When presenting her State of the City Address, Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons couldn’t help but point out the dramatic difference between last year’s presentation and the 2023 speech delivered at The Village complex along the city’s waterfront.
“Last year at this time I had Covid and was delivering this address via Zoom in my pajamas,”Simmons said with a laugh, “So I’m excited to be here with you in person tonight and share with you how far our city has come.”Simmons’ event, which was held on April 27 and organized by the Stamford Chamber of Commerce, included a broad cross-section of the Stamford business community, residents and public servants along with representatives from the New York Consulates of Finland, Switzerland, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The international aspect of the audience reflected Simmons’ picture of a city at the center of the business world’s attention.
“Our city is strong and getting stronger every day,”Simmons declared. “Stamford is the unequivocal economic engine of the state. We’re the second largest, fastest growing city in the state. We continue to see robust population and business growth. Stamford is home to a dozen Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies, including one of our largest employers who’s here with us today ““ Charter Communications, who opened their new headquarters last year.”Simmons described looking out the windows of her office and seeing the thousands of small businesses throughout the city, along with hundreds of new businesses.
“Each week I get to join Heather [Cavanagh] and the Chamber team for ribbon cutting after ribbon cutting,”Simmons said. “We joke that our scissors are getting rusty.”In particular, Simmons highlighted the arrival of companies such as the financial services firm Mirador, Pickleball America, the New York Comedy Club, and other recently opened businesses. She singled out as an example of the city’s vibrant entrepreneurship Sipho Simela’s Matrix Rental Solutions, which opened only a block away from The Village and which will leverage high-tech solutions to make the search for rental housing easier.
Simmons noted that the city had achieved the second largest grand list in the state, growing by 20% since its last evaluation to a total of $26.9 billion. She said that this will enable the city to achieve one of the lowest mill rates in the state, “further enhancing our economic standing, and major bragging rights for a mayor.”Simmons told the audience that Stamford was the only Connecticut city with more than 100,000 residents to achieve a AAA bond rating in 2022, a fact which can potentially save the city and taxpayers millions by lowering interest rates on borrowing to finance projects. She also indicated that a $1.5 billion long-term facilities plan will include the city’s largest school construction project without endangering the credit rating thanks to a new formula for state funding.
“Thank you to so many of you in this room who invest and build in our city every day and are instrumental in this boundless growth, bringing jobs, housing, and most importantly, revenue to our city, which as mayor, I am very grateful for,”Simmons said.
Simmons also hailed a 96% occupancy rate for apartment buildings and a 90% occupancy rate for downtown retail locations as providing the city with a unique vibrancy.
“Just take a walk down Bedford Street or Columbus Park, and it feels like a European plaza with outdoor dining and dozens of cuisines from around the globe,”she stated.
In addition to strong schools further enhanced by an expanding UConn campus, Simmons highlighted the city had also become not only the safest city in both Connecticut and New England, but one of the safest of its size in the whole country according to the latest FBI crime statistics. She called on the audience to applaud members of the police and fire departments in attendance who had recently saved lives while in the line of duty.
“When I was sworn in, I shared my vision to build a more equitable, inclusive, and vibrant city where everyone can thrive. Under that vision are three key priorities,”said Simmons. “One, fixing our infrastructure; two, advancing economic prosperity; and three, making our government more responsive and inclusive. But it’s not just about saying these words.”Simmons described the measure of success for her administration as being how well they have managed to deliver results for residents and noted that the most common complaint they hear remained “pave the damn roads.”To that end, she said the city had doubled its road paving operations to 75 repaved roads in 2022, with the goal of reaching 200 roads paved along with improved sidewalks near every city school by 2025. This dovetailed with Simmons signing the Vision Zero Executive Order which will direct the city to use engineering and traffic enforcement best practices to reach zero traffic fatalities by 2032.
Simmons also highlighted the recently announced Small Business Covid Resilience Grant which will make $1.5 million available to 150 businesses in $10,000 grants to recover from pandemic-related issues.
“This grant will help these small businesses during this challenging time. They are the backbone of our community, creating two thirds of all new jobs,”Simmons said.
To further assist businesses, Simmons highlighted efforts to increase the city’s affordable housing supply and her strategy of partnering with the U.S. Foreign Trade Commission to encourage international business relations and a streamlined permitting process for most business applications.
Simmons encouraged businesses to look to the city by investing in environmentally conscious technology and design while also partnering with city public schools to provide student internships through the Youth Service Corps and Mayor’s Youth Employment Program.
“We will keep working,”Simmons promised. “We will keep rolling up our sleeves to deliver results for the people of Stanford and make our city a beacon of hope for other cities to emulate. While we already are a model city in so many ways, let’s continue to strive for greatness and maximize our full potential by building a more inclusive, accessible, and vibrant city where everyone can thrive.”
