According to the Motion Picture Association of America, the film and television industries provided more than $1.81 billion in wages in Connecticut in the past year. Danielle Bibbo, executive vice president of business development and strategy at the media production company ITV America, made a significant contribution to that number when she pushed for the company to relocate a significant portion of its business to Stamford.
Earlier this month, Bibbo was announced as the latest member of The Stamford Partnership ‘s board of directors, as well as the head of the Partnership ‘s first media industry advocacy group.
“As part of her and ITV joining us, we at the Partnership were inspired to launch a Media Advocacy Group, ” Stamford Partnership CEO Jon Winkel explained. “The idea is that by connecting the various media companies and their employees in the region, it would be beneficial to get all of these people talking to and working with each other. The Partnership ‘s role in this is to be the convener, facilitator, to try to be a backbone for the group come together and operate. ”
Bibbo said that Connecticut ‘s tax credits were one of the major draws of relocating the bulk of ITV ‘s headquarters outside of New York City, but that Stamford had unique advantages.
“We chose Stamford in part because of its proximity to New York City, which is home to so many other media professionals, ” Bibbo said. “We wanted a place that was easy to get to from Manhattan and the boroughs that also offered a bit of a city environment. There were also a few other big media companies already here. We felt like this was really the right home for us. ”
Bibbo first became aware of the tax incentives offered by Connecticut when she worked for NBC, a longtime presence in Stamford that recently ran most of its color commentary of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics out of its Stamford offices. She also saw an opportunity to build something that could draw workers away from the city in the village, the waterfront mixed-use development, which also hosts an outpost of Rhode Island-based Cisco Brewers, a signature restaurant, and an attractive workspace, all owned by Brent Montgomery, a former ITV CEO.
“Obviously it ‘s not super easy to get a workforce up here from New York City, ” Bibbo admitted. “But we believe that our officers here at the village are something special and a beacon for our company and our employees. ”
According to Bibbo, the effort has largely been successful. Some of the demographic trends of Covid have even proven useful for smoothing the transition. People seeking more space while under lockdown are more willing to consider Stamford, and Bibbo insisted those who continue to live in the city have developed an appreciation for the reverse commute.
“One person actually told me he wrote a book on the train, ” she said with a laugh.
Bibbo said that she hopes to foster a closer relationship between the media companies that have moved to the region in the past few years.
“A lot of companies feel that other businesses within the same industry are competitors or rivals, ” Bibbo said, “But we feel like these are our partners and collaborators and we really want to build a connected ecosystem of media companies here in Connecticut and specifically in Stamford. ”
She believed that media companies can provide a valuable injection of creative energy to a city where much of the economic engine is built on insurance and finance companies. A deeper talent pool should benefit everybody in her estimation, a sentiment shared by Winkel.
“I would keep looking at the job boards, ” Winkel said of the implications of new media tenants in the area. “Restaurants and service businesses like print shops, what you would consider Main Street Businesses should definitely be on the lookout for a big splash benefit. “
