I want to thank each of you for your time, commitment and support this past year. In the midst of change, turmoil and challenges, I think we can all say that the community represented by the Tech Council rose to the occasion and tried to make the state a stronger and more competitive location for the 2,000 high tech businesses and some 200,000 employees and participants in our clusters of the state’s economy.
We have always had the ability – again with your financial support – to bring the community together through our many programs and awards events. Over the past five years we expanded greatly to try to change for the better the entire innovation eco-system of the state.
So, a year a half ago, when we lost the state grant and all funding for our important, successful, but sadly political incorrect (we still don’t know exactly why) program the “Innovation Pipeline Accelerator” we came together – with your input – as an organization, to do some soul searching and to create a refined strategic vision for the organization.
Freed from the need to tip toe around the state’s relationships with the tech community (for fear of losing our funding…) and from our own focus on service and not advocacy, we shifted gears to have a louder, truer and more focused voice in time for whatever new administration would come into power this coming January.
Through our successful grass roots and policy efforts with last spring’s “Jobs Bill,” the recent announcement of the Competitiveness Agenda and our new Alliance with the CT Venture Group, we have completed step one of repositioning ourselves as the leading advocates for a strong and vocal technology community. Even if you don’t agree with every part of what we are saying , at least we are getting in the habit of being heard.
We don’t know what next year will bring, but there is every reason to believe that despite the serious budget issues about to slam us, the new Malloy administration will be a great partner and leader in working to make the state more competitive and to take many of our issues to the next levels.
Fast growing tech firms are so intrinsic to the creation of new jobs that it is hard to imagine we will not be working closely with all levels of government just as we will expand our ability to work with the many parts of the technology community.
I have included some links to our recent reports, some coverage in the press, and our press releases. Hope you can listen in to the radio tomorrow for more about the competiveness agenda…
—– December 29, 2010 WNPR and Where We Live featured a discussion of the CT Competitiveness Agenda –
Where We Live: Connecticut Tech Jobs Show taped 12/29/2010, can be viewed/ downloaded at: http://www.yourpublicmedia.org/content/wnpr/where-we-live-connecticut-tech-jobs Guests: Matthew Nemerson, Kip Bergstrom, Michael Gallis, Casey Pickett, Steve Obsitnik
This report has been mentioned in the following CT news sources:
Hartford Business Journal, December 27, 2010 Hartford Courant – December 20, 2010 Hartford Courant – December 19, 2010 Hartford Business Journal, December 17, 2010 The New Haven Register Norwich Bulletin
Happy New year
Matthew Nemerson President & CEO Connecticut Technology Council www.ct.org