An Ansonia company eliminated 43 percent of its workforce Jan. 3 after losing a state contract with the Department of Social Services.
Coordinated Transportation Solutions (CTS) at 200 Main St. laid off 30 of about 70 employees, the company’s owner said.
The non-profit company, which launched on Derby’s Elizabeth Street in 1997 with just four workers, had been thriving in recent years despite the recession. It celebrated an expansion of its office space and employees on Main Street less than two years ago.
However, the state, in an effort to save money, is awarding the contract to a less expensive company headquartered outside Connecticut.
CTS lost the state contract despite pleas from four Valley lawmakers, the Ansonia mayor, the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce — even the Valley United Way.
Anger
Judy Bosco, 55, is a former Ansonia resident who now lives in Monroe. She lost her job at CTS and is not happy with Gov. Dannel Malloy.
“For somebody who is for keeping jobs in the state and talks about building up our job force, (Malloy) is doing a really lousy job of it,” Bosco said Tuesday.
Connecticut — under Gov. Malloy’s direction — has been looking to cut government spending. Those efforts included big changes to the state’s Medicaid program.
What Is CTS?
CTS arranges and coordinates transportation for thousands of people using Medicare, Medicaid or workers compensation. It also arranges transportation for special education students.
Click here for more on what the company does.
The company is suffering because it lost a state contract involving arranging transportation for Medicaid recipients. CTS had been providing the service to the state since about 2002 as a subcontractor through the Community Health Network of Connecticut.
State Saves …
According to information from the state Department of Social Services, CTS was not the cheapest bid for the contract to arrange transportation for Medicaid recipients.
The precise dollar amounts have yet to been made public because the contract still hasn’t been awarded.
CTS also ranked behind other bidders for “technical” reasons. “Technical” is government speak — it refers to another barometer for awarding contracts, weighing-in factors such as organizational and staffing requirements.
The Ansonia business ranked fourth out of the five bidders in the categories of cost, “technical,” and a rank combining both factors, according to the state.
.… Ansonia Suffers
But what happens when the effort to save money in Connecticut hurts Connecticut residents?
It was a question raised by Bosco, the Monroe woman now looking for a new job.
CTS, she said, had the experience to do the job because they had been doing it for years. They were the experts in Connecticut.
And CTS was born and based in Connecticut — providing Connecticut residents with jobs.
Of the five bidders competing for the state contract, CTS was the only company based in Connecticut.
All the other companies are based in other states, with offices or a call center inside Connecticut.
The first in line for the contract was not even based in the U.S.
“I don’t really see how this can save the state money,” Bosco said.
The question of protecting Connecticut jobs was also raised by Valley lawmakers such as state Rep. Len Greene, Jr., R‑Seymour, who fought on the company’s behalf in Hartford alongside state Rep. Themis Klarides, R‑Derby, state Rep. Linda Gentile, D‑Ansonia, state Sen. Joseph Crisco, D‑Woodbrige and Ansonia Mayor James Della Volpe.
“Here we have a Connecticut-based company here in the Valley — they have their finance department, their legal department, their compliance department, everything is based in Connecticut,” Greene said. “It was a point we brought up with (the Department of Social Services) on numerous occasions.”
Not What Ansonia Needs Right Now
Main Street Ansonia has been trying to recover its economy ever since its large factories shut down or greatly reduced their presence.
The recession that started in 2008 didn’t help downtown revitalization — and neither did the state’s recent decision to give its business to out-of-state companies.
CTS — aside from nearby national retailers such as Target — was Main Street’s largest employer, according to Mayor James Della Volpe.
“For whatever reason, the Department of Social Services did not award the bid to CTS. We’re very upset about that,” the mayor said.
Moving On
Bosco, the former CTS employee, is weighing her next move. She’s still absorbing the fact she lost her job after four years at CTS.
“I’m job hunting and I’m looking into taking some evening classes to see what else is out there. I really haven’t figured it out since it’s only been a week,” she said.
Still, Bosco had had nothing but praise for her former boss, CTS owner David White.
White fought hard for the jobs and kept employees in the loop, Bosco said. He held off on layoffs for full-time workers until immediately after Christmas.
“He worked very hard trying to convince the state not to do this,” she said.
Owner Reacts
In an interview with the Valley Independent Sentinel Tuesday afternoon, White was optimistic about his company’s future.
He repeatedly thanked the local and state officials who went to bat for his workers. The last few months have demonstrated the lengths the Valley goes to help someone in need, White said.
“They were incredibly supportive of us and helped us work through this process,” White said. “We’re certainly disappointed about what has transpired, but we’re also looking to the future. We working on some other opportunities. CTS has been around for 14 years and we’re not going anywhere,” he said.
The company is also appealing the decision not to give them the contract. The appeal will give them a sense of precisely what happened in the process, White said. It will not result in CTS getting the contract they lost.
Greene said state lawmakers arranged a meeting between CTS officials and the state Department of Economic and Community Development. The goal is to see if it is possible to refocus the company, steer it toward new business and, possibly, restore some of the jobs lost Jan. 3.
“That is the idea, but it is still very early at this point,” Greene said.
“We would hope that with some of the opportunities that are out there, one day we might be able to bring some of (the displaced workers) back,” White said.
David Dearborn, a spokesman for the Department of Social Services, sent the following statement to the Valley Indy Wednesday afternoon:
“It’s encouraging to hear that CTS is working with the state to try to diversify its business model. When a company is so dependent on government business and does not score highly in competitive procurement, jobs can be affected,” Dearborn said.
“This is tough on workers and a region, and we understand that it is small solace to the good staff at CTS that another contractor will undoubtedly add Connecticut jobs. The bottom line is that we have a responsibility to build the most cost-effective system for Medicaid beneficiaries and taxpayers alike; this is the purpose of the new transportation contract,” he said.
Cursed Contract?
Meanwhile, the state Department of Social Services still hasn’t awarded the controversial contract.
At first, the state was going to award the contract to First Transit, a company based in Ohio, but owned by a corporation from Scotland.
However, First Transit didn’t get the contract because a conflict of interest was discovered. The company already has transportation-related contracts with the state. The company is appealing the decision.
Next in line for the contract — LogistiCare Solutions, LLC. The company is based in Atlanta, but maintains a call center in North Haven.
The Department of Social Services hopes to have the new contract in place by April 1.
