Chamber Plans "Best Place" Campaign

Mike Nicastro, president of the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce, knows a good thing.

Money Magazine recently rated Bristol 84th among the top 100 best small cities to live, with populations from 50,000 to 300,000.

That's great for Bristol, but Nicastro is making it work for the Mum City. He's jumping at the chance to use the Money Magazine "Best Places to Live 2010" logo to promote Bristol.

They're using in the chamber's electronic newsletter and on the digital sign on Route 6.

More uses of the logo to come, Nicastro says, in the coming months, as he works it all out with Money Magazine.

To me, that's using common sense and it's also smart business.

Nicastro Offers Alternative Plan

Mike Nicastro, the president of the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce, had a big op-ed piece in the Hartford Courant this morning. He's fighting, with a lot of residents and chamber members behind him and with growing support from political leaders in the state, to stop the $600 million busway that would connect New Britain and Hartford. Instead, Nicastro wrote, the limited transportation funds that Connecticut has should be used for the benefit of all the towns in the region, at a far lower price by restoring commuter rail between Waterbury and Hartford. The track would include stops in Bristol and New Britain, among other places. It would also offer a way to move freight. As Nicastro points out, the busway may take a few cars off I-84, but it won't do a thing about the trucks, while rail could.

Nicastro's piece on the opinion page is worth reading.

Opponents use LinkedIn to Fight Busway

Here's what Mike Nicastro, president of the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce posted on a LinkedIn chamber group. He's trying to get a discussion going, and is making a call to action. Thought I'd pass it along:

Say "no" to the Busway!
Central CT Chambers of Commerce Say "no" to the 9.4 mile, $573 million Busway and "yes" to a multi-city, lower cost regional rail system. With taxpayer's dollars needing to stretch farther and with the threat of $5.00 per gallon gas always looming we need to tell our elected officials at both federal and state level that we expect them, to make far ...better investments in our transporation infra-structure. While we waste time and precious capital on a 9 mile bus road, Massachusetts continues to pile up over $100 million in rail specific funding for rail renewal. Unlike what we have been told that such projects would take 10 years to do, the Massachusetts project in the Pioneer Valley was launched in June of 2008 and is already studied, deisgned and funded. All in 18 short months. Please see the attachments and links for more information and please contact our elected officials ASAP.

I didn't see any attachments, but if you contact Mike, I'm sure he'd send them to you.

110 People Will Lose Jobs as Locknetics Closes

Locknetics is closing this year. More than 100 people will be put out of work. That's the gist. I hate writing stories like this. I remember touring Locknetics a number of years ago, marveling at the cool stuff they made there. They seemed very cutting edge to me. I feel sick to think of all these good people facing unemployment. Since we at the Press faced possible closure a little more than a year ago, my memories of those days are all too clear and I think I know how they must be feeling. If you know someone who works there, tell them I am thinking of them. If they'd like to contact me, they can write to jmajerus@bristolpress.com or call me at 860-523-9632. So here's the story I wrote for Saturday's edition of The Bristol Press (www.bristolpress.com):

BRISTOL – Locknetics, a Bristol manufacturing company, is closing by the end of this year, putting 110 full-time employees out of work.
“It’s related to the fact that we are discontinuing the product lines that are made at that plant,” said Paul Dickard, a spokesman for Ingersoll Rand, Locknetics’ parent company. “They’re just not part of the product portfolio going forward.”
Locknetics makes electronic locks, primarily for commercial use, said Dickard, and the company will no longer be selling them.
“It’s terrible news,” said Mike Nicastro, president of the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce. He said Locknetics is a chamber member, but that he only learned Friday about the closing.
The plant closing will be done in phases, said Dickard, starting this summer and finishing by the end of the year.
“There won’t be any jobs lost until July,” said Dickard. He said he didn’t know how it would transpire, but said employees would be notified.
Locknetics employees learned January 20 that the factory would close, said Dickard.
Factory workers will get outplacement career counseling, said Dickard, and if they stay as long as the company wants them, they’ll receive a severance package. Dickard would not discuss the severance package or the profitability of the Bristol factory.
Nicastro said the loss of Locknetics shows that the economic downturn isn’t finished. It could be connected to a drop in construction, he said.
It’s also possible that the plant fell victim to changing times, said Nicastro, adding that some security firms are using Bluetooth and other technology with locks.
“There’s new players out there,” said Nicastro, that are using new forms of locking and security devices different from what Locknetics offers. “They’re rendering some of what they do obsolete.”
While Dickard said the economy has something to do with the decision, Ingersoll Rand has been reviewing its holdings and the products it makes and sells, according to Dickard.
“It’s part of a larger strategy to reduce the number of plants we have in our portfolio,” said Dickard, who said the company has “too much manufacturing capacity.”
Ingersoll Rand, which acquired 60 manufacturing plants, including the one in Bristol, since 2000, has 90 factories worldwide, said Dickard.
In looking at its holdings and future plans, the company decided to eliminate some of them, according to Dickard.
“This was an unfortunate outcome of that analysis,” Dickard said. “This particular business is not part of that global strategy.”
Plants will close in Europe, Latin America and in the United States, according to Dickard. He said there may be more but wouldn’t say how many or where they are.
Ingersoll Rand acquired Locknetics in 2000 from the privately held Harrow Industries, said Dickard.
“Certainly at the time, it fit a niche for us,” said Dickard.
But over time, said Dickard, the Bristol factory and others became less efficient.

