With all of the hype about sports, one cannot help but get into the spirit of team mindedness. Vince Lombardi said, “Football is like life — it requires perseverance, self denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.”
This brings to mind the importance of teamwork in today’s business world especially in light of the global challenges we face and the need to be on top of our game despite lessening resources.
Economies of scale and the necessity of collaboration and cooperation have forced us to look at things with new eyes. You should be aware of some of the things happening in the NW corner that point to the vision and creativity of leaders and organizations that believe in the strength and power of the team. There are a number of initiatives that give testimony to the fact that indeed our business and community leaders have the vision to look at the broad picture and determine what initiatives generate economic development and interest in the Northwest corner.
Perhaps most prominent among the initiatives underway is the Boston Federal Reserve Working Cities Challenge Grant. Torrington is one of nine cities in Connecticut vying for a grant of $475,000. There has been a strong team working together for over a year to create “SPARC”…Strategic Partners Action to Revitalize our Community. We have discovered a shared economic growth challenge - the loss of a younger workforce impacting multiple organizations in a distressed municipality with an aging population and a growing diverse community.
This issue is not uncommon across the state but is unique in Torrington in that we are a “micropolitan” community (one of the largest in the United States) with a population of 36,000 servicing 180,000 without state or federal resources. Our strategy is to develop a campaign that addresses the issue.
Thank you to the team who presented our case to the Jury this week in Hartford. You would have been proud of these panelists. Mayor Carbone; Maria Gonzalez, New Opportunities; Rafael Leon, Woodland Hills Neighborhood Association; Owen Quinn, United Way; Dr. Rooke from NCCC; Jacque Williams, Culture 4aCause; Erin Wilson, Economic Development Director and I gave an overview with proposed strategies.
We’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg…there’s so much more to follow so stay tuned for the winning news that we will hear soon.
JoAnn Ryan is President and CEO of the NW CT Chamber of Commerce. You can reach her by email: joann@nwctchamberofcommerce.org or phone: 860-482-6586.