In Hartford, they used to manufacture typewriters. In Waterbury, they did brass. In Litchfield County, they mined iron ore. In Danbury, they made hats. In Manchester, they fondled and traded silk.
That’s all gone now. The only sweaty, salt-of-the-Earth opportunity left in Connecticut is the occasional newspaper columnist slot. The state is all poised to recruit bio-tech guys and electrical engineers and cool, arty types to populate the urban downtowns and drink too much.
It was easy to trick people into moving here, in the good old days. Hey, come to the iron mines in Litchfield County; it hasn’t been despoiled yet by New York City weekenders. The blue-collar, handy guys came running.
The population trends suggest Connecticut is not as alluring today. Blame it on taxes; blame it on the sad fact that actuaries don’t attract the hot chicks. At the end of the day, it’s all about marketing. How does Connecticut market to the upscale, smarty-pants crowd with enough disposable income to tip their favorite columnists?
I decided to take a look at how hospitals and medical practices attract doctors to Connecticut. What do you say to physicians to prompt them to move here — or, for that matter, move anywhere? The help-wanted ads in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association tell the story.
One of the peculiarities of the Hartford-Springfield job market is that you don’t have to talk about, well, you know, Hartford and Springfield. As the Baystate Health network in Springfield put it, in one of its ads, “we enjoy easy access to Boston and New York City.”
It’s a common theme among recruiters. As one Connecticut ad for a hematologist/oncologist put it, “located between New York and Boston.”
Of course, Hartford isn’t alone in pitching the benefits of being near the metropolitan giants, if you’re worried about missing out on the Bright Lights of the Big City. As a central New Jersey medical practice put it, “located one hour from NYC and Philadelphia.”
And there are some Hartford medical practices that appear to be pretty darn proud of being plopped in central Connecticut. A medical group screams out in print that it is located in the “Greater Hartford Area,” a Garden of Eden with “Wonderful communities with excellent schools and beautiful homes.” Of course, just in case that doesn’t work: “Many of New England’s major metro areas are within easy access.”
One Connecticut solicitation wanted to make it very, very clear to the doctors that if the “Hartford” thing was unfortunate, you would be free to escape, at a moment’s notice. “Greater Hartford Area. Superb location offering access to major cities, airports and the coast.”
Some locales have an easier time of it, apparently. An ad looking for internists in San Diego had nothing to say about escape routes. The only mention of geography was “Beautiful San Diego.”
The Fairfield County crowd can be forgiven for the underplayed mention of “Connecticut,” (wherever the heck that is). As a medical practice owned by Norwalk Hospital put in an ad: “new locations within desirable Fairfield County, Connecticut, approximately one hour from New York City.”
A Gold Star from local chambers of commerce must go to a St. Francis Hospital-affiliated medical practice in East Hartford that doesn’t want to hear any whining about New York or Boston. “Our central Connecticut location offers a wide range of family oriented suburban living choices and vibrant city-living, and all the amenities of the New England region … ”
But, just in case that didn’t work: “less than two hours from Boston and NYC.”
Laurence D. Cohen is a freelance writer.
