https://www.thehour.com/stamford/article/Malloy-talks-economic-growth-at-Chamber-annual-8227923.php
Malloy talks economic growth at Chamber annual meeting
By KOREY WILSON
Times Staff Writer
Published 6:01 pm EDT, Friday, October 18, 2013
STAMFORD -- When it comes to improving the state's economy, Connecticut has come a long way in the last two years, but more work lies ahead, according to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.
Malloy gave his economic development report to the Stamford Chamber of Commerce during the group's 26th annual meeting at the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa on Thursday.
"When I ran for governor, I knew I was running into a gigantic fiscal mess. I knew we projected the largest structural deficit of any state in the nation. I knew that money had been borrowed from Wall Street to pay operating expenses and our rainy day fund was exhausted. I knew all of those things and I was happy to run," Malloy said.
Through programs like the First 15, Malloy said more than 41,000 private sector jobs have been added statewide within the last few years.
"We're adding jobs at a rate that we have not seen in the last 20 years," he said.
"In the eight years prior to my becoming governor, the state made investments in a total of 119 firms. In the time, my administration has been in office, we have invested in over 900 firms."
Many of the companies that benefitted from the growth spurt are Stamford-based small businesses. At the same time, Connecticut has actively recruited companies from other states, some of which moved to Stamford.
"We have averaged private sector job growth of 650 jobs per month. That's not enough. It won't be enough until everyone who wants a job gets a job," he said.
But the numbers are a huge boost compared to previous years of low job growth, Malloy said.
"At a time when 23 million jobs were created in the United States, only Connecticut and Michigan failed to share in those jobs," he said. "Michigan had an excuse. They were losing the car industry. Connecticut had no excuse.
"We were making bad decisions over a long period of time," said Malloy.
The governor said he believes education reform goes hand-in-hand with improving the state's economic development.
"A state that has cities such as Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford, New Britain and New London that failed to graduate 40 percent of its students is not going to allow Connecticut to be a successful competitor with 49 other states," he said.
One improvement he said has been made under his administration is the Head Start program, which added 1,000 pre-kindergarten spaces statewide to close achievement gaps and ensure students of color are not behind their white peers.
Malloy also touted a 2.3 percent increase in this year's high school graduation rates.
"Normally, when you're looking at graduation rates, it's a half-point or less in either direction," he said.
Before the Chamber meeting, Malloy attended the groundbreaking of the new J.M. Wright Technical High School, a trade school he believes is important to the business community.
The school previously closed under former Gov. M. Jodi Rell's administration while Malloy was mayor of Stamford.
The Chamber also awarded several members during the annual meeting.
Webster Bank and Columbus Park Trattoria tied for the Company of the Year award. Bruce Moore, Sr., president of Eastern Land Management, and Todd Lindvall, general manager of Courtyard by Marriott, Stamford, each won Member of the Year honors. Jay Forgotson, a business consultant, won the President's Award.