Business & Tech

Local Leaders to Chamber: Things Are Looking Up

Officials from Groton, Ledyard and Electric Boat Report on State of Local Economy

Although the local economy is still waiting to make a full recovery, there are many signs that things are at least heading in the right direction.

That was the general consensus of officials who spoke Wednesday to members of the Groton/Ledyard division of the Eastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce. The luncheon meeting was held at the Best Western Olympic Inn in Groton. 

Groton City Mayor Dennis Popp reported substantial investment in the city by its two biggest taxpayers, General Dynamics and Pfizer, including some $20 million in 2011 by Pfizer alone.

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Pfizer is currently in the process of consolidating its New London operations into Groton. “So if you notice an increase in traffic, that’s where it’s coming from,” he said.

Popp said 140 new houses were added to the city since the last census, and the population increased by 1,100 residents. He told chamber members that the tax rate would remain flat in the coming year, despite the loss of some $460,000 in manufacturing and equipment PILOT funds this year.

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Popp said the new Marine Aquaculture Magnet School at the former Eastern Point School is nearing completion, and some classes are expected to start as early as this summer.

Groton Town Mayor James Streeter said the baseball field at Fitch Senior High School has been chosen to receive $500,000 from a private donor for enhancements that would include lighting, bleachers and a new press box. With the improvements the field would be suitable for collegiate play, which is the goal, he said.

Streeter also reported receiving a $600,000 grant from the state for the purchase of open space. The parcel being considered is the former Spicer tree farm property off Thomas Road, which could possibly be used as a field laboratory by the magnet school.

He said voters in May will be asked to approve a $6.4 million Thames Street reconstruction project, and also will be asked to approve a $133 million bond issue for phase 2 of the School Building Project.

Groton Town Manager Mark Oefinger had much to report in the planning and development department. “When you work in planning in development, you hear about a lot of good things that are potentially happening in the future,” he said.

Among them, in no particular order:

  • Development at the Mystic Business Park on Flanders Road;
  • A new gas station on Route 1 at the intersection of Fishtown Road;
  • Seahorse Restaurant in Noank, which closed this past winter, is under new ownership and will reopen soon;
  • The Clam Shack on Route 12 is now a Subway sandwich restaurant;
  • The Ethan Allen furniture store is planning to reopen soon;
  • The Mystic Manner Nursing Home was approved for an expansion;
  • New England Cycle on Route 184 is expanding;
  • The Pequot Medical Center on Route 117 is planning a major expansion;
  • Walmart in Groton is planning a 40,000 square-foot addition;
  • Kohl’s is planning $1 million in renovations;
  • The former Rosie’s diner is expected to reopen soon;
  • The Galaxy Lanes bowling alley was recently given a facelift;
  • Tens of millions of dollars are being invested in the Sub Base.

With all this activity, Ledyard Mayor Fred B. Allyn Jr. may have been only half-joking when he suggested his town might want to revert to North Groton, the name it went by before incorporating 175 years ago this year.

Allyn said Ledyard’s Grand List dropped by 6.6 percent this year thanks to a recent revaluation. “I can’t remember the Grand List ever going down like this,” he said, adding that the town’s tax rate is expected to increase by 2.15 mills as a result.

On the plus side, however, Allyn reported that an agreement for the sale of part of the former Gales Ferry School property has been approved by the Town Council. Voters will consider the proposed $625,000 sale at a town meeting on April 16.

Pending planning and zoning approval, Allyn said developers of a new CVS pharmacy in Gales Ferry are hoping to start construction this fall.

Finally, Robert Hamilton, spokesman for the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics, said this was the year the company was expecting to resume production of two ships per year, something it has not done since the end of the Cold War. But that schedule is now being reviewed by Congress.

Even so, he said EB is hiring engineers in anticipation of the Ohio class replacement project, which is expected to commence in 2019 and will include 12 subs over 15 years. He said the shipyard just delivered the Missouri, completing the sub nine months ahead of schedule and with two-thirds the labor hours required for the first-in-class Virginia.

“Those kinds of numbers speak loudly to Congress,” said Hamilton, who noted that the real estate acquired from Pfizer in New London is expected to house a complement of some 3,200 engineers. He noted that EB started last year with a total of 1,800 engineers.

Asked about general plans for staffing levels at EB, Hamilton said the leadership is committed to keeping the workforce intact. “There is no other workforce like it in the world,” he said. The plan for now, he said, is that “no one goes home unless there’s absolutely nothing to do.” 


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