Let it Snow... Foley is Staying in Greenwich

If anyone was thinking of coming to the chamber in the morning to have coffee with Tom Foley, one of the Republicans who wants to be our next governor, you'll have to wait a week.

Mike Nicastro, the chamber president, wisely checked the radar and decided to postpone Foley's informal coffee chat for a week, given the expectation that we're getting a decent sized snowstorm starting late tonight.

Look for Foley at 8 a.m., Wednesday, Feb. 17 on the Bristol Campus of Tunxis Community College -- the chamber will be full that morning, so Tunxis is opening its doors. That's in the North Side Square plaza near SuperNatural.

The next morning, Thursday, Feb. 18, Democrat Ned Lamont is scheduled at the chamber at 8 a.m. for his informal coffee chat.

That's two mornings of free coffee next week! You don't have to register or be a chamber member to attend. But you have to show up to get the coffee.

MingleStick Ho!

I bet you've all been on pins and needles to know what happened when the chamber unleased the provocatively-named MingleStick on Tuesday. I got one and trying it out was the most exciting thing I did that entire minute, honest. I can see where this is going, however, and soon we'll all be mingling like maniacs. I don't believe it will completely replace the business card, but soon we'll all be toting electronic/digital/techno gizmos like the MingleStick or something similar to get our discounts at the grocery store, gas pump, you name it. Maybe it'll be the new library card or driver's license, too, in the future. Who knows? Too bad we can't ask Madam Marie.
Anyway, here's what I wrote for The Bristol Press (http://www.bristolpress.com/) for Wednesday's paper:

The MingleStick hit Bristol Tuesday amid much fanfare and some skepticism.
Introduced by the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce, the small handheld device – which later plugs into a computer USB port – is for collecting and trading contact information.
Proponents say the MingleSticks, which use infrared technology to transfer data from one to another, will eliminate the need for business cards.
“You simply meet, click and connect,” said Eric Shadd, a self-described MingleStick evangelist for Mingle 360, the company that sells the device.
Chamber President Mike Nicastro, who wants to develop the MingleStick as a loyalty program similar to the chamber card, said his organization is only the third chamber nationally – and the only one in New England – to get the MingleStick.
“We’re excited to launch this,” said Nicastro, urging members to use it as much as possible and bring it to future chamber events.
The chamber handed out MingleSticks to everyone attending the annual economic forecast luncheon, and many there took advantage of the situation to try it out, using the device to collect contact information from each other.
Shadd spoke briefly at the event. He said the device does not store any information, so losing it does not put a user at risk. The information is stored in the company’s database, Shadd said, and is kept private.
“We don’t sell your information, ever,” said Shadd. Users can download their own contact information, he said, or just access it online, similar to a LinkedIn account.
Some people embraced the idea.
“With this, I don’t have to worry about misplacing a business card,” said Susan Warner, who works in marketing and sales for the Lauretano Sign Group. She said she liked the fact that the MingleStick information includes a photograph along with the contact information like name, company, phone number and email address because she can remember faces better than names.
But some weren’t so sure and others didn’t know what to make of it.
“It’s quite different,” said Bud Funk, owner of Fourslide Spring and Stamping.
“It seems very unnatural,” said attorney Karen Gallagher, who arrived at the chamber event with a pocketful of business cards that went unused.
Though everyone at the chamber event could get a MingleStick, they’re not common, at least not yet.
“The question is, how many other people will have them,” Gallagher said.
Accountant John Letizia was blasé about the potential for his MingleStick.
“The problem is, I know most of the people I mingled with,” said Letizia, scanning the room. Letizia said the device is like so much new technology in that it reduces interpersonal contact.
“I miss that part of communication,” Letizia said.
Ed Pelkey opted to leave the luncheon without a MingleStick. He said he has enough trouble keeping his computer operating.
“I’m with the Stone Age,” Pelkey said, joking, “They wouldn’t let me.”
Getting basic information might take on a whole new meaning using a MingleStick instead of asking a new contact for a business card. It could be awkward.
“Now you gotta ask ‘em if they have a MingleStick,” said Funk.
“That opens up a world of possibilities,” observed Steve Collins, a Bristol Press reporter.

