Politics & Government

State Commissioner Of Economic And Community Development Visits Groton

"It's Really A Listening Tour"

The Commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development visited a research and development company in Groton Wednesday on the third day of a tour to find out what’s working for companies in Connecticut and what isn’t.

Commissioner Catherine Smith visited Applied Physical Sciences, a company that provides engineering services to the departments of Defense and Homeland Security.

The business has 55 full-time and 11 part-time employees who research, test and build devices that solve technical problems. For example, the company recently produced a device that sends a warning message under water to divers to leave restricted areas. The message can be heard about one-quarter mile away and travels through the water without becoming garbled.

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Applied Physical Sciences brings in $16 million yearly, and plans to hire another four engineers and scientists this summer.

“So we’re growing,” said company president Charles Corrado.

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Smith said she and Gov. Dannel Malloy are asking about how government regulations and incentives affect business, as well as whether schools are educating students properly for future jobs and whether communities have the assets they need to attract business.

“It’s really a listening tour,” Smith said.

She said the eight-week tour will be done at the end of summer, and Malloy may call a special legislative session if he believes one is needed to make changes at the state level.

One issue that may arise for companies like Applied Sciences is help navigating the rules that restrict the sale of technologies oversees. International Traffic And Arms Regulations are designed to protect military and defense-related devices and services.

The Groton company is working on several other devices, including vehicles that can go under water without being operated by a driver, but still react appropriately to the environment, and gears that use magnets rather than teeth.


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