Learning that Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. completed its new Danbury laboratory on time and $2 million under budget, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said she had a few jobs in government for any company employees who were interested.
Sorry, Governor ”“ Martin Carroll has none to spare.
Stopping by the ribbon-cutting for Carroll”™s Boehringer Ingelheim”™s $30 million new laboratory, Rell drew a symbolic link to the “topping off” ceremony last month for the Connecticut Science Center under construction in Hartford, saying children who visit the center will be inspired to pursue scientific or technical careers at companies like Boehringer Ingelheim.
As new employment figures for Connecticut show, they are going to be needed. Connecticut continues to ring up job gains along its Gold Coast, with lower Fairfield County”™s employment figures up 1.6 percent in July compared with a year ago.
Waterbury, which has a sixth the work force of coastal Fairfield County, was the only metropolitan area to punch in a better month, with July employment up 1.9 percent from a year ago.
While registering comparatively modest growth in July with a 0.7 percent increase in jobs, Danbury already has among the lowest unemployment rates in the Northeast.
The westernmost portion of the state helped lift Connecticut”™s employment 1.1 percent from a year ago.
Fairfield County”™s unemployment rate is now 4.2 percent.
In New England and the tri-state area, the only metropolitan zones to lift employment more significantly were the Portsmouth, N.H., area; Kingston, N.Y.; and New Bedford, Mass.
New Haven was the only Connecticut metropolitan area to suffer a year-over-year decline in employment at 0.7 percent.
Carroll notes that his company has recruited veterans of Bayer Healthcare”™s former facility in New Haven, which Bayer is shutting; but says his company has been able to build a 3,000-person-strong work force despite hiring challenges such as the high cost of living.
In that respect, Fairfield County is not much different from northern New Jersey and Boston, which both are home to large concentrations of drug development companies.
“I don”™t see us being that different from other (pharmaceutical) clusters in that respect,” Carroll said. “In terms of recruiting, being in the metro New York area helps, and the growth of the company the last few years has increased our profile in the marketplace.”
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Carroll believes Boehringer Ingelheim”™s new physical sciences building will enhance the company”™s recruiting efforts further. At nearly 90,000 square feet, the building will support the therapeutic research efforts of 120 people in the areas of cardiology, immunology and inflammation.
As a result of the new building, Boehringer Ingelheim plans to add at least 60 new employees. If new paint and faces are the most visible changes on the company”™s hilltop campus, the new building includes energy-saving measures such as a heat recovery system and sensors that activate lighting and cool rooms when occupants enter.
Also, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the installation of a diesel generator that will allow the company to generate 2,000 kilowatts of power on hot days, in turn freeing up electricity for other residents and businesses.
After all, the light bulb of inspiration requires people and power.
“We are trying to build a culture in which creative (thinking) can go in many different directions,” Carroll said. “The industry has not been as productive in recent years. I am an optimist and like to believe we are on the cusp of another run.”
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