Governor Malloy Talks Business with Chamber of Commerce

Local insurance agency owner Yvonne Sourragh, like many others dealing with the brutal economy, has been forced to go with a higher deductible in her personal insurance plan in order to make ends meet.

Sourragh, who owns Insurance Benefit Solutions, said it’s what she had to do “to face reality” and control her bottom line. That’s why she posed a question to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy Tuesday, asking if government employees would consider doing the same.

Malloy addressed the Hamden Chamber of Commerce during a luncheon held at The Cascade, apprising the 200 or so people in attendance about his efforts to improve the business climate in Connecticut.

“Would you do the same for state employees?” Sourragh asked Malloy. “It could save our government a ton of money right off the bat.”

Malloy made no bones about responding to Sourragh’s inquiry.

“If all state employees, myself included, moved to a federal (insurance) plan, we’d save $55 million a year,” Malloy said. “I think we can have those discussions. And I believe it’s high time we in state government belly up to the bar.”

Malloy fielded several other questions from the local business community, following a 45-minute speech about his plan to get the state’s fiscal house in order, in an effort to help create new jobs and retain the ones that are here.

“Connecticut is one of only two states (the other being Michigan) that failed to grow jobs in 22 years,” Malloy said. “We failed to make the kind of investments that other states have made.”

However, in his budget proposal, Malloy said he’s charting a course for “change” in an all-out effort to make Connecticut a place where people want to do business, as well as offering incentives to existing companies that grow jobs here.

One such incentive is the “First 5” program, which Malloy said he’d ultimately like to open up to the “first 50” businesses who are “willing to grow 200 or more jobs in Connecticut.” Those businesses who achieve the goal in a timely fashion, Malloy said, would reap the rewards.

“There is change in this budget, and a message about job creation,” Malloy added. “It’s a pro-jobs and pro-business budget that suggests a road out of (the state’s deficit).”

Dr. David N. Cooper, director of The Center for a Sustainable Future at Gateway Community College in North Haven, expressed concern about Connecticut’s future as a  manufacturing state, and said it’s crucial to increase the technical education system in order to produce skilled people who can work with their hands.

Malloy said the state “got used to our loss of manufacturing and haven’t put up a fight” over that loss. However, he’s prepared to step into the ring.

“We need to engage in that fight,” Malloy said, adding the state needs to lure in bio-science, energy, life-science and health-related companies. “We need to focus on core manufacturing and build a set of economic development tools that will allow us to be successful in maintaining what we have, and to attract more development.”

Mayor Scott Jackson touted Malloy’s accomplishments as the former mayor of Stamford for 14 years, and is confident that Malloy can do the same for the entire state.

“The Governor is making tough decisions, some that aren’t always popular, but he’s out there, he’s not staying in his office, he’s with us, and that shows the character of a man,” Jackson said. “He’s saying this is my plan, let’s talk about it.”

Malloy has been talking about his plan to climb out of the multi-billion dollar deficit he inherited when he took office last November, by holding various Town Hall meetings across the state. Tuesday night, Malloy planned to meet in Manchester, the 12^th stop in his statewide series of 17 Town Hall meetings to discuss the state’s pressing economic and budgetary issues face-to-face with state residents.