MingleStick -- It's Not What You Think

Never heard of a MingleStick? Don't worry, chamber Prez Mike Nicastro will soon get one into your hands and you'll be mingling like mad. Confused? Read the story I wrote for Saturday's Bristol Press (http://www.bristolpress.com/) about the latest gizmo coming next week to the Mum City:

BRISTOL – Look out folks, the MingleStick is coming.
The latest in techno-cool, the MingleStick will be unleashed for the first time in Connecticut on Tuesday at the economic forecast luncheon put on by the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce.
“It’s a very simple little device,” said Mike Nicastro, the chamber president.
But Nicastro has high hopes for the MingleStick, which he said may replace the use of business cards and brochures in many instances and offer new opportunities for the chamber and its members.
The MingleStick resembles a key fob for a car and a computer jump drive.
It works like a jump drive in that it stores information, but beyond that, it can exchange information, too. That’s where the “mingle” part comes in.
On one end of the device is infrared technology that, when it meets another MingleStick, copies the information from it.
“Your business card is all in there,” said Nicastro. He said the MingleStick includes whatever information a person would want to exchange, such as name, phone number, email address and even a photo.
After collecting information at a business gathering, the owner of the device would then plug it into a computer port and go online to download the information through the MingleStick website. They then have it in their computer without any need to retype information.
Nicastro said the MingleStick is being marketed primarily to chambers and for use at trade shows, where people are networking. He said the device can be used to transfer pamphlets, brochures, even entire presentations, reducing the need for paper copies.
“It’s got huge potential,” said Nicastro, but it will take awhile to get members actively using them.
Everyone who attends the forecast luncheon will get a MingleStick as part of the deal, said Cindy Scoville, an organizer of the event.
But the luncheon is only the first stop for the MingleSticks.
“We’ll start deploying the sticks now at every event,” said Nicastro, who said he’ll sell them to people at the Bristol Home and Business Show later this month. He said they’ll cost about $5 each.
Once a critical mass of chamber members are using the MingleStick, it can be used as a loyalty program similar to the chamber card, said Nicastro, but in a more beneficial way.
If a business had a “station” that read MingleSticks, it could entice customers by offering a discount for those who use the device. Then, it could easily track the names and affiliations of its customers.
At a chamber event, members could wave their MingleStick in front of the station, which would then collect the information about who attended. That information is valuable to sponsors, Nicastro said, who want to know who came to the event.
“It has ties to both LinkedIn and Facebook,” said Nicastro. “You’re really speeding up the process of connections with people.”
It’s got infrared on one end, which is used to read someone else’s MingleStick.
There’s a cap on it that, when removed, can be inserted into a computer USB port.
The luncheon ,which features economist Nick Perna as the keynote speaker, is at the AquaTurf banquet hall in Southington, said Scoville, because the facility has wireless.
Though tickets will be available at the door, Scoville said people who register in advance will have a MingleStick waiting for them with their information already on it.
“I think it’s going to be a pretty cool tool for everyone to have,” said Scoville, who said she’s eager for “Mingle mania.”
-30-

First Dispatch From the Busway Meeting -- No Decision Yet

Steve sent this two minutes ago. He wrote it for the Herald's earlier deadline. The Press story may have more and I'm sure he'll post more on the Bristol Blog (http://www.bristoltoday.com/) later tonight. I'm just trying to fill in the gaps for those of you on the edge of your seats.

