Artificial intelligence, an expanding University of Connecticut Stamford campus and faster permitting could help drive Stamford’s next phase of growth, city and state leaders said Tuesday.
Mayor Caroline Simmons joined Daniel O’Keefe, Connecticut’s economic and community development commissioner and chief innovation officer, and UConn President Radenka Maric for a panel discussion at Philip Morris International’s U.S. headquarters in Stamford.
Panelists outlined efforts to sustain Stamford’s growth, from investing in AI to connecting students with local employers and simplifying permit approvals.
The panel followed the release of a PMI-commissioned Harris Poll examining Americans’ optimism about the country, their communities and technology’s role in shaping the future.
The online survey, conducted May 19-June 2, surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults nationally and included local samples of approximately 200 adults in each of 10 cities, including Stamford.
Stamford respondents were the most optimistic among the markets surveyed: 59% said America was headed in the right direction, compared with 43% nationally. Nearly seven in 10 said their own community was on the right track, also the highest share in the survey.
Meanwhile, 81% of Stamford respondents said technology made them more confident about the future, compared with 56% to 67% in other markets, said Marian Salzman, PMI U.S.’s senior vice president of corporate development.
Spurring growth
Simmons said Stamford is a finalist for funding through the state Department of Economic and Community Development’s $100 million Innovation Clusters Program to establish an AI institute with UConn.
Stamford was selected alongside Hartford and New Haven for funding consideration. The state awarded Hartford $20 million in August for an AI and workforce development center, following a $50.5 million commitment to New Haven last year for an innovation district focused on life sciences, AI and quantum technologies.
O’Keefe, who spent 25 years as a technology investor, said AI is advancing at a pace unlike anything he has seen. He expects AI to cause economic disruption, as past innovations did, but said the economy has repeatedly adapted to technological change.
“Every single time we have figured it out and we have created new jobs, and all we’ve seen is productivity increase because of it,” he said.
Meanwhile, UConn’s Stamford campus enrolled 885 freshmen this fall and now has more than 3,000 students, including about 800 living on campus, Maric said.
The big challenge, she said, is getting students to stay after graduation.
“Our young people go to Boston, they go to New York, and they just pass by Stamford,” Maric said.
To change that, UConn and Connecticut Innovations, the state’s quasi-public venture investment firm, each put up $2 million to fund summer internships at Connecticut startups. The program drew 300 applications for 75 spots.
Maric said about 60% of interns went on to work for the companies where they interned, and 95% said they would not have considered Stamford without that experience.
Statewide, 77% of UConn graduates stay in the state, she said.
For Simmons, the fastest way to spur growth is to stop slowing it down. When she took office, she said, obtaining a permit could take up to two years, which was “totally unacceptable.”
“We know that time can kill deals,” Simmons said. “That’s delaying investment and jobs and opportunity in our city, so we’ve opened up a new walk-in permitting center, which is a one-stop shop to get your permit.”
The center, at the Stamford Government Center, brings together the fire marshal, building inspector and other city officials. Simmons said it has helped reduce permit wait times from two years to about 90 days.
“Still work to do there,” she said, “but it’s things like that, kind of removing the red tape to make it easier to start a business, that really makes a difference.”
Simmons said many federal pandemic loans were not reaching women- and minority-owned businesses. In response, the city used some of its remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds to provide grants to 120 small businesses, most owned by women or minorities.
The city has since held access-to-capital events with local banks, Connecticut Innovations and the Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC).
Simmons said immigrant-owned businesses are among the fastest-growing categories of startups in Stamford, where residents speak more than 70 languages.
“It’s just been such a joy to watch immigrants from all over the world come to our city, start a business, to have this dream and you can see it in all corners of our city,” she said.
