Mayor Sarno joins mayors from Western MA and CT to discuss economic challenges and opportunities
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno joined Mayors Toni Harp of New Haven, Erin Stewart of New Britain, Luke Bronin of Hartford and Richard Kos of Chicopee yesterday for this year’s Mayors’ Fall Economic Forum. The event was hosted by the New England Knowledge Corridor Partnership (NEKC), a consortium of over thirty diverse organizations all focused on creating a more competitive and prosperous cross border region stretching from New Haven northward through Hartford, Springfield and beyond. The Mayors were on stage for a moderated discussion on key economic and workforce challenges and opportunities affecting their respective cities.
“It’s great to be invited and recognized with my fellow mayors to a regional economic development summit to highlight our accomplishments, but more importantly to continue to identify, not only the promotion and marketing of our strengths, but working together to conquer our urban challenges, too,” said Mayor Sarno.
Attendees also had the opportunity to hear from highly regarded economist Don Klepper-Smith, who presented a Knowledge Corridor economic assessment report that gave all those present a better sense of the cross border region’s economic metrics and how collaborative approaches can be implemented.
Additionally, Prabal Chakrabarti, Senior Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston presented on their Working Cities Challenge initiative that has placed considerable resources into addressing structural and policy issues in many of New England’s postindustrial cities in order to maximize employment of their residents.
The lead sponsor for this interstate forum was Farmington Bank, which has expanded its service area from Connecticut into the western Massachusetts area over the past several years and has increasingly looked for opportunities to highlight and support collaborative interstate ventures such as the Knowledge Corridor Partnership. The event’s other co-sponsors include Central Connecticut State University, UIL Holdings Corporation, University of Hartford, Capitol Region Council of Governments and Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
