[Beeker2211]

Originally Posted by Mike 75

Sorry, but cities like Hartford and Bridgeport don't deserve another dime of state money. They are feckless and corrupt. Bridgeport has a felon at it helm and Hartford, well the track record of Hartford speaks for itself. They are money pits. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Enough already. Once they clean house we can talk.

Unfortunately they do deserve a lot of dimes, honestly. PILOT has been massively underfunded for almost a decade and a half and the state has only recently come close to ending the rears, and generally the big five have been ignored for a multitude of reasons. I'm not going to lie that the cities have their issues with graft, that'd be silly. I'm not saying the monies should be a blank cheque or go right into the municipal coffers but something should be done to ease the burden and finally bring the main cities out from the veil of needless burden.

[Henry10]

Originally Posted by Beeker2211

Unfortunately they do deserve a lot of dimes, honestly. PILOT has been massively underfunded for almost a decade and a half and the state has only recently come close to ending the rears, and generally the big five have been ignored for a multitude of reasons. I'm not going to lie that the cities have their issues with graft, that'd be silly. I'm not saying the monies should be a blank cheque or go right into the municipal coffers but something should be done to ease the burden and finally bring the main cities out from the veil of needless burden.

Any effort to fund recovery of CT cities without sound economic fundamentals is a no-go for me, sorry. It's putting lipstick on a pig. But take the pig, turn it into a lean-mean healthy ballerina -- then suitors will come sniffing, and maybe even biting.

[Mr_250]

Just read an article that Malloy and Bronin are having meetings with Aetna trying to convince them to stay! When did Aetna say they are moving headquarters? Just like GE the uppers know something the common folks don't. If Aetna decides to move headquarters it would be a major hit to Hartford.

I see a huge, I mean huge package coming to Aetna in the future. Something like $100M to make them stay. We gave $22m to the worlds largest headge fund to stay in Connectciut.

[Robert137]

Originally Posted by Mr_250

Just read an article that Malloy and Bronin are having meetings with Aetna trying to convince them to stay! When did Aetna say they are moving headquarters? Just like GE the uppers know something the common folks don't. If Aetna decides to move headquarters it would be a major hit to Hartford.

I see a huge, I mean huge package coming to Aetna in the future. Something like $100M to make them stay. We gave $22m to the worlds largest headge fund to stay in Connectciut.

Aetna announced this past week (I think) that they were staying in CT "for now". Guess that got the alarm bells ringing.

[Sigequinox]

Originally Posted by Mr_250

Just read an article that Malloy and Bronin are having meetings with Aetna trying to convince them to stay! When did Aetna say they are moving headquarters? Just like GE the uppers know something the common folks don't. If Aetna decides to move headquarters it would be a major hit to Hartford.

I see a huge, I mean huge package coming to Aetna in the future. Something like $100M to make them stay. We gave $22m to the worlds largest headge fund to stay in Connectciut.

That would hurt, but not as much as them leaving. It's not good that we've gone down the begging path, where we need to pay tens to hundreds of millions just to keep what we already have. Other states are paying that much to bring NEW business into their economy. tisk tisk.

I do find the excuses that people make on here about our economy to be rather humorous and entertaining. It's amazing how many excuses, time after time after time, people will make to justify what they so badly want to believe. It's almost sad in a way. I see it in the stock market too. The company I used to work for is probably 6 months away from going under, but some people on yahoo and stocktwits just refuse to accept the company is absolute garbage. They call people "naysayers" for explaining, in very logical, scientific and financial terms why the company is doomed, but they people keep drinking the coolaid. Even after dozens of people who previously worked for the company explain what its like behind closed doors. Press release after press release of pure BS. Week after month after years of the same old "things will get better" from the ceo. Failure after failure after failure and these people STILL invest their money in a stock thats at 50 cents and 2 years ago was 5 dollars. I don't know how the CEO of that company sleeps at night anymore than I know how Malloy sleeps at night, but both could croak for all I care. More concerning to me, are the every day Joe's who buy into these empty verbal gestures, taking on huge risks for something that is hopeless. CT, much like the mentioned company is not doing very well.

Anyone who thinks CTs crappy economy is a deliberate and engineered attempt to be crappy, so that when SHTF, can rest assured its already crap and therefore doesn't have to cope with being a piece of crap like the others who were not pieces of crap, has completely lost it. At that point, there is no rescuing that person to convince them otherwise. They have abandoned rationale thought entirely. If that were true (which its absolutely not) it would be so bold, unconventional and bordering on unethical that there would have been a press release to make citizens and businesses aware of their "really radical plan" to "be crap now, so we will already be crap later when many others become crap".

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by Sigequinox

That would hurt, but not as much as them leaving. It's not good that we've gone down the begging path, where we need to pay tens to hundreds of millions just to keep what we already have. Other states are paying that much to bring NEW business into their economy. tisk tisk.

I do find the excuses that people make on here about our economy to be rather humorous and entertaining. It's amazing how many excuses, time after time after time, people will make to justify what they so badly want to believe. It's almost sad in a way. .

Great post. It is sad, accepting that Ct will remain inhospitable to business, and have to resort to greenmail which is what paying corps to stay is. It expresses pessimism that the business climate could become even satisfactory.


It is analogous to hoping your favorite baseball team avoids the cellar before the season starts.

[BPt111]

Similar ? Malloy tells group he’s meeting with GE officials on Friday http://wtnh.com/2015/12/02/malloy-te...als-on-friday/

Will Malloy offer Aetna them 50 million to stay ?

Malloy and Bronin Trying to Convince Aetna to Stay in Hartford - Hartford Courant

[BicoastalAnn]

I hope any package also includes requirements to hire in CT otherwise it may not be worth it. A company like that can easily decide to hire and invest in XYZ cheap area for most of its jobs, while taking CT's money and letting HQ grow smaller.

[kidyankee764]

They shouldn't give a dime to Aetna. That company has encouraged remote employees so 3/4 their workforce lives in CT but never comes to the office. So we're going to beg them to stay just so their building can remain in Hartford, mostly empty? Let them go, it won't hurt CT's unemployment. Put the money toward attracting a new business.

[Tomhpo]

Originally Posted by BicoastalAnn

I hope any package also includes requirements to hire in CT otherwise it may not be worth it. A company like that can easily decide to hire and invest in XYZ cheap area for most of its jobs, while taking CT's money and letting HQ grow smaller.

This. Many if not all the major corporations statewide have already modified their hiring and staffing dramatically to outsource various ops, services and technology functions to lower wage areas (including overseas, often through consultancies like Infosys and Accenture). At the same time key exec positions are now being filled (and staffed) in NYC and Boston. Hartford is housing a declining and maladaptive layer of middle managers who are slowly being downsized. All the mergers do is accelerate this.

But the execs are savvy enough (and perceptive enough) to take the money offered and find some way to serve up a 'result' that allows the democrats to declare the money well spent.

Hartford and Connecticut need to establish new industries, to jump ahead a bit and spend to strength to create sustainable growth. We need significant investment in uconn, and public private partnerships with Yale and Wellesley to establish incubators for new businesses. We need to think about legalizing marijuana and scaling production, establishing tax free zones for all manner of green energy production and testing, full on electric vehicle and fiber optic cable infrastructure deployment. If needed, renegotiate all the existing pension contracts and dramatically reduce state employment and general fund support of cities and towns.

The existing sources of revenue, employment and growth are dying off at an increasing rate. We are behind the innovation curve. Mass and NY have already begun these initiatives and they have less erosion in their current base. It's dire for CT otherwise.