outstanding projects, individuals and community efforts to bring traditional downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts back to life, socially and economically, the Awards of Excellence are presented annually.

2017 Connecticut Main Street Center Awards of Excellence

CT Main Street Catalyst Awards

•  Meriden Green - Recipient: City of Meriden. Partners: State of CT (DECD, DEEP, DOT); U.S. EPA; FEMA; Army Corps of Engineers; Meriden Flood Control Implementation Agency; Milone and MacBroom; AECOM; and La Rosa Construction.
• Downtown Bridgeport Placemaking Program & Downtown Farmers Market at McLevy Green - Recipient: Bridgeport Downtown Special Services District. Partners: Project for Public Spaces; New Venture Advisors LLC.
• ZoneHartford: Form-Based Code Zoning Regulations - Recipient: City of Hartford. Partners: Fitzgerald & Halliday, Inc.

CT Main Street Keystone Awards

• Collaborative Shared Economic Development Services Project - Recipient: NW Hills Council of Governments. Partners: Goman+York; One Eleven Group; State of CT (OPM); Towns of Canaan/ Falls Village, Cornwall, Goshen, Kent, North Canaan, Norfolk, Salisbury/Lakeville and Sharon
• New Britain Historic Trails & Signage Program - Recipients: City of New Britain; TO Design LLC. Partners: National Parks Service
• Upson Market Place, Unionville - Recipient: Brian Lyman of Parker Benjamin Real Estate Services LLC. Partners: Town of Farmington.
• New Haven Grand Prix: a Twilight Bicycle Race & Street Festival - Recipients: CT Cycling Advancement Program; Town Green District (New Haven). Partners: City of New Haven; Taste of New Haven.
• Capewell Lofts, Hartford - Recipient: CIL. Partners: Capital Regional Development Authority; State of CT (DECD); InsurBanc; Guilford Savings Bank; Crosskey Architects; TO Design

10 CT Companies Are Finalists at Entrepreneur Innovation Awards, Three Receive Funds to Boost Growth

Fledgling entrepreneurial businesses in West Hartford, New Haven and Marlborough will be getting a financial boost in their efforts to gain a foothold in their respective industries. CTNext, Connecticut’s go-to resource for entrepreneurial support, announced the three winners of the most recent Entrepreneur Innovation Awards (EIA), held this month at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford.

The finalists, Connecticut-based companies and entrepreneurs, presented their innovative project ideas to a panel of entrepreneurial experts for an opportunity to secure $10,000 awards to help support business growth. The top winners, to receive $10,000 awards, were:

• GinzVelo Hybrid Electric Cycles (West Hartford): A personal transportation solution powered by pedaling or the electric motor to effortlessly travel up to 100 miles to and from your destination.
• Sweetflexx (Marlborough): Resistance technology active wear enables muscles to work more efficiently, resulting in a higher rate of calorie burn.  McCullough Shriver founded Sweetflexx. (see video below)
• Verb Energy Manufacturing (New Haven): A healthy, caffeinated, energy bar that combines your cup of coffee and an energy bar for less cost. Verb Energy  was founded in 2016 by four Yale students.

The “judges’ favorite” went to Sweetflexx, and the “crowd favorite” was awarded to Verb Energy.  Each business will receive an additional $2,000.

The other finalists included:

• Global Hydro Pneumatic High Tech Inventions (Shelton) Developing an all-wheel hydraulic power jack system that is safer and less damaging to cars.
• Loki (Woodbridge) Creating an app that gives users control over their own multi-perspective visual experience.
• Mobile Sense Technologies (Farmington) Engineering an “off-the-chest” ECG monitor for 24/7 management of cardiac arrhythmias.
• Obvia (West Hartford) Creating a lightweight, dual-winglet blade for small to mid-sized wind turbines that is both energy- and cost-efficient.
• Olie Robotics (Manchester) Building a professional robotic vacuum that cleans offices at a third of the cost with no labor hassles.
• PennSMART (North Branford) Producing a universal retrofit for lighting fixtures that allows surveillance and sends alert notifications.
• Trekeffect (Niantic) Creating an app that allows individuals to sell their travel itineraries.

“The Entrepreneur Innovation Awards seek to give new and growing companies the support they need to thrive,” said Glendowlyn Thames, executive director of CTNext. “Through these events, we have seen a number of incredible companies that are changing their respective industries and creating a positive economic impact in our state. These grants continue to support companies at the earliest stages of growth and to drive them to the next level of development.”

To be eligible for an EIA, startups must be Connecticut-based, registered as CTNext members, and looking to conduct growth-related activities to help advance their business. Project examples include but are not limited to prototyping, performance testing, compliance testing, product or service development, market research, licensing and more.

A full list of criteria can be found on the application page. For more information on the program or to apply, please visit: http://ctnext.com/entrepreneur-innovation-awards/.  CTNext launched in 2012 and has more than 1,500 members in its network, since initiating the awards program in February 2014 CTNext has awarded $544,000 to 52 companies.

The goal of CTNext is to build a more robust community of entrepreneurs and to accelerate startup growth by providing access to talent, space, industry expertise, services, skill development and capital to foster innovation and create jobs for people in Connecticut.

https://youtu.be/f7AxJz-KsUA

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.

CT’s Local Government Workforce Shrinks 7.4% in Past Decade; 10th Largest Reduction in US from Employment Peak

Connecticut’s local municipal workforce has been shrinking for the past decade, and had been reduced 7.4 percent by 2015 when compared with the peak employment year of 2005, according to a new analysis by Governing magazine.  The drop in local government employment is the 10^th largest in the country by percentage of workforce, when peak employment levels were compared with 2015 numbers. “Going on nearly a decade since the start of the recession, localities in many parts of the country have since restored public payrolls to prior levels. But some still employ far fewer workers than they did before the downturn,” Governing reported.

Governing compared each state's pre-2010 peak aggregate totals to the latest 2015 data, excluding the education sector.  In all, the magazine reported, local governments in 26 states had yet to see payroll expenditures return to prior levels when adjusted for inflation. Similarly, local public employment remains below previous highs in most states and is down 3.5 percent nationally from 2008.

The steepest declines in local government payrolls, when 2015 data was compared with the peak pre-recession year, came in Delaware (-20.5% from 2007), Michigan (-18.2% from 2003), Arizona (-17.1% from 2008), Rhode Island (-16.5% from 2003), Massachusetts (-14.4% from 2008), Nevada (-14.1% from 2009), Florida (-11.0% from 2008), Indiana (-8.8% from 2008), New Jersey (-8.3% from 2009) and Connecticut (-7.4% from 2005).

Where localities chose to make payroll cuts has varied, according to the analysis, but a number of patterns were pointed out, based on Census data.  When national employment estimates were compared with 2008 levels, non-sworn police employees sustained the single largest reduction of any major category of workers, the analysis indicated. Governing suggested the reductions were likely a result of police departments trimming civilian staff to maintain the size of police forces on the streets. Nationally, the number of police and firefighters were down 2.6 percent from 2008 while all other areas of local government, excluding education and hospitals, experienced a larger 4.5 percent decline.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico recorded the biggest increases in noneducation payrolls since the recession began in 2008-2009.  Half the states showed an increase in local government payrolls, and despite the generally slow recovery across many regions of the country, U.S. local government payroll spending overall showed a slight three  percent nationwide uptick between 2014 and 2015, according to the analysis.