EDC Commissioner Responds to Letter About Haase

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As a current member of the Simsbury Economic Development Commission and past Chairman of the Commission, I feel it is appropriate to respond to Mark Deming's recent letter. 

He is correct that we should all be proud to live in this great community but our commercial tax base needs to improve and that will not get done with residential development. We need a development plan focused on increasing the commercial tax base. The town has spent money on numerous studies and charrettes and they are good tools but they must be promoted and put to use. We need to reach out to our local businesses and beyond Simsbury to the development community to attract them to invest in our town. 

As the former Chairman of the EDC, I worked alongside Nancy Haase who served as its Vice Chairman for over 7 years. She was the most active and energetic member of the Commission during her tenancy. I find it hard to believe that anyone would question her ability or desire to take action. Committed to its main objective to promote Simsbury and support and grow businesses, Nancy was an integral part of many effective initiatives. She attended real estate trade shows and conferences, wrote articles touting Simsbury in real estate journals. She helped set up business tours and organized bus tours and met with brokers. She promoted improving the permitting process, encouraged joint zoning and planning meetings to improve the land use process, and much more. 

During her tenancy infrastructure and tax incentive programs were developed, this helped businesses expand- Fiddler’s Green, Apollo’s and Holloways to name few – the incremental grand list growth realized by the repurposing of buildings and new building brought a return on these infrastructure and tax incentive programs . 

Since her time on EDC, Nancy has served on the Board of Directors of Simsbury Main Street Partnership at a time when SMSP was rebranding Simsbury and celebrating their hard work receiving the Dozen Distinctive Destination designation. And her effectiveness continued. As a Selectman, she was part of the Route 10 Corridor Study committee and as the liaison to the Water Pollution Control Authority championed the resolution of the facility connection fees, working side-by-side with town staff and the development community. She secured in-kind work to promote the Simsbury Farmers’ Market as well as major promotional efforts for the Pinchot Institute Gala celebration that brought national notoriety to Simsbury. 

Proposed development such as the Big Y have languished, the town is not doing enough to assist developers in moving these projects forward. The delays have cost us tax dollars. During this critical time, as The Hartford has announced its leaving town, EDC meetings have been cancelled. There is much work to be done, this is no time to be canceling meetings. Responsible economic development must be a priority in Town Hall. 

Does Nancy Haase have a plan? Yes, a plan to help the local businesses prosper and attract new business. In the absence of an economic development coordinator, as the First Selectman Nancy will lead and promote, as she has proven she has done, economic development in an effort to grow the commercial tax base. I believe we can and should do more in order to keep this town great - and Nancy Haase will do it. 

Sincerely 

Lou George 

Simsbury EDC Commissioner