Governing Magazine ranked Connecticut's economy 42nd among the 50 states.
As General Electric becomes a Massachusetts company, the health of Connecticut’s economy is once again coming into question. But the indicators show a mixed picture.
We all knew it was coming, but the formal departure of GE’s headquarters for its new Boston base on Monday was still a melancholy marker for the Nutmeg State. It wasn’t the only sour note this week. Governing Magazine piled on, marking the state’s economy harshly by ranking it 42nd among the 50 states.
Yet recent employment figures do show improvement. Last month, the state added some 3,000 jobs in the private sector and wages have also risen slightly in recent reports after a period of stagnation.
Heather Ziegler is managing partner for Deloitte in Stamford. She said the state is doing some things right like encouraging high technology industries and fostering entrepreneurship. "But what I think is most effective, and one of the challenges at the same time," she told WNPR, "is getting individuals with the right skill sets interested in staying in the area and staying in Connecticut, versus moving on to the larger metropolitan areas that we are right between."
She said initiatives like urban development, making cities walkable, and building housing downtown help to make the state more attractive to young, skilled millenials. "That’s a perception and a change, and cultural change is hard, but I think we’re seeing pockets of that," Ziegler said. She pointed to Stamford, New Haven and Danbury as centers where this kind of urban renewal is making a difference.
Equally important said Ziegler, is providing the right kind of training for the jobs that some companies are finding increasingly hard to fill. There are signs that higher education is responding.
"We are seeing new degrees growing in some of the schools around analytics and different aspects of analytics," said Ziegler. "Even in the professional services field, we’re seeing audit analytics as another minor that...the schools are growing."
She said businesses must also work to promote the training they need to keep ahead of technological change in the workforce in order for Connecticut to remain relevant and improve its economy.
