FAIRFIELD COUNTY
BUSINESS JOURNAL
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Himes foresees ‘grand bargain’
FCBJ TODAY A taxing six months distilled to a dozen PowerPoint slides… 2 Small Business Express scorecard: 1,400 applicants, 300 accepted … 2 Seeds for Centerplate growth in $550M LBO … 3
BY PATRICK GALLAGHER
pgallagher@westfairinc.com
In the field: Indeed recruited by Japan HR giant … 8
“I
At Lex Products, an electrical systems manufacturer based in Shelton, more than 10 percent of its workforce speaks lessthan-fluent English. The company requires translators and time is often wasted on extra communication efforts. Since offering customized English lessons to
f there’s any lesson to draw from these past few weeks,” said President Obama, following a flurry of legislative activity in the weeks following the 2010 midterm elections, “it’s that we are not doomed to endless gridlock.” Nearly two years later, however, that has not proven true. Congress is again faced with the likely expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts, this time coupled with hundreds of billions of dollars in defense and discretionary spending cuts scheduled to begin in 2013, with economists warning that legislative inaction could result in another global recession. With the infamous fiscal cliff now less than three months away, Congressman Jim Himes on Sept. 27 told a group of financial industry representatives that he thinks there is a seven in 10 chance that Congress will reach a “grand bargain” akin to the SimpsonBowles plan released in late 2010. Speaking at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich at an event hosted by Deloitte & Touche as part of the firm’s third annual Hedge Fund Symposium Series, Himes said the combined weight of the “sequestration” defense and discretionary spending cuts plus the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts will compel Congress to act. “Make no mistake: none of these cuts
Language, page 6
Himes, page 6
Sizing up Connecticut commitment to research … 10 Nano-size instruction out of New Haven … 11 Gold coastal property: Cohens float millions for Mill River Park … 14 The List: website developers … 17 Talking the same language on the shop floor … 18 Greenwich company wheedles deal for 15 hotels … 20 Convention bureau membership up 20 percent … 21
BY ALEXANDER SOULE
Westport envy?
casoule@westfairinc.com
I
n a 2011 planning document, a Westport committee acknowledged a recent bout of “Fairfield envy” suffered by some residents, as trendy restaurants and retail shops descended on the town of Fairfield’s
Southport share of Post Road. After getting one of those restaurateurs to migrate to Westport’s Church Lane, David Waldman, president of David Adam Realty, and company are ready to deliver on a grander vision for downtown – even as town officials do the same. Westport, page 6
Eliminating language barriers BY JENNIFER BISSELL
jbissell@westfairinc.com
MEDIA PARTNER
October 8, 2012 | VOL. 48, No. 41
The demographics are changing in Fairfield County’s workforce. A shocking 47 percent of households speak English less than very well in Fairfield County, according to U.S. Census Bureau data recently released. Just 20 percent speak English only.
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