Stamford”™s former economic development director Michael Freimuth has been hired to head the new Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) formed this past June.
Freimuth, a 57-year-old Fairfield resident, led Stamford”™s economic development efforts while Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was mayor of the city.
After Malloy stepped down to focus on his campaign for governor, the city of New Rochelle, N.Y. hired Freimuth to lead its development efforts. On his watch, the city has been developing an updated “comprehensive plan” of development, recently launching an online “mind mixer” forum at EnvisioNR.com to solicit ideas from the public.
In Hartford, Freimuth enters the mix at the intersection of state government, Hartford, East Hartford, businesses and developers, in the wake of Connecticut passing a bill this year that strengthened the state”™s oversight of CRDA, and later awarding millions of dollars in regional performance incentive grants for municipalities to work together to become more efficient.
Freimuth”™s familiarity with the Hartford area stretches back to his undergraduate days at the University of Connecticut, before moving on to George Washington University where he received a master”™s degree in public administration.
Freimuth”™s career also took him through Bridgeport. Leading the city”™s office of planning and economic development, he created the Bridgeport Port Authority and managed the development of the Harbor Yard district, now home to a ballpark and arena.
CRDA replaced the Capital City Economic Development Authority (CCEDA), which was formed in 1988 and led development of the Connecticut Convention Center, a Marriott Hotel and Connecticut Science Center at Adriaen”™s Landing along the Connecticut River in Hartford.
CCEDA has been led by Jim Abromaitis, who said he thinks the model “should be in essence franchised to other large communities” to spur large-scale development.
Whether or not Stamford needs the help is open to question, with the city boasting an equally impressive record with its Harbor Point development initiated during Malloy”™s and Freimuth”™s years in Stamford, including innovative financing tools to lay the public infrastructure in advance of developer Building and Land Technology putting backhoes to work.
“If we were to do it traditionally, we would ”¦ have to first have the project evolve and develop itself,” Freimuth said in 2007 of the Harbor Point financing proposal. “The mechanism is a little bit inverse than a normal bump-and-grind of the municipal bonding process.”
As Freimuth readies for the bump and grind of his new job as a Hartford insider, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) released a report critical of what it says is an over-reliance on property taxes, which furnish more than 70 percent of local revenue.
“If you”™re a business, it doesn”™t matter if you are turning a profit or not; that property tax still is due,” said James Finley, CEO of CCM. “It”™s the largest tax on business in Connecticut and you don”™t hear that enough from the business community. It”™s not the corporate income tax ”“ it”™s the property tax that is the biggest burden on small businesses in Connecticut.”
Among other moves, CCM says the state should shoulder more education costs, expand a revenue sharing system enacted this year that parses out some revenue from sales taxes and other revenue, and expand incentives for towns and cities to work together.
“The state of Connecticut over a period of time has really divested themselves of technical and financial assistance for towns and cities,” Finley said. “The Office of Policy and Management does not have the technical or planning assistance capacity as their colleagues would have in other states. We”™d like to see that expanded and the new regional incentive grants were a great idea.”
Connecticut appears to be moving in that direction, with CRDA”™s board including the heads of the Office of Policy and Management and the Department of Economic and Community Development, as well as Hartford”™s mayor and the CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance business group.
In addition to promoting projects within its district, CRDA has the power to pursue those outside of its area. Construction has begun on the $567 million CTfastrak busway project that will provide commuter service between Hartford and points west, and Malloy still hopes to see a new commuter rail line established between New Haven, Hartford and points north.
