On Monday, April 1, 2013, the Chamber’s Executive Committee welcomed special guest Mun Y. Choi, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Connecticut.  Mun visited with our group to discuss Next Generation Connecticut, an ambitious plan to increase enrollment at UCONN by over 6,500 students, or approximately 30 percent, and hire over 250 new faculty members with an emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).  This growth of the university will take place over a 10 to 12 year period.  Next Generation Connecticut, or NextGenCT, is designed to position UCONN and the State of Connecticut at the forefront of 21^st Century research while spurring economic development throughout our great state.  Major areas of focus within the Next Generation CT initiative are: advanced manufacturing, sustainable energy and environmental models, bioscience and biotechnology, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, electrical and electronics equipment, and data intensive applications.  The Executive Committee, which is our organization’s top governing body, voted unanimously to support NextGenCT and the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce looks forward to being a constructive partner on this critically important initiative for the future. 

The Executive Committee also voted unanimously to support Governor Malloy’s $15 Million Statewide Tourism Marketing Fund Investment.  The Chamber’s Legislative Committee voted to support this initiative at its March meeting on Friday, March 22, 2013.  The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce has always been a strong supporter and promoter of tourism in Middlesex County and throughout the state of Connecticut.  $11.5 billion in economic activity is annually derived from travel and tourism activities in the State of Connecticut.  In addition, $1.15 billion of state and local tax revenue is generated by travel and tourism.  Finally, 110,000 jobs, or 6.5% of Connecticut’s labor force is created by the tourism industry.  These statistics are courtesy of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, the US Travel Association and the Connecticut Department of Labor.  Tourism is a major economic generator in our state, and is in fact a revenue generator at the state and local level.  This organization will continue to support strategic investments in tourism marketing.

Please review the Middlesex Chamber 2013 Public Policy Agenda. The Public Policy Agenda, created by the Legislative Committee, is a working document that will evolve as the legislative session continues in Hartford. The 2013 Regular Session of the Connecticut General Assembly began on January 9th and ends on June 5th. Please check back for testimony and other position statements.