FAIRFIELD COUNTY
BUSINESS JOURNAL May 25, 2015 | VOL. 51, No. 21
5 | NEW BUSINESS MODEL
22 | GOOD THINGS HAPPENING
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THE EVOLUTION OF EMPLOYMENT
WorkPlace seeks to align jobs and training BY BILL FALLON bfallon@westfairinc.com
Stephen Michon, left, and John Hoops, vice presidents for FutureWorks. Photo by Bill Fallon
IN THE NEXT TWO MONTHS, a national work-strategy company — FutureWorks — will provide the state Department of Labor with data in both numbers and meetings-gathered anecdotes designed to prevent southwestern Connecticut from fighting the last employment battles as new economies arise. Joseph Carbone, president and CEO of Bridgeport-based The WorkPlace, recently told a room of 50 at Sacred Heart University’s Stamford campus at Landmark Square that an ongoing challenge is to structure plans that have job seekers and employers working in tandem, with mutual benefits.
“It’s not always easy to do,” he said. “But there are those moments. “There’s no question this Great Recession has changed things,” he said. “What’s changed is the whole practice of how employers package for human capital. They have options they previously didn’t have.” Carbone cited one business model as “the old way,” saying: “Demand was up so you hired. What I’m hearing now is you don’t hire as demand increases. You often have other tools.” Those tools include a rise in both staffing agencies and parttime workers. “We don’t carry a big stick,” » JOBS, page 4
Cityscape 2.0
‘A NEW LIVE/WORK/PLAY’ MODEL TOPS REAL ESTATE FORUM BY BILL FALLON bfallon@westfairinc.com ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME SOCIETAL SHIFTS FIND DOWNSIZING baby boomers and settling-in millennials walking in tandem — always walking, 180 million strong — through remade, flourishing downtowns. The retiring boomers like the ease of getting around in an amenity-filled environment. As for the millennials, bring on the innovation, bring on the cuisine and don’t forget the funk. The challenges toward making that a reality — including word that antique theaters don’t work everywhere as economic saviors — surfaced from a panel of four real estate authorities that included municipal leaders and developers from both sides of the Westchester-Fairfield county divide recently at The Waters Edge at Giovanni’s in Darien.
“There is a new live/work/play model,” said W. Mark Keeney, managing partner, Westportbased Abbey Road Advisors. Among the asterisks of that model, he said, “Baby boomers are looking to downsize in the areas they raised their families. The big question mark is, who is going to buy their homes?” Keeney took the dais with Supervisor Susanne Donnelly of the Hudson River town of Ossining; and New Rochelle officials Luiz Aragon, commissioner of development, and Ralph DiBart, who heads the city’s Business Improvement District. “How do you get more attractive?” asked Salvatore Campofranco, the event moderator and founder and managing partner of Luzern Associates in Wilton. He said the single-family real estate market has been flat for eight years and the commercial vacancy rate is the worst it
has been in 20 years. “But New York City, Boston, Brooklyn are booming,” he said. Saying the suburban model was broken, he asked how the region might capture and retain the baby boomers who had always lived the suburban lifestyle. Entertainment, Campofranco said, is one key, saying Stamford needed a 10,000-seat arena to compete with other venues for the likes of Billy Joel concerts. “On some town websites the library is listed as the entertainment and they offer tours of the cemetery,” he said. “That’s not going to cut it.” “We’re failures unless we build the environment to thrive,” said Aragon. Calling New Rochelle, “a city with a soul,” he said that in five to 10 years he would like to see it appeal to the » PLANNING, page 6