Clinton's Goupil Welcomes Business to Clinton

Clinton is open for business, and Clinton’s First Selectman Christine Goupil is dedicated to the town’s economic development.

“Creating the reputation of a business-friendly local government will go a long way in supporting the existing business community and attracting new development,” Goupil told a group of Clinton business leaders this week. “The key is making it easy for developers to understand the sort of development the Town wants and then making it easy for them to achieve that result through our administrative processes.”

The 2018 Business Resource Forum was held Wednesday morning May 30 in the Clinton Town Hall, and offered free financing, networking, professional mentoring and technical assistance. First Selectman Goupil and Economic Development Commission Chair John Allen designed the event, encouraging attendance by local businesses of all sizes. More than 600 businesses were invited, many receiving a personal phone call from Goupil.

Welcoming 100 attendees to the Clinton Business Resource Forum, Goupil said, “Today and in future forums, we want to create strategic connections with industry groups, commercial real estate networks and business resource organizations,to tap into a new realm of opportunities for business recruitment in Clinton.”

She further encouraged participants to share their challenges and concerns with officials present at the Forum, experts in policymaking and economic development at the local, regional, and state levels. Goupil campaigned and won her first election last fall to lead Clinton’s town government, stressing the need for the town to become far more successful attracting new development. Pointing to the strength of the town’s vision of itself---the Plan of Conservation and Development---she called for “streamlining the land use regulatory process, so that businesses are able to get through the process quickly and easily.”

The Business Resource Forum crowd included start ups as well as established local businesses, faces both new and familiar to Clinton.

Six state business resource representatives (pictured here, with Goupil far right in green blazer) hosted booths and then participated on a panel, including the Senior Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and the Clinton Chamber of Commerce. Also present were the Workforce Alliance’s business coordinator, Wanda Lary, who spoke on personnel and staffing; Lisa Powell from the Small Business Administration, Beth Wallace from Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC), Jeff Pugliese from the Middlesex Revitalization Committee, Aya Beckless Swanson, representing the Community Investment Corporation; and Sheila Hummel from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).

Cosponsor of the Forum, the Clinton Economic Development Commission, is comprised of seven local appointed volunteers, experienced in various aspects of business and committed to moving Clinton forward into a robust future.

“Our Forum was very well attended by a true cross section of the town businesses, both in size and type,” said EDC chair John Allen. “This is the first of many such sessions. Having our Board of Selectmen, especially the First Selectman, so committed to serious Economic Development is critical to success and greatly appreciated by the EDC."

Promoted as an event, “To engage local company owners, sharing assistance and educational resources available to help them succeed at any stage of the business life cycle,” attendees had plenty of time during the complimentary breakfast for networking, creating connections with other local businesses and mining for new prospects and collaborations.

Eastern Connecticut State University sophomore Al Viglione, Assistant Dockmaster at Cedar Island Marina, was one such engaged attendee. An economics major, Vigilione saw the Forum as a perfect opportunity for connection and collaboration, a place to hear what businesses need and are looking for in Clinton.