By STEVE COLLINS
STAFF WRITER
BRISTOL – Regional planners listened intently late Thursday to pitches for both the proposed busway and the potential for commuter rail.
Rail backers spoke first and then the proponents of the 9.4-mile busway between New Britain and Hartford got their turn.
Members of the Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency questioned the plans in preparation for a possible vote on whether to give their blessing to shifting $116 million in state transportation funds to the busway.
As of deadline, no decision had been made. Some urged postponement of the decision until March to give planners time to review the material.
Others pushed for quick approval.
“The busway has been studied. The busway is now. The busway creates jobs,” said Joseph Marie, the state’s transportation commissioner.
With the federal government “behind us on this project,” Marie said, it makes sense to proceed as planned.
New Britain Mayor Tim Stewart said it is important to note how close the project is to construction, which could begin next year.
That stands in sharp contrast to the commuter rail option pushed by many Bristol officials.
Commuter rail “is an idea, not a project,” Stewart said, and would take eight to 10 years to come to pass at best.
If the agency backs the busway funding, it’s not clear that the $573 million project will face no further troubles.
“This thing has miles to go,” said Mike Nicastro, president of the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce.
Nicastro said rail backers will carry their fight to the General Assembly and elsewhere to keep the heat on the project.
But Bristol Mayor Art Ward, another rail backer, sounded resigned Thursday.
“The eggs are all pretty much in a basket for the bus route and we need to move on,” Ward said. “It’s very, very unlikely there’d be any roadblocks.”
He said the state and federal officials who have looked into the issue have essentially made the decision “to move forward with the busway.”
Adding some weight to the opposition to the busway was a letter written tis week by West Hartford’s mayor and four legislators stating that if the town had to choose, it would prefer rail.
“If building the busway will eliminate the opportunity for a commuter rail stop” in Elmwood, the letter to U.S. Rep. Johnson Larson said, “we must come out even stronger against the busway.”
Marie said that a station in Elmwood could handle both buses and trains.
Michael Sanders, the DOT transit manager, said the assumption has been the joint station would be at Flatbush Avenue, but it could be moved to Elmwood if that’s what West Hartford wants.
Rail advocates said that trains would tie the region into a network that offers more long-term potential for growth.
But Sanders said the busway benefits are immediate, including faster travel time for commuters who continue to use I-84. There would also be more buses and routes to service the region, including buses every 12 minutes between Hartford and Bristol during commuting periods.Sanders said the design is 90 percent finished and all but two of the property purchases needed have been completed.He said the project will create more than 1,000 jobs annually during the construction period through 2013.State officials said the bureaucratic process allows regional officials to approve any federal funding within their regions. The state can’t spend the money without the agency’s green light.

9:55 p.m.
I just revised the story to reflect an updated version. Only the last few paragraphs have changed -- Jackie
10:30 p.m.
Nothing new.
11 p.m.
No word.
Watch the Bristol Blog... www.bristoltoday.com. He'll probably leave something there later tonight and if not then, certainly in the morning.

Chamber Prez Blasts Press for Busway Editorial

I just got this from Mike Nicastro at the chamber, asking for it to be posted on this blog:

As the executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce I have state how disappointed the Chamber was this morning to see the Bristol Press editorial staff endorsing a Busway project that is out of control with costs and will provide no tangible benefit to Bristol or any of the communities that make up the Central Connecticut Chambers.
Since saving the Press and Herald from the “mouth” of bankruptcy the paper’s management has repeatedly told the Chamber that they were going to “complete change the newspaper” and that coverage of Bristol and the Bristol region would be better than ever. Evidence of this change has been minimal at best. The Busway issue provided maybe the greatest opportunity for a breakout from the status quo and leap into a new day.
The Press editorial board missed the opportunity. They could have worked hand in hand with the two largest communities of Bristol and New Britain to push our federal leaders to adapt to the changing environment and work with us to evolve the limited and costly Busway project into transit solution that could service hundreds of thousands of residents providing a bidirectional rail solution to New York and Hartford with the potential in future to service Bradley International and Boston. Instead they chose to protect that status quo. Instead of demanding to know why this project is in reality a 60/40 (new federal money/state) split and not the 80/20 that we have been told all along that it was they stayed silent. Instead of leading, they chose to follow.
If we are going to change the future of our region we need to be happily accused of being “dreamers” and we need to fight to reverse ridiculous bureaucracy that works to force through bad ideas simply because they’re “too far along.” We have to work by the adage that “good enough is not good enough.” This was the opportunity to make that statement and they just plain missed it.

Michael D. Nicastro
President & Chief Executive Officer
Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce/Greater Bristol Chamber of Commerce

Guess Who's Coming to Coffee?

Mike Nicastro, president of the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce, tells me he has three more "coffee chats" with potential future governors lined up. The last one with Dan Malloy was kind of fun, so I'm looking forward to the others. Of course, it's the chamber, so it's at the crack of dawn:

Wednesday, February 10th @ 8AM – Tom Foley

Thursday, February 18th @ 8 AM – Ned Lamont

Thursday, February 25th @ 8AM – Lt. Governor Mike Fidele.

In case you can't tell one from the other, and who could blame you? -- it's Ned on the left, Mike in the middle and Tom on the right.

Mike Nicastro promises more to come, so stay tuned!

Coffee with the Future Governor, Anyone?

