Board chooses economic development consultant

WINSTED —  After various discussions over several weeks of meetings, the Board of Selectmen unanimously chose Connected to Connecticut (CTC) from East Hartford as the town’s economic development consultant at its meeting on Monday, Aug. 17.

In the town’s fiscal 2015-2016 budget, $45,000 is allocated in order to pay for an economic development consultant for the town.

The town solicited request for qualifications and received responses from four consultants: Helen Bunnell who is the Executive Director of Friends of Main Street, the Connecticut Economic Resource Center from Rocky Hill and the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce from Torrington and Craig Stevenson from Connected to Connecticut.

Presentations were made by representatives from the organizations and Bunnell at meetings on July 20 and July 31.

At the Aug. 17 meeting, members of the board said they were impressed by all of the presentations.

However, board members all leaned towards CTC.

“I’m going to vote in favor of Craig Stevenson,” Selectman Glenn Albanesius said at the beginning of the board’s discussion. “From all of the presentations I learned some things from each one of them. I do want to make a special point with Helen and the cookies, especially from the salesperson’s standpoint.”

At both the July 20 and July 31 meetings, Bunnell brought board members a plate of chocolate chip cookies as part of her presentation.

“She did a great thing because even though it was simplistic, it was exactly what the town needs to do in order to differentiate Winsted from everybody else,” Albanesius said. “It was a shrewd move on her part. We need to make sure that we hire someone who will differentiate Winsted from everybody else.”

While Albanesius heaped praise on Bunnell, he said that Stevenson’s presentation was the most impressive.

“I do think that he brings to the table the experience and dedication that this position demands,” Albanesius said. “If it’s a horse race, we stand the best chance of him drawing more attention to the town. If our goal is to accomplish moving the ball forward quicker, I think he’s got the ability.”

Selectman Steven Sedlack agreed with Albanesius.

“[Stevenson] came in and gave a high energy presentation,” Sedlack said. “He talked for about an hour with passion. I liked his philosophy in working with landowners. He talked about going for a community consensus and his experience with STEAP [Small Town Economic Assistance Program] grants.”

Mayor Candace Bouchard also spoke favorably for CTC.

“I liked how he gave us clear goals in order to measure his success,” Bouchard said. “I want someone to hit the ground running. An implementer. We have talked about all of these great [town] studies and they have been sitting. I would like to breathe life into them and see what we should keep and get rid of. If we need to we can reassess ourselves if we can.”