Windsor, apparently, just keeps on rolling along, scoring another big economic development by playing to its strengths.
Amazon.com is strongly eying Windsor’s Day Hill Road for a 1.5-million-square-foot fulfillment center, similar to one in Indiana that cost $150 million and created nearly 1,500 jobs. The center is a major win for Windsor, after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in February announced Amazon would invest $50 million in a distribution center somewhere in Connecticut.
While the numbers haven’t played out yet, Windsor appears to have perfected its formula for attracting these types of businesses. With nearby access to Bradley International Airport, Interstate 91, I-84, I-291, and railroad tracks, the place is a logistics planner’s dream. The town couples its good location with planning to allow for large commercial development, and a business-friendly attitude that includes tax incentives.
Using these strengths, Windsor is working to become the distribution hub of Connecticut, if it isn’t already. Along with Amazon, the town has centers for Walgreens and Dollar Tree. The town also is home to headquarters of publicly traded finance firms SS&C Technologies and ING USA, soon to be Voya Financial.
No wonder developers have proposed the 600-acre, 8,000-resident mixed-use Great Pond Village development in Windsor, complete with more than 700,000 square feet of office space.
Other Connecticut municipalities, including Hartford, could benefit from having the same clarity of focus.
Windsor knows what it is and is not good at, and plays up its strengths. Granted, every town doesn’t have Windsor’s geographic advantages, so each municipality needs to choose its role in the Connecticut economy. Weston, for example, is home to the wealthiest ZIP code in Connecticut, largely thanks to its catering of rich people’s desire for large homes (two-acre zoning) and limited business development in their homes’ vicinity.
Hartford often seems at an identity war with itself. The city has a great deal of strengths but has not perfected a way to harness them for the economic benefit of the entire city.
Hartford could be home to countless corporate headquarters, thousands of residents who live and work downtown, service businesses in the many diverse neighborhoods, and a thriving tourism industry.
Instead, Hartford can feel underwhelming at times. Maybe it’s because no matter the victory achieved, there is an opposing side in the city that is disappointed. The debate over the appropriate location of the UConn Hartford campus proves this point.
Hartford scores gymnastics perfect 10
This is not to say that Hartford doesn’t have victories worth celebrating.
The return of the USA Gymnastics Championships this week for the second time since 2010 does show the city has a lot going for it. The gymnastics organization was so impressed with the city four years ago that it picked Hartford again for its Golden Anniversary event.
In a city still struggling with its identity, it says a lot that businesses, venues, and residents were able to rally together in 2010 to give a significant national organization the positive memories to come back.
Is scoring a week-long event for the second time in four years equal to landing a 1.5-million-square-foot distribution center? No, but Hartford shouldn’t be concerned about chasing Windsor’s victories. The city just needs to create more of its own.
