Economic Development

The state of our local economy is always on the top of every voter’s mind, especially when it comes to the development of our highly visible downtown area. We have the most affordable energy in the state, are in the perfect location between New Haven and Hartford with easy highway access, and have plenty of open spaces for businesses of all sizes to move into, and yet we have generally failed to attract business over the last decade as our grand list continues to shrink. Again, one of the greatest existential threats to the future of our town is that far too many young people and families are moving away in search of better opportunities, and that goes hand in hand with our town’s economic wellbeing. Over just the last ten years, our town’s youth population (also used as a metric for how many young families live in town) has decreased by a startling 15%.

First we need to invest in a professionally administered economic analysis of Wallingford so we can best understand what geographic advantages we possess and the types of potential businesses we should be targeting. What industries tend to be successful in Connecticut but do not currently have locations in Wallingford or neighboring towns? Instead of relying on gut decisions at the administration level, we should be focusing in on industries that are predisposed to be successful and tailor our economic incentives accordingly.

Wallingford already boasts a number of townwide events and celebrations that have the potential to attract new business owners, investors, and residents. The problem is that these events don’t always have ample support from the administration, especially when it comes to advertising. A great example is the weekly farmers market that takes place at Doolittle Park from early spring to mid fall. There are dozens of local businesses and vendors that make a living from this independently organized program, but they often struggle to attract enough customers because there is no promotional effort on behalf of the town. We already have an amazing town, we just need to make sure the right sets of eyes see that.

A great recent decision by the Economic Development Commission was to enlist the help of Quinnipiac students to establish an online presence for the town in 2020, but this should have been done decades earlier and in the end the project was more or less abandoned. The internet is the first place, and today often the only place, businesses turn to in search of new opportunities. The quality of our town website has definitely improved significantly in the last couple years, but these improvements are for naught if they are not paired with a strong online marketing effort.

There should also be a designated position created within the administration as a go to communicator with existing local businesses. The EDC could potentially fill this role, but that would require them to upgrade their practices substantially. As the debacle revolving around the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds has demonstrated, the EDC does not currently have the capacity required to effectively communicate to all Wallingford businesses owners. A database containing the email addresses, mailing addresses, and phone numbers of all local business owners and non-profits, whether they are brick-and-mortar or not, would go a long ways towards addressing this issue. The vast majority of businesses in town interact with the town government once when they first establish themselves, and then never hear from them again. With an open line of communication, the town can stay attuned to what businesses need and which ones are struggling and may qualify for state or federal financial support. Uncertainty is the biggest threat to any business, and it should be the town administration’s responsibility to mitigate that risk.

Another major disincentive for businesses operating in Wallingford today is the abysmal state of our town infrastructure, including but not limited to roads, sidewalks, parks, and public buildings. The current administration adheres to an entirely inflexible version of fiscal conservatism that fails to respond to situations in which spending one dollar today would save five dollars down the road. We have seen examples of this when it comes to the delayed maintenance of Community Pool, our schools, and our utilities. Rather than actively keep up with repairs and renovations, the administration consistently lets these things fall into complete disrepair until entire rebuilds are necessary. The last thing a business owner should have to worry about today is whether or not the infrastructure around them promotes safety and prosperity, but unfortunately that is the current reality in Wallingford.

Lastly, we cannot finish a discussion on economic development in Wallingford without addressing one the biggest challenges to our economic future: our rapid population decline. With this decline occurring almost entirely within the young professional and young family demographics, businesses are not only facing difficulties finding enough qualified employees, but also struggling with an increasingly shrinking consumer base. While addressing this issue is anything but simple, and includes a variety of elements that are described in greater detail in other sections of the “Issues” tab (improving our schools, lowering taxes, investing in community assets, etc.), an important component of the solution has to be housing. Despite historically being a family town, nowadays Wallingford has very little to offer in terms of housing that is affordable for these younger demographics. A revision to planning and zoning regulations that would allow for higher density housing as well as incentivize the building of more below market rate houses would be a positive step in the right direction.

Wallingford cannot thrive as a town without a thriving business community. Riley O’Connell fully recognizes this, and promises to play an active role in making Wallingford more small business friendly than it’s ever been before.