Windsor is in a great location.
South Windsor has great planning.
Ellington’s population is booming.
As towns and cities across Connecticut struggle to find the path out of the recession, this cluster of three towns north of Hartford and along the Connecticut River are acting as guides. While populations are stagnant, new business starts lag and employment opportunities are scarce, the economic growth in this cluster — particularly Windsor and South Windsor — would drive other municipalities to jealousy in good fiscal times.
And a reason one of them is good is a reason all three are good.
First comes location. Windsor, South Windsor and Ellington are all close to interstates 91 and 84, Route 5, Bradley International Airport, train tracks and the Connecticut River. This makes the area attractive to businesses looking to move goods around and/or easily bring in employees and clients. Windsor and South Windsor have used their location to develop an emerging distribution industry.
Second comes planning. Windsor and South Windsor have each set up areas where commercial property is in great supply without much nearby residential property. That means less NIMBY concerns. Both towns have planned their growth smartly, leaving enough open and residential space mixed in with amenities to make them attractive places to live.
Third comes commitment. While other towns may get bogged down in logistics and community concerns over business expansion, the town officials in Windsor and South Windsor maintain a strong commitment to industry. They not only offer their own financial incentives for companies to relocate there, but they work closely with the Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development to offer the maximum incentive for businesses.
“A lot of other towns talk about jobs; but they get caught up. They want jobs but don’t want the traffic. They let a few landowners stop major developments,” said State Sen. Gary LeBeau, whose district include South Windsor and Ellington. “In South Windsor, they have had a consistently strong economic development policy, and consistently strong leadership in that area.
“They know what they want. They want jobs, and they have never wavered on that,” LeBeau said.
In Windsor, employment has grown 25 percent since 2000, and the town has 23,630 people employed at the various companies within its borders.
“The major advantage is the location,” said Jim Burke, Windsor’s economic development director. “It’s being in the right place to do business.”
Windsor was a little lucky with the recession because most of its major industries — financial services and insurance — recovered from the downturn quicker than others, Burke said. The town’s top three employers are the Hartford Financial Services Group, ING USA, and CIGNA Health Insurance Co.
When offering incentives for businesses to come into Windsor, the town focuses on the big companies. ING received town incentives for its 475,000-square-foot facility with 2,000 employees, as did the Walgreens Distribution Center.
“We’re a really good business partner,” Burke said. “Our review process for projects is quick … We provide good services in areas like education and recreation.”
South Windsor prides itself on being a good business partner as well, said Town Manager Matthew Galligan. Rather than focus on a few industries, South Windsor focuses on attracting a diversity of companies of varying size.
This is part of South Windsor’s plan to accommodatesboth business and resident.
“The community is really balanced, and people appreciate it,” Galligan said.
South Windsor has DST Output, a printing company; AMK Welding, a manufacturing company; UTC Power, an energy company and many others including corporate offices.
The town is home to Evergreen Walk, the major outdoor retail center near Manchester. South Windsor is working with a developer to launch Connecticut Studios, a 495,000-square-foot facility centered around nine sound stages for movies along with a hotel, restaurants and retail space.
Connecticut Studios “is dragging a bit, but we are trying to make sure everything is done properly,” Galligan said.
Much like Windsor, town officials in South Windsor are quick in reviewing planning and zoning paperwork, so businesses aren’t left waiting, Galligan said. The planning and zoning personnel are honest with businesses coming in about what is and isn’t possible.
“They are pretty reasonable people,” Galligan said. “They understand what this is all about.”
Of the three-town cluster, Ellington lags behind the Windsors. The population grew 20 percent over the last decade, but the growth of industry has been light as the major businesses are commercial apartment builders.
“We aren’t being successful as we’d like to be,” Ellington First Selectman Maurice Blanchette said. “For the most part, Ellington is very much a bedroom community.”
Ellington has segments zoned for office buildings and light industrial complexes, but the town is passive in recruiting new industry.
Town officials only encourage new development after they’ve heard about someone wanting to relocate there, Blanchette said. The town hasn’t had a business move into these zoned areas since the recession started.
“We’re open for business, so if anyone wants to come talk to us about opening up a business, we’ll certainly hear it,” Blanchette said.
While other towns wait for businesses to come to them, Windsor and South Windsor are actively recruiting industry, figuring out ways to be as attractive as possible.
“They work closely not only with the incoming businesses, but also with the state government to make sure these things happen,” LeBeau said. “They are very aware of all the programs the state offers.”
But attracting business is far more than offering incentives, Burke said. The town wants to have the services and amenities that businesses want for themselves and their employees. Many of the undeveloped industrial properties in Windsor already have utilities in place.
Windsor decided all the companies moving into its borders will want their employees nearby, so the town is putting up several workforce housing developments, Burke said. The Great Pond Village workforce development will have 4,000 housing units.
“We keep trying to look forward here to figure out ‘How do we maintain this?’ Burke said.
