Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam entered his second year in office trying to push forward on several economic development initiatives, while also navigating headwinds like the city’s high downtown office vacancy rate.
Arulampalam, last year, hired new economic development and development services directors. He also created a new government office dedicated to helping businesses navigate the city’s sometimes-cumbersome regulations.
The mayor says those appointments are already paying dividends. He announced in January, for example, that his administration has cut in half building permit wait times.
Arulampalam and East Hartford Mayor Connor Martin have also launched a deep-dive investigation into the possibility of sharing personnel and other costs, and developing a joint vision around economic development, tourism and culture.
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Hartford is one of three Connecticut municipalities in the running for a piece of the state’s $100 million “Innovation Clusters” grant pool. Hartford’s proposal would create a “Center for Applied AI,” where corporations could test artificial intelligence-fueled business applications and train a local AI workforce.
Meanwhile, top staff from the city, state and Capital Region Development Authority are working on a plan to reshape or “right-size” downtown Hartford’s struggling commercial office market. The effort will likely lead to the conversion of more underused office buildings into new uses, like apartments.
The son of Sri Lankan refugees, Arulampalam was born in Zimbabwe.
Prior to being elected mayor, he served as the CEO of the Hartford Land Bank. He also served as a deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, and a lawyer at Updike, Kelly & Spellacy P.C.