I'm not saying Dan Malloy is the next governor. He's just the first up at the chamber's series of coffee with the candiates. Catch him Thursday morning at the crack of dawn... er... 8 a.m. at the chamber. Here's what I wrote for Wednesday's Bristol Press (www.bristolpress.com) about it:

BRISTOL – Starting with Democrat Dan Malloy on Thursday morning, candidates for governor will be invited to meet local business leaders through meetings set up by the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce.
Chamber President Mike Nicastro announced at the organization’s legislative breakfast that it would host visits with all the candidates for governor, a group that he said seems to continue to grow.
Malloy will be the first, said Nicastro, and is scheduled for an 8 a.m. coffee at the chamber’s Main Street office on Thursday.
“We definitely want to hear from these candidates for governor,” said Nicastro.
Lt. Gov. Michael Fedele, a Republican who is running for governor, is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 25, and others will follow, Nicastro said.
“The chamber’s going to be very busy,” said Nicastro.
Nicastro invited anyone to attend.
“Come, sit, listen to these folks,” said Nicastro. “Ask questions.”
Leadership in the current economic climate – and in the uncertain years ahead – is crucial, he said, and without it, Connecticut will have serious problems.

Colapietro Willing to Listen to Chamber

Well, folks, you can't count Tom Colapietro out. Word was that he wouldn't show at the chamber's annual legislative breakfast, but he fooled everyone, including me. He told me that he will attend the soiree next Tuesday morning at 8 at the Clarion. I'll be there, too. Here's a story I wrote about it for Thursday's Press:

BRISTOL -- When state lawmakers go back into session next month, city business advocates want them to focus on the budget and on ways to address the deficit, said Michael Nicastro, president of the Central Connecticut Chambers of Commerce.
Nicastro said chamber members want to hear from the local delegation before the session starts, and will listen and ask questions at a legislative breakfast Tuesday.
“This is a short session legislative year,” said Nicastro. “We’re facing another deficit and it’s a re-election year for these guys.”
The upset in Massachusetts this week when a Republican won the U.S. Senate seat long occupied by Democrat Ted Kennedy shows that something is in the air, said Nicastro.
“There’s clearly a movement against incumbents right now. One election doesn’t tell it all,” he said, but added, “Something’s afoot.”
People are concerned about how their tax dollars are being spent, said Nicastro, and that includes business owners.
“We’re concerned about the budget deficit, how it’s going to get managed,” said Nicastro.
Lawmakers should continue important work on regionalization, Nicastro said, but he said it will take a long time to accomplish that.
What they can do now, Nicastro said, is reduce redundancy in government that carries a high monetary and efficiency cost.
The state’s got several different entities working on economic development, said Nicastro, including the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Connecticut Development Authority and Connecticut Innovations.
“They all have their own infrastructure,” said Nicastro. “Everyone’s got a marketing director. Everyone’s got a head of HR.”
That’s costly, and confusing for new businesses or business owners who are new to the state, Nicastro said.
“They’re not sure who to talk to,” said Nicastro. “The process should be streamlined. They’re all great programs, but in the end, they have to be run efficiently.”
Nicastro said the economic development isn’t the only realm where efforts are duplicated. State government has “too many fiefdoms,” he said, where the same is true.
Chamber members want to see action from lawmakers on transportation, too, said Nicastro.
“We can’t keep building highways. We need a transit strategy,” said Nicastro. “Wasting enormous sums on the busway is not a strategy.”
The proposed busway from New Britain to Hartford carries a cost of nearly $60 million per mile, said Nicastro.
Connecticut needs a good system to move freight as well as people, said Nicastro.
Getting freight onto trains and out of over the road trucks will save money and reduce congestion on the highways, Nicastro said.
In addition, Nicastro said, the state ought to put together a review board to look at the unfunded mandates that municipalities have to shoulder to see if they still make sense.
State Rep. Bill Hamzy, a Plymouth Republican whose district includes Bristol, said he’ll be there. When he first took office more than a decade ago, Hamzy said, there were a lot of forums like this one, but now, there are only a few.
“It’s kind of a lot of work to put together,” said Hamzy. “That’s probably the central reason.”
State Sen. Tom Colapietro said he’ll be there, too.
“I know pretty much what they’re going to say,” said Colapietro, a Bristol
Democrat. “I’m willing to go and listen to ‘em again. Maybe they’ll come up with some new things.”
Colapietro said sorting out what to cut is taking time.
“If cuts must be made, they must be made compassionately,” he said, with a scalpel rather than recklessly with a meat cleaver. “Everybody wants us to cut, but not them.”
The legislative breakfast is at the Clarion on Tuesday, starting at 8 a.m.
Tickets are $20 in advance and are available at the chamber. They’re available at the door for $25.
-30-