Towns through which the Interstate highway system passes have an advantage when it comes to developing industry, and attracting people from far and wide.
South Windsor has a distinct advantage over some other towns in that it affords very easy access to I-84, I-291 and I-91.
Ease of transportation may be something a company like DST Output looks for when it locates a facility. The company occupies an enormous building just off Route 30. DST does electronic billing for direct broadcast satellite providers like Direct TV. The company also services three of the top 10 wireless providers and five of the top 10 cable TV providers.
And that’s just the beginning.
The company also prints, compiles and mails stock profiles and annual reports for top brokerage firms, defined contribution providers, banks and auto finance companies.
DST also has contracts with insurance, healthcare and utilities industries, as well as the pharmaceutical, high tech, package delivery, transportation, mortgage and credit card companies.
But the Interstate system carries more than mail trucks and commercial traffic. It also carries people, lots of people.
So, it is with the hope that the so-called I-291 corridor will carry families from all over the place through South Windsor that Doug Nation is starting Nomads in a big old industrial building once occupied by United Technologies Corp.
In fact, Nomads is not far from UTC’s fuel cell division headquarters, which is just off Governor’s Highway.
Nomads will feature a series of recreational activities under one roof.
Everything from rock climbing to laser tag to mini golf and the Connecticut Wave AAU basketball team will be housed at Nomads.
Marcia Banach, South Windsor’s director of planning, said it’s hard to know whether developments like Nomads could become a trend in industrial parks and former industrial buildings. “We’ll have to see how they do,” she said.
And really, South Windsor isn’t having any trouble bringing industrial development to town. The I-291 corridor is 400 acres, 20 of which is owned by the town.
DST’s facility is at the beginning of the land the town is trying to develop.
“It’s got the main interstate right there, it’s flat, pretty developable land with great access,” Banach said, so the future appears wide open for South Windsor.n
Matthew L. Brown is a Hartford Business Journal Staff Writer.