2 | CRAFTING A BREW August 14, 2017 | VOL. 53, No. 33
3 | BASEBALL BOOTED
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WBDC at 20: FIGHTING FOR ECONOMIC EQUALITY IN TOUGH TIMES BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com
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Journal, Herbst said his gubernatorial campaign will highlight his work in Trumbull, with an emphasis on fiscal leadership. “I’ve balanced eight budgets and maintained an average tax increase of only 1.68 percent over eight years,” he said. “Our grand list showed consistent measured growth every year I’ve been the first selectman.” He also emphasized his Trumbull strategy in positioning the town as a place to both work and live, and not just create a bedroom community or a corporate zone that empties out when offices close for the night.
s with so many Connecticut businesspeople these days, Fran Pastore is holding her breath waiting for a state budget to be finalized. What sets Pastore apart from most is that, as president and CEO of the Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC), she’s in the business of helping others start and maintain their own businesses. “We’ve had a significant amount of attrition,” Pastore said at the WBDC’s Stamford headquarters. With a present headcount of 10, she added that the group won’t be hiring anyone “until we know the state budget, and what we’re getting from it.” Also on hold is the WBDC Capital Fund, designed to provide startup and growing businesses with working capital, equipment, inventory and lease space, among other items; to date the fund has helped 23 clients secure $3 million in grants and loans. Funded by the Small Business Administration’s Office of Women's Business Ownership, as well as contributions from federal, state and municipal governments, corporations, and private donors, the WBDC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides business and financial education to mostly female entrepreneurs and business owners throughout Connecticut. Pastore noted that the state budget impasse has put some of WBDC's funding sources in a state of limbo. Dealing with funding uncertainties may not be the best way to mark this year's 20th anniversary, but Pastore said she remains confident that past bipartisan support for the organization — as well as WWE co-founder and former CEO Linda McMahon’s position as SBA administrator — will ultimately win out.
» HERBST, page 6
» WBDC, page 6
Building Synergy See story on page 11
Paul Broadie II, president of Housatonic Community College, says the college’s manufacturing studies curriculum is a win-win situation for students who earn a certificate and for local businesses that are guaranteed a workforce. Photo by Phil Hall
Herbst identifies campaign issues: IMAGE, INFRASTRUCTURE, INCOME BY PHIL HALL phall@westfairinc.com
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n the event Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst should find himself as Connecticut’s next governor, he has already identified which person will be the recipient of his first telephone call in that new job: his Florida counterpart, Rick Scott. “If I’m governor, my first call is going to be to Governor Scott and I will tell him to stay the hell out of my state,” said Herbst, citing the Florida Republican’s visit to Connecticut in June when he urged business leaders to “capitulate and come to Florida and make it easier on yourselves.”
But Herbst added that Scott’s attempt to lure away Connecticut businesses would not have occurred if the state was viewed nationally as a pro-business environment. “We have an image problem, a confidence problem, a morale problem.” In June, Herbst declared himself in the running for the Republican nomination for governor. This is his second attempt at statewide office — he ran as the Republican candidate for treasurer in 2014 and lost to Democrat Denise Nappier by 0.9 percent of the vote. Herbst will not be running for re-election this year as first selectman in Trumbull, a position he first won in 2009 when he was 29 years old. In an interview with the Business