Greater Hartford has cracked the top 50 in a national ranking of cities with top tech talent, but don’t expect the region to become another Silicon Valley, or supersede New York and Boston as a haven for technology companies.
The rankings, compiled by commercial realty broker CBRE Group, are based on statistics from the fourth quarter of 2014 and are designed to identify the largest pool of technology workers and companies, which CBRE says are a “growing driver” of office space demand regionally and across the country.
Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco took the top three rankings.
Greater Hartford came in at No. 41 ahead of Omaha, Neb., Indianapolis, Ind., Richmond, Va., and Nashville, Tenn.
Michael Puzzo, first vice president and partner in CBRE/New England’s Hartford office, said over a two-year period the “high-tech industry” has not only spurred the economy as a whole, but has been a driver of commercial office activity, influencing rents and vacancy rates.
“For the past two years, the Hartford market has witnessed growth from a number of niche players in the tech sector,” Puzzo said.
CBRE’s rankings examined 13 different metrics for tech talent markets and assigned a weight to each based on their relative importance. For example, tech talent labor costs were weighted more heavily than office rents. The ranking’s overall goal was to link the growth of the technology sector as a key driver in commercial realty activity. In fact, the high-tech industry accounted for more major U.S. office leasing activity than any sector in 2013 (13.6 percent) and 2014 (19 percent), CBRE said.
Breaking down the numbers
Greater Hartford’s tech talent base consists of 23,568 workers, up 9 percent from 2010 to 2013, who make an average salary of $85,385, according to the report. They’re employed in positions ranging from software developers/designers and technology engineers and computer and information systems managers.
Hartford region tech firms such as finalsite, Evariant, Catamaran and Payveris have started to expand during the past 24 months, but growth is also coming from large employers like Travelers and United Technologies Corp., which have their own high-tech employment base.
Last year, for example, the region’s largest tech deals were UTC’s leases of 74,000 square feet at 755 Main St. in Hartford and 66,000 square feet at 9 Farm Springs Road, in Farmington, the report said.
A third major deal involved PCC Technology Group, which leased 16,000 square feet at 100 Northfield Drive in Windsor.
Meantime, Kaplan Computers is in the process of expanding from its base in Manchester to Vernon, where owner Ken Kaplan has acquired a once dilapidated old Victorian era mill and is refurbishing it for his business.
Moving forward, there is hope that UConn can expand the state’s technology base as it makes a major investment in science, technology, engineering, and math faculty and curricula. UConn also recently broke ground in Storrs on the first building of its Technology Park, which will eventually house collaborations with major companies like Pratt & Whitney, Northeast Utilities and General Electric, among others.
Tech not Hartford’s super sector
Hartford realty broker Chris Ostop said while the rankings are interesting, he would not call Greater Hartford a specialty technology market. The term technology, he said, has a loose definition and Hartford’s commercial realty scene relies on a broad range of industries. “It’s a unique market with major insurance companies and major aerospace companies and a lot of other stuff,” Ostop said.
The CBRE report ranked Greater Hartford in various categories. One of the region’s weak spots was costs.
Hartford, for example, is at 108 percent of the national average cost of living and 102 percent of the average national business cost. Hartford’s average residential monthly rent of $1,259 puts it in the top 20 most expensive regions.
One advantage Hartford has is more affordable office rents, especially compared to nearby cities that are a major draw to technology companies.
With an annual gross asking rent of $19.73 per square feet, Greater Hartford office rents are a bargain compared to Manhattan ($67.05) and Boston ($33.78).
Three other major characteristics of solid tech talent markets include gender diversity, education and the presence of Millennials, Puzzo said. The ability to attract younger workers is a key attraction to tech companies. From 2009-2013 the Hartford region grew its Millennial population by 1,600 people, or 6.9 percent. By comparison, Washington D.C. experienced the biggest Millennial population gain of 26.5 percent; the U.S. average was 3 percent growth.
Meantime, 23 percent of Greater Hartford’s tech workers are female; nationally 23.8 percent of technology jobs are filled by women.
