State House Majority Leader Denise Merrill (D-Mansfield, Chaplin) praised the state Bond Commission Tuesday for its anticipated approval of $24.5 million in funding for small-business loans and job creation initiatives.
Citing the need to expand business and create jobs as the biggest challenge facing Connecticut, Merrill said the funding will support critical elements of the Act Concerning the Recommendations of the Majority Leaders’ Jobs Growth Roundtable (PA 10-75).
The landmark legislation was the product of the bi-partisan roundtable group formed by Majority Leader Merrill and Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney (D-New Haven).
“One of the most important issues this past year has been job creation,” Merrill said. “In order to make Connecticut great once again we must increase employment. And the only way to do that is to help business – large and small – expand and grow. I applaud the Bond Commission for funding the programs that will encourage business development and create jobs.”
The legislation offers incentives for employers, supports small business and emerging industries, provides resources for tuition and training, helps manufacturers find efficiencies and includes accountability measures to safeguard state taxpayer dollars.
The Bond Commission funding includes:
- $18 million for the Connecticut Credit Consortium, a small business loan program that will provide loans and lines of credit to businesses and nonprofits employing fewer than 50 people.
- $5 million for the Pre-seed Financing Program, administered by Connecticut Innovations. Eligible recipients can obtain loans of up to $150,000 to develop new concepts and technologies. (“pre-seed” funding is used to fund activities aimed at proving to investors that a new technology has a certain level of commercial and technical viability.)
- $1 million for Connecticut’s community-technical college system to develop a program to meet the educational and training needs of unemployed state residents by providing access to short-term, noncredit programs of study that lead to the acquisition of job-related skills and workforce credentials.
- $500,000 for a Lean Green Manufacturing Initiative pilot program to assist manufacturers in converting their operations into green facilities or implementing energy efficiency measures by using lean manufacturing strategies.
“Since 1990, the population of Connecticut has increased 7 percent. Yet, astonishingly, we have fewer jobs today than we had 20 years ago,” Merrill said. “This new legislation will encourage businesses to locate and expand in Connecticut and create the jobs we need.”
