Fairfield County business news

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FAIRFIELD COUNTY

BUSINESS JOURNAL

YOUR only SOURCE FOR regional BUSINESS NEWS | westfaironline.com

Profits take back seat to hiring

Connecticut trails in national recovery

STUCK in

BY PATRICK GALLAGHER pgallagher@westfairinc.com

Neither a consumer spending slowdown nor the threat of the fiscal cliff stopped R.C. Bigelow Inc. from selling more than 1.6 billion cups of tea in 2012. It now falls on companies like the family-owned, Fairfield-based tea manufacturer to make up for the economic slack, says Cindi Bigelow, president of R.C. Bigelow, which does business as Bigelow Tea. “We’re very committed to our employees,” she said. “There are areas where we do have more employees than we need. But I always say if we see that that employee is really dedicated to this organization and to making a difference ... they have a

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Fed economist: Housing market pickup counteracted by lack of consumer spending, business investment growth BY PATRICK GALLAGHER

pgallagher@westfairinc.com

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Yacht Haven Marina. The proposal to bring Bridgewater, among the world’s largest investment firms with more than $130 billion in assets under management, to the city’s Harbor Point development had been held up by a dispute between patrons of the city’s boatyard and Harbor Point princi-

he national and regional economies will likely be mired in a slowgrowth pattern for the first half of 2013 as businesses await a resolution on government spending and the U.S. debt, a Federal Reserve economist said Jan. 11 in Stamford. The recovery has been the slowest since World War II, said Rae Rosen, vice president and regional economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Rosen addressed more than 200 people at the Stamford Marriott for the Fairfield County Information Exchange’s annual Economic Outlook and Regional Forecast. Rosen said the recovery has been led by a resurgent housing market, but that higher taxes on the wealthy, a reticence among consumers and businesses to take on additional debt, and widespread government austerity measures at the local, state and national levels have all tempered growth. “If you have a financially-led recession and it’s caused by excess leveraging, it takes longer and it’s harder to recover,” Rosen said. “So that’s why it’s been a slow

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FCBJ TODAY Commercial real estate insiders say the county’s office market is on the verge of an upswing … 2 An SEC senior counsel warns that the law will not tolerate efforts by companies to silence whistleblowers … 4 Looking to do business with the government? The state Procurement Technical Assistance Program director offers some guidance … 7 Employers pay more for defined contribution plans, a new government report suggests … 10

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January 21, 2013 | VOL. 49, No. 3

Workers disassemble portions of the docks at the former Brewer Yacht Haven Marina in Stamford.

Building and Land Technology looks to relocate Stamford boatyard as opponents bemoan ‘bully tactics’ BY PATRICK GALLAGHER pgallagher@westfairinc.com

Plans by Bridgewater Associates to relocate to Stamford got a needed boost after Mayor Michael Pavia reached an agreement with Building and Land Technology Corp. that could allow for the relocation of the former Brewer

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