Somers: Rebrand Groton, Make It Attractive To Business, Generate Revenue

By Ellyn Santiago 

Groton Mayor Heather Bond Somers made it clear her interest is in making Groton attractive to business and work to generate revenue for the town. And she and the council have specific ideas how to accomplish that.

The first being the marketing Groton.

“We need to rebrand Groton as a whole as a town as the Submarine Capital of the World.  We seem to have lost that. The only thing we have identifying ourselves as the sub cap is the sign off I95,” she said Wednesday before the Chamber of Commerce Eastern Connecticut as part of the State of Groton address. Somers said a Town Council-appointed task force is at work on the mission now.

“This group is tasked to come up with a re-branding effort for the entire town of Groton to work with state and on the national level to rebrand us as the submarine capital of the world,” she said.  “I travel internationally and when people ask and I say I’m from Groton they say what do you do and I say, ‘We make submarines.’ And people are like, ‘Wow, you make submarines?’ This is very important and and a marketing tool for us and a tourism tool for us to use.”

Somers also stressed that the town needs to start thinking less about what it’s spending and more about generating revenue.  She said the town will be asked to vote in November on a referendum that would see water and sewer utilities extended, an “economic development project we’ve been talking about for 15 years.”

“The climate for business in Connecticut is less than positive. When we do have a company that comes to us one thing they need is access to sewer and water,” she said adding that one of the only areas with developable land “has no access to sewer and water, no utilities … Flanders Road to I95. “

“This is something that is absolutely necessary for Groton to be able to move forward. We tend to focus on cost here in Groton. My focus is on revenue generation the only way we’re going to be able to generate any revenue… we have to make it attractive and easy for new business to come here," she said.

"When we’re competing against our brothers and sisters in Waterford, with sewer and water, we just can’t compete. We desperately need this and the Town Council is fully behind this. I hope the voters in Groton will see the need and vote yes on a referendum in November," she said.