🔒With new downtown HQ, Junior Achievement plans $18M Hartford learning center for 10,000 students

Backed by some of Connecticut’s largest employers, Junior Achievement of Southwestern New England is building an $18 million simulated town center in Hartford that will teach up to 10,000 students each year about careers, entrepreneurship and personal finance.

Travelers Cos., The Hartford, Hartford HealthCare, Liberty Bank, Stanley Black & Decker and other major Connecticut employers will sponsor storefronts in the 16,000-square-foot simulated town center, part of a larger 26,000-square-foot space Junior Achievement recently began leasing at the State House Square office complex in downtown Hartford.

Targeted to open in fall 2027, the simulated downtown will feature 17 businesses and a City Hall, where elementary and high school students will role-play careers, operate businesses and learn to manage personal finances.

Roughly 10,000 square feet of the newly leased space will become the nonprofit’s new headquarters, replacing offices it currently leases on Farmington Avenue.

The center will host Junior Achievement’s JA BizTown and JA Finance Park programs, which are designed for different age groups and will operate in the same flexible space on different days. Up to 90 students daily will participate in sessions lasting up to five hours.

Dozens of JA BizTown and JA Finance Park facilities operate around the country, but Hartford’s will be the first in New England, said Jeremy Race, president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Southwestern New England.

“It’s something that we’ve been dreaming about for over 20 years here,” Race said. “And we’re excited that we’re finally able to bring it.”

Immersive experience

Founded in 1919, Junior Achievement is a national nonprofit that provides financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship education to more than 4.8 million students each year. Its Southwestern New England chapter served nearly 45,000 students in 224 Connecticut schools across 98 school districts during the last fiscal year, according to Race.

The Hartford center aims to bring those lessons to life through two immersive programs tailored to different grade levels.

Students in grades four through six will operate a simulated economy. They’ll work in one of the 17 storefronts, earn paychecks, elect a mayor, shop, make business decisions and experience how an interconnected local economy functions.

Students in grades eight through 12 will participate in JA Finance Park, where they will be assigned careers, salaries, credit scores and family situations before deciding where to live, how to commute, what insurance to buy and how to balance taxes, retirement savings and other household expenses.

Race said the program gives older students a safe place to make financial mistakes while preparing them for real-life career and budgeting decisions.

“This is like the game of ‘Life’ on steroids,” he said. “It’s OK. You are not failing, you are learning.”

Race said the Finance Park curriculum also aligns with Connecticut’s recently adopted financial literacy graduation requirement, giving schools another reason to integrate the experience into their academic calendars.

Private sector support

For corporate sponsors, the project is both a workforce development investment and an education initiative. Company executives say exposing students to careers and personal finance will better prepare them to participate in Connecticut’s workforce and economy.

Each of the 17 storefronts will be sponsored and designed by a Connecticut business or organization, including Hartford HealthCare, Travelers, Stanley Black & Decker, Liberty Bank, Electric Boat, Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, Hoffman Auto Group and the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Liberty Bank President and CEO David Glidden said the center will provide much-needed financial literacy lessons.

Liberty Bank and Hartford HealthCare have each pledged $250,000 toward the project. Liberty has long supported Junior Achievement, and its employees frequently volunteer with the organization.

“I think there is a real big gap in need in our communities and society for financial literacy,” Glidden said. “If you look at it, financial literacy is the first step to real independence and financial security.”

Travelers Cos. and The Hartford have each pledged $1.5 million over five years to the new center.

Travelers has supported JA Finance Park centers in Georgia, Maryland, Colorado and Minnesota, where the company also has major employee bases.

“The basic core values of Junior Achievement are essential to Travelers,” said Andy Bessette, the insurer’s executive vice president and chief administrative officer. “They really work around financial literacy — managing money, budgeting and saving. They do work readiness, entrepreneurship, how to start a business and understand economics. That’s important to us.”

The Hartford has partnered with Junior Achievement for decades, providing funding and roughly 100 employee volunteers each year who teach classroom lessons, lead career-readiness activities, mentor students and participate in other hands-on learning experiences across Connecticut.

“One of our key pillars in community relations, which includes philanthropy, is vibrant communities, which has a huge emphasis on the City of Hartford,” said Matthew Sturdevant, head of media and public relations for The Hartford. “We partner with nonprofit anchor institutions that form Hartford’s foundation to expand across education, workforce development and economic opportunity.”

Hartford HealthCare — a 48,000-employee health system — is another longtime supporter contributing to the project.

“We will have the potential to ignite and excite thousands of young people who are going to be coming through Hartford and opening their eyes to the opportunities that exist in an organization like ours,” said Hartford HealthCare President and CEO Jeffrey A. Flaks.

Downtown activity

Race said donors have already pledged about $10 million. Fundraising will continue toward Junior Achievement’s goal of opening next year.

The nonprofit currently operates with 18 employees and a $3.2 million annual budget. Race said the Hartford center will add roughly $1 million in annual operating expenses and require about five additional employees.

Race said the Hartford center will strengthen relationships between schools and employers while bringing thousands of students, teachers, parents and volunteers into downtown Hartford each year.

Junior Achievement deliberately chose downtown Hartford because it sits at the crossroads of Connecticut’s highway network, making it accessible to schools throughout the state, he said.

The Capital City also offers proximity to state government, leading corporations and higher education institutions, Race said. Junior Achievement began leasing its second-floor State House Square space in May.

“We’re going to be bringing in kids from all over the state, bringing in parents from all over the state, bringing in volunteers from all over the state, bringing them downtown, and really helping everyone understand how important the downtown can be and the business community is to the future of their children,” Race said.