Research Outline

Stamford, CT Industry Focus

Goals

To provide information on what industry areas governments and organizations are investing in within the Stamford area, to provide data related to what industries are growing in the area

Early Findings

A state tax incentive program in Connecticut called the Enterprise Zone focuses on redeveloping underutilized industry zones. Specifically, the initiative focuses on supporting 10 types of "zone designations", each of which correlates to an industry or set of related industries.

The program focuses on the following areas; Entertainment Districts, Qualified Manufacturing Plans, Railroad Depot Zones, Bioscience Enterprises, Airport Development, Contiguous Municipality, Defense, and Manufacturing.


Specifically, the focus on the entertainment industry ("Entertainment District Zone") has offered a boost to digital media and production in Stamford, and the many coworking spaces have brought in tech startups.

Another key initiative within the Enterprise Zone programs is that companies engaged in bioscience, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical or photonics research are eligible for tax credits when expanding or constructing new facilities.

An additional economic initiative called the First Five Plus allocated tax credits to key companies via the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

This initiative doesn'’t however focus on any specific industry, rather funded companies that had ability to create jobs; including Cigna, NBC Sports, Alexion, ESPN, CareCentrix, Sustainable Building Systems, Deloitte, Bridgewater Associates, Charter Communications, Navigators, Pitney Bowes, EDAC and Synchrony Bank.
The state of Connecticut also offered economic support to company Indeed, who is expanding their Stamford location to add an estimated 500 local positions.