New Canaan Tourism & Economic Development Group Starts Work

From The Town of New Canaan: The Town of New Canaan’s Tourism and Economic Development Advisory Committee spoke during their first Town Hall meeting about increasing visits to town and enhancing the local economy by promoting special qualities including the pedestrian-friendly village, local mid-century modern architecture, the culture of a caring community, arts and culture, and destinations of The Glass House, Grace Farms and the Roger Sherman Inn. A few committee members expressed hope that their work will even result in more young people wanting to move to New Canaan to raise their families.

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan opened the Jan. 31 Town Hall meeting of the newly established committee by thanking the members for accepting the appointment to serve and saying that their mission is to study, analyze, come up with ideas, and recommend them to Town leaders. Moynihan said he sees the group as a partner to the Chamber of Commerce, which is represented on the committee by executive director Tucker Murphy.

The committee is comprised mostly of residents with relevant skills and experience and a couple non-residents who lead prominent local non-profit organizations. Members Richard Battista, Robert Doran, BJ Flagg and John Matz are marketing executives. Nancy Geary, Jill Gordon, Lisa Lynne Kirkpatrick, Murphy, and Greg Sages are directors of non-profit organizations. Jack Trifero and Brock Saxe are realtors -- Trifero has experience as a village retailer and a local tour operator, and Saxe has a particular interest in downtown commercial properties. Sheila Grow, Nes Jaffre, Matthew Kupersmith, Jack Loop, and Amanda Martocchio are local business owners. In the audience of the meeting were Doug Zumbach, a local business owner who created and runs Caffeine & Carburetors car shows in New Canaan each year, Phil Williams representing the Planning and Zoning Commission, and Randy Dalia, chairman of the Town’s Technology Advisory Committee, which would be expected to help the Town deliver its marketing messages in this digital age.

Professional, volunteer facilitators from National Executive Service Corps have been contracted to run the first 10 meetings of the committee. Murphy was elected temporary chairman and Sages temporary secretary. Permanent officers are expected to be elected after a few monthly meetings when committee members have gotten to know each other. Murphy said she was thrilled to have committee members who are formally serving the Town government for the first time, and she urged the general public to send in ideas, initially via a special email address to her at TMurphyTEDAC@gmail.com. The meeting was broadcasted live by NCTV-79 and will be available for viewing on demand. During the introductory phase of the meeting committee members spoke about particular interests that they may recommend that the committee pursue. Those ideas included taking advantage of the New York City-connected train that comes to the heart of the village; appealing to international art and architecture lovers; attracting new businesses; drawing residents to more broadly utilize the local assets, and market a community and lifestyle that is unique and different from neighboring towns.

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