Stamford Chamber's annual meeting features upbeat forecast from Lamont, victory lap by Martin BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN Kzimmerman@westfairinc.com
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hough it featured remarks by Gov. Ned Lamont and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner David Lehman, the Stamford Chamber of Commerce’s 34th annual meeting was dominated by outgoing Mayor David Martin. Using the opportunity as a kind of valedictory address — he was defeated in his bid for a third term by State Rep. Caroline Simmons (D) in the city’s Democratic primary — Martin rattled off some impressive data about where Stamford is and where it is heading. “I have a hard time imagining” how either Simmons or her opponent, Bobby Valentine, could “mess this up,” he said. The mayor said that, according to data that will be released “shortly,” Stamford will have a $15 million surplus, something he said even he was surprised by. The city “should easily” generate another surplus by the end of the current year, he said. As has been widely reported, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures, Stamford now has 135,470 residents and has supplanted New Haven as the state’s second-largest. Martin said the city was seeing 95% to 97% occupancy in its apartment buildings before the Covid-19 pandemic, reflecting the general trend away from congested cities like New York and Boston. “People are voting with their feet,” he said. “We are attracting what I call the future workforce,” he declared, maintaining that that cohort — roughly 20- to 40-year-olds — is not being attracted by the state at large. The city also has more restaurants now than it did before the pandemic, he said, adding that it has the lowest crime rate of any city in the Northeast. On the downside, Martin said the city has some of the oldest schools in the area, many of which are “crumbling” — something that may limit a continued influx of family-forming millennials unless something is done. “I’ve loved this job,” the mayor concluded. “It is frustrating as hell, as you go through one conflict after another. And I’ve got a couple more that I’ve got to get
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Mayor David Martin done. But I love this community. I think we have made enormous progress.” DECD’s Lehman maintained that the state has navigated the pandemic well, with the “work from anywhere” economy generating “in-migration”; “historic” investments in the likes of education, health care, small businesses and workforce development are acting to reverse the general perception that “we’re stodgy and unfriendly to business.” Real GDP has yet to return to end of 2019 levels, Lehman said, but it is now above Q1 2020; updated data is expected soon. The governor, appearing via livestream from Foxwoods — where he officially made the state’s first legal sports bet with a $50 wager for the Connecticut Sun basketball team to beat the Chicago Sky (they did) — said that sports betting and iGaming had been “sitting on our front burner here in the state for 10 years. “There were a lot of things sitting on the front burner we hadn’t taken care of,” he added. “We’ve tried to address that.” Legalizing recreational canFCBJ
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nabis was one of those things, Lamont said. “Marijuana may not be universally popular,” he said in a nod to the ongoing debate about the wisdom of such a move. But “we’re not an island,” he said, referring to similar legislation passed or pending in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. “We will do it in a way that recognizes public health and safety.” He also lauded cannabis’ potential as a significant generator of revenue. Improving commuting times also remains on the governor’s agenda, as does a prudent approach to the state's record-breaking rainy day fund of $4.5 billion. “The rainy day fund burns a hole in people’s pockets, I’ll tell you that,” he quipped. Lamont said the state still has the highest Covid vacation rate, and the lowest infection rate, in the country. As of Oct. 1, according to Becker’s Hospital Review, Connecticut had the second-highest vaccination rate — 68.7% to Vermont’s 69.5% -- and its 2.6% positivity rate trailed four states and the District of Columbia.
David Lehman “I think we’ve got the right balance,” he said. “We’ve got our economy open, we’ve got our kids in school. I think we’re beginning to turn things around.” Chamber President and CEO Heather Kavanagh presented awards to Joe Cingari, a member of the Cingari family that owns and operates 10 ShopRites throughout the state (company of the year);
Laura Jordan, director of government affairs and community relations at Stamford Health (member of the year); and Fanny Ferreira, vice president and senior market manager, and Marjan Murray, executive vice president, of People’s United Bank (community excellence award). People’s United was the event’s main sponsor.