Ansonia will be working with a firm from Hartford to focus on creating an economic development “master plan” for the city.
The Board of Aldermen Tuesday voted unanimously to give Mayor James Della Volpe permission to sign a contract with Bartram and Cochran, a national real estate consulting firm from Hartford.
Bartram and Cochran will spend at least 14 weeks working with the city.
The process to create the plan will include everything from reviewing current economic development data to recommending what types of businesses to attract to the city. Two public forums seeking input from the community will also be scheduled.
Gene Sharkey, president of the Board of Aldermen, said the cost for the plan is not to exceed $25,000.
Richard Stoltz is the firm’s Ansonia project leader. He said the ultimate goal is to attract jobs and strengthen Ansonia’s grand list.
“We’re very excited at the opportunity to work with Ansonia,” he said. “New businesses bring more jobs and potential increases to the grand list which means increased tax revenue to the city.”
The desire to hire a consulting firm comes from a rejuvenated Economic Development Commission, a group of volunteers who have launched a number of initiatives in the city, including a farmer’s market on West Main Street on Thursdays and Saturdays.
“We have a very energetic Economic Development Commission,” Mayor James Della Volpe said. “They are doing a great job and this is going to do nothing but help the city move forward.”
Vinnie Scarlata, chairman of the Economic Development Commission, hasn’t had the chance to talk to the firm’s representatives at length, but he plans to invite them to a Sept. 20 meeting of the commission.
“It’s well overdue. Look at us. How many studies have we done? Great initiatives have been put together over the years (but) with no initiative to move us forward,” Scarlata said.
Bartram and Cochran have done consulting work for towns across the state, including Haddam, New Haven, and Stratford.
The firm was interviewed by a panel that included interim personnel director Tara Kolakowski, planning and zoning chairman Bart Flaherty, Alderman Charles Stowe and corporation counsel Kevin Blake.
“I’ll stand behind them. They were very reasonably priced. They answered all our questions and they didn’t have any extra costs,” Stowe said at an Aldermen meeting Tuesday.
“Bartram and Cochran came with the best presentation — a 14-week progressive plan,” Kolakowski said at the same meeting. “At the end of the 14 weeks we can retain them to implement the plan if we choose.”
Alderman David Knapp said the unanimous approval by his colleagues shows elected officials want results.
“The unanimous vote is an indication that all the Aldermen are concerned and looking to jump-start economic development in Ansonia,” Knapp said in an e‑mail. “I personally don’t hear from voters about economic development, but I do hear about keeping taxes down, which is directly related to economic development.”
Alderman John Marini said the firm will give Ansonia the steps it needs to improve.
There have been many economic development studies in the past, “but we’ve never really had a comprehensive plan of economic development in place that we would follow, step-by-step, to ensure that we would go from point A to point B,” Marini said.
