The University of Connecticut and the Business Council of Fairfield County are working to create the state”™s first federal immigrant investor program to promote economic growth in Connecticut.
The proposed regional center is still in the process of getting approval from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, but organizers are already actively vetting companies to receive investments.
Also known as EB-5, the investor program was created by Congress in 1990 to stimulate job creation and capital investments by providing foreign investors a provisional green card that permits residence in the country and unlimited in-and-out travel.
There are 220 centers nationwide, but none in Connecticut, said Mike Roer, president of the Entrepreneurship Foundation in Fairfield.
“This is a deficiency we”™re rapidly correcting,” he said.
Each investment must be at least $1 million or $500,000 for a company in a high unemployment or rural area. Waterbury, Bridgeport and Hartford qualify as areas with high unemployment and qualifying rural towns are generally located in the northern corners of the state.
A number of other centers have received bad press, but a center in Fairfield County would be able to use the negative publicity to their advantage, Roer said. The center would be associated with a university and an established business council. There”™d be transparency and oversight, and the companies receiving investments would be rigorously analyzed, providing a higher likelihood of a decent return on investment.
The center will be based in Fairfield County and serve the entire state. In the partnership, UConn will recruit, vet and analyze companies and the Business Council of Fairfield County will recruit investors.
The center plans to grow after it”™s been approved, but for the time being it”™s already chosen four exemplary companies to fund, said Jesse Kalinowski, an economics Ph.D. student. The hope is that as soon as the center is approved, it will be able to start facilitating investments right away.
The selected companies include:
Ӣ Torrington-based Optiwind, a company developing wind turbine technology to fit urban and suburban communities in less windy areas.
Ӣ Rocket21, based in Fairfield, is a youth social media network for kids to explore possible careers and connect with professionals.
Ӣ Tri-State Flexi Pave in Waterbury is a rubber paving manufacturer.
Ӣ Freedom Fish in North Franklin is a Tilapia fish farm.
To keep track of the investments and business growth, UConn”™s Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis will be using a software and database system to track not only how many jobs are created by companies that receive investments, but further economic impacts as well. If Optiwind is creating a greater demand for metal, CCEA will also be tracking how many jobs the metal supplier adds and so on.
Each investment of $1 million must create at least 10 new jobs.
“Connecticut has a challenge to replace the 120,000 jobs lost in the Great Recession,” said professor Fred V. Carstensen, CCEA director. “We need every single effort like this.”
