It”™s all about jobs and growth, and at the Business Council of Fairfield County”™s 43rd annual luncheon, it was no different.
Reviewing their efforts to strengthen the greater Fairfield County community and bolster businesses, Business Council members convened at the Stamford Marriott Hotel June 10 to discuss the organization”™s pronounced year of growth.
“Over the past year, the value that we”™ve created for smaller companies and entrepreneurs has been remarkable,” said Reyno Giallongo, an officer of the Business Council board of directors and chairman and CEO of First County Bank. “We know that jobs are generally created in the small business arena and as a result of that, we”™ve created more than a few tools to help.”
Spurred by the state”™s new Innovation Ecosystem program, the Business Council has launched and expanded several growth initiatives to help entrepreneurs and small business owners access financial, technical, professional and mentoring resources.
Within Stamford, which has been designated an innovation hub through the state”™s Ecosystem initiative, the Business Council is assisting a number of developing businesses through its SpeedUp Fairfield County program.
The program offers Stage 2 companies ”” generally defined as firms with between $1 million and $50 million in revenues and 10 to 100 employees ”” access to product and market research, as well as other mentoring services to help them continue to grow and add employees.
Seventeen Stage 2 firms are currently participating in the Stamford hub. The hub is led by a partnership of the Business Council and the Stamford Innovation Center, the latter of which is focused on nascent startups. Those 17 firms are expected to create 70 to 90 jobs within the next 12 months, Giallongo said.
Outside of the hub, the Business Council has also continued to expand its Growth Network, an internal initiative that is chaired by Giallongo and that is also aimed at fostering small business growth and advising entrepreneurs.
This year the network grew to include 60 different service providers, including a number of lawyers, bankers, accountants, designers and industry experts in real estate, marketing, and many other areas.
These services are only a couple of the programs the council worked on this year, Giallongo and his fellow Business Council board members said.
Council members also spent the year lobbying on several issues at the state level, including education reform, energy policy, infrastructure, health care, taxes and workforce development, all with the goal of helping businesses start and grow in the state.
“One of the most used and overused, four letter words in our vocabulary over the last couple years has been ”˜jobs,”™” Giallongo said. “But it”™s really been quite a year for small businesses.”
