Board of Directors

On Wednesday, February 20, the Manchester Board of Directors hosted the first ever Manchester Economic Summit to discuss the state of the Town’s economy and investigate new ways of improving the business climate.  More than 100 people attended the summit, held at the ECHN Auditorium at Manchester Memorial Hospital.

The Hartford Courant covered the event, writing the following:

The town’s board of directors held the economic summit in the Manchester Memorial Hospital auditorium to generate ideas about improving and enhancing the town’s business climate. Mayor Louis Spadaccini moderated the summit. Directors Kevin Zingler, Dave Sheridan and John Topping did not attend.

As noted, all five Republican Directors attended the Summit. Three of the four Democrat Directors missed out on the terrific meeting.  There were a number of good ideas presented, including the creation of an easy-to-read, streamlined guidebook for new businesses to follow when setting up shop in Manchester.  The idea of a Town Business Advocate to shepherd new businesses through the regulatory process was also suggested.

Speakers at the event included several local business owners, like Dottie Canon, of Brown Sugar Catering.  Quoted in the Journal Inquirer, she said:

But several of the six business owners who constituted Wednesday’s panel said town employees need to be more courteous and responsive to their needs.

“At times I felt like they were doing me a favor by talking to me,” Dottie Canon, owner of Brown Sugar Catering, said of her experience in getting approvals for a new kitchen at her Hilliard Street location.

State Business Advocate Rob Simmons also spoke at length about the many services provided by the State of Connecticut and the need for collaboration in developing the local economy.  He said:

“People look on the Internet to learn where to locate,” he said of the importance of updating business Web sites and highlighting the community’s positives on them. “We can compete with India, we can compete with China.”

Over the weekend, the Hartford Courant featured an article about the upcoming Manchester Economic Summit, hosted by Mayor Lou Spadaccini.

Mayor Louis Spadaccini will preside over the summit. The board invited former state Rep. Rob Simmons, who serves as the state business advocate, and John Shemo, vice president and director of economic development of Metro Hartford Alliance, to join local business owners and the public in a discussion about ideas to enhance the town’s economic development.”We really want to make that a big success. … The goal is to improve the business climate in Manchester and have business locaters choose Manchester,” Spadaccini said.

Deputy Mayor Matt Peak offered comment about the potential of developing a health care cluster in Manchester.

“We have to look at where we win in Manchester, what are our competitive advantages. When you look at where Manchester is winning in town, our biggest employer in town is the hospital, and when you add in all the health-care-related small firms, it’s by far the biggest industry in town,” Peak said.