🔒CT legislature tried to stop the exportation of water. What’s next, air?

Creating an environment for job creation in Connecticut should be the No .1 goal for our elected officials, both on the local as well as state level. High employment and decent paying jobs equals more tax receipts, which equals better school systems and higher achievement for our students, which equals less crime.

It is a never ending positive loop. Families with decent incomes are happy, which leads to happy communities.

It is certainly important for our legislative leaders to consider all constituencies and protect the public's interest when considering permitting for new manufacturing projects; for example, we all want to make sure our lands and waterways are protected from harmful chemicals. But they also have to balance competing interests to make sure that the overall common good is achieved.

The state legislature did the right thing last month when they failed to act on a bill that would have jeopardized the Niagara Bottling plant in Bloomfield. But why would this company have to spend money defending itself from our elected leaders at the state capitol in the first place?

Competing with other companies in other states is tough enough without having our state government adding more barriers to job creation.

I understand legislators' concerns about control of local resources as well as the environmental issues regarding plastic bottles, and applaud their desire to address those issues. But in the end, Hartford, like most urban areas, needs jobs.

This past March, about 1,400 applicants lined up for 300 minimum wage seasonal jobs at the Hartford Yard Goats jobs fair. The state Department of Labor reported in June that Hartford's unemployment rate was 11 percent, the highest in the state and close to double the state's unemployment rate of 5.9 percent.

The Niagara Bottling plant in Connecticut is surely a good thing for the Hartford area economy. If it is fully built out, the numbers tell the story:

• $3.7 million annually to the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC);

• 120 jobs that will average in the $35,000 range;

• $5 million in additional taxable income;

• $1 million in annual property taxes to Bloomfield;

• $57 million that Niagara is spending to build its new plant, where 75 percent of the construction jobs are going to Connecticut residents.

Niagara is creating jobs. Niagara is paying millions of dollars in construction fees to the government. Niagara is putting Connecticut residents to work building its plant and will provide 120 permanent jobs. And Niagara will be paying millions in corporate, property, and income taxes annually to Connecticut.

The Niagara debacle demonstrated what is wrong with the state's approach to attracting and retaining business, where jobs are created. The state's leadership could have supported Niagara and demonstrated that Connecticut is open for business. Instead, few if any of the leadership, Democratic or Republican, publicly took a stand for Niagara.

Some job seekers in Connecticut got lucky this past legislative session when Connecticut lawmakers punted on this anti-business bill. Next time they may not be so lucky, a potential job creator may decide to avoid fighting our legislative leaders and take their business elsewhere.

Don Vaccaro is the CEO of South Windsor-based TicketNetwork. He has no business interests in the Niagara Bottling plant.