Business startups still down

Business startups were down 2.5 percent in Connecticut in the first half of 2010, but business closings declined by a far steeper rate compared with a year ago.

About 5,600 businesses filed paperwork to dissolve, according to the Connecticut secretary of state”™s office, a drop of 19 percent from the first half of 2009, while more than 13,500 companies incorporated.

“The numbers ”¦ are far from ideal, but the good news is that we continue seeing an overall positive trend showing that after a long recession the business climate in Connecticut is slowly improving,” Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut secretary of state, said in a statement. “Credit availability is still a problem for many entrepreneurs as are the
high costs of health care and energy. We must focus on reducing these costs and opening up more streams of capital so our businesses can grow and create jobs.”

In other news from the capital, Gov. M. Jodi Rell wants Connecticut to issue $260 million in bonds and use the money to back a proposed high-speed rail corridor connecting New Haven, Hartford and Springfield, Mass.

Rell indicated a bond issue could help the state secure $220 million in federal aid for the project, for which it is readying an application through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that has an Aug. 6 deadline.

The Connecticut Bonding Commission is scheduled to convene Aug. 11 to consider various projects requiring funding.

Connecticut has received $26 million to date from the federal government to study the feasibility of a commuter rail corridor in the central part of the state.