The Past: The Recent History of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council

In 1986, the Business and Industry Council of the Greater Bridgeport Region became the Bridgeport Regional Business Council. In recognition of the fact that the full economic revitalization of the core city -- Bridgeport -- required regional recognition of its plight, regional cooperation, and initiatives, the organization became regional in its reach and its work. The Bridgeport Chamber was folded into the regional organization, and the Stratford and Trumbull Chambers became affiliate organizations with their own policy-making boards but with integrated staff and budgets.

The Business Council, during a period of general economic growth and as a result of its renewed program and membership services efforts, began to grow its membership from less than 1,000 to near 1,500.

In 1988, the Business Council leadership recognized that the organization was then at a new crossroads. Although its membership was growing, its impact on creating real economic development growth in the community was minimal.

The organization then adopted an Economic Development Initiatives Plan, pieces of which were achieved such as the establishment of a Downtown Special Services District, which today continues to provide Downtown street cleaning and public safety services as well as development leadership.

In late 1988, the leadership agreed on six strategic goals for the organization to enable it to have greater impact on the economic development prospects in the City and the Region. Those goals were as follows:

• Become more vocal - Until that point, the organization had been simply growing and improving its member services.
• Take on more controversial issues - The leadership concluded that in order for real progress to be made and meaningful change to take place, the business community needed to step up and be heard and since has spoken out clearly on things such as:
  • Recruiting the Little League regional center to Bridgeport.
  • Expanding Bridgeport Airport.
  • Seeking a Bridgeport Police Chief from outside department ranks.
  • Speaking out on the question of the Executive Director of the Bridgeport Housing Authority.
  • Calling for a four-year Mayoral term in Bridgeport.
  • Supporting the expansion of the resource recovery facility
• Creating a closer working relationship with the public sector - The leadership also recognized that if the business community were to have a real impact on economic growth and public and private investment it needed to develop better working relationships and partnerships with City and Town Halls, Mayors, local and state legislators, etc.
• Creating a high community profile and community role - the Business Council is now recognized and known by all segments of the community. It may not be supported by all, but is recognized as a player and a force. This was seen as a very important element of the success of our impact. The staff and volunteer leadership are active and engaged in many facets of the community.
• Assist the City of Bridgeport in improving management - It was recognized clearly in the late 1980's that in order for the City to experience real economic development growth, it first had to get its own fiscal house in order. This resulted in the Management Improvement Project in which the City and BRBC partnered to improve City management, the results of which are clearly visible today in a City in better fiscal shape and managed as one of the best cities in the State.
• Concentrate on the bigger economic development vision - This was a very key decision which today still has its detractors or is very much misunderstood. The following is set out to draw attention to it and generate discussion and debate.

In 1988, the BRBC volunteer leadership asked the CEO to prepare a statement and a plan regarding what he felt were the major shortcomings in the City that needed to be addressed in order to improve the environment for economic development. The CEO's conclusions were that the City and the business community needed to address the following things in order to set the stage for economic advancement:

• Image Enhancement
• Leadership Development
• Economic Development Planning
• Economic Development Systems Improvement
• Management Improvement

In 1996, a review of the above needs cited in 1989 reveal the following:

• Image Enhancement -- Today the City is seen much differently than it was a few short years ago. The Bridgeport Marketing Partnership, the Yes Bridgeport Campaign, the Reality Campaign, the City's future port effort, and now the Mayor's Clean and Green Program, as well as real development and real crime reduction, have all contributed to an improving image.
• Leadership Development -- The Leadership Greater Bridgeport program, a BRBC affiliate, has graduated over 100 leaders, many of whom are now placed in positions enabling them to have an impact on making a better world.
• Economic Development Planning -- The BRBC has been directly and indirectly involved as a catalyst, facilitator, and actuator in numerous efforts over these years all resulting in what is now a very much agreed to development vision centered around the following:
• Downtown Revitalization
• Industrial Rebirth
• Waterfront Recapture
• Economic Development Systems -- The City now has in place a top-notch economic development administrator and a highly competent staff. This represents a world of change from eight to ten years ago. In addition, new zoning codes, master plan, and economic development plan, are now or are about to be in place.
• Management Improvement -- As a result of the three year management improvement project the vast majority of the recommendations (over 450) to improve City management are now in place. The City has experienced six successive years of balanced budgets and four years with no tax increase, and at the same time, public services are improving.

Since the late 1980s, the Bridgeport Regional Business Council has contributed to the spark, the challenge, and the leadership that has created a vision for the City of Bridgeport. A vision that, when implemented, will result in significant job growth and tax base growth for a City in dire need of both, and, when implemented, will positively impact a region that today either turns its back on Bridgeport or is unable to forge partnerships that result in a shared vision or a shared responsibility.

• In the late 1980's, the City was heading toward fiscal bankruptcy.
• In the late 1980's, the City had a reputation for and a reality of mismanagement.
• In the late 1980's, the City had no clear vision for its economic future. In the late 1980's, the City had no strategic plan.
• In the late 1980's, there was little opportunity for all segments of the City to sit around the same table.
• In the late 1980's, there was virtually no public investment in bricks and mortar improvement in the City.
• In the late 1980's, there was little effort at public/private partnering to build a new City together.
• Until the mid-1990s, the City's actual and perceived crime problems ruined its image.
• In the late 1980's and through the mid-1990s, despair and pessimism prevailed over the optimism that is a critical and necessary ingredient in any turn around story.

Now, things are different:

• The City has shown many signs of fiscal recovery and stability and the business community has played a role.
• The City has improved the manner in which it manages its business in measurable ways and the business community has played a role.
• The City has an economic development blueprint, crafted with the participation of the business community, that charts a path that could result in 20,000 jobs and $30 million in added annual tax revenue (building jobs and tax base is the mission of the Business Council).
• The City today has a strategic plan crafted by all of its divergent constituencies, approved by the Mayor and City Council, and accomplished in no small way with the resources of the business community.
• The City today is increasingly experiencing efforts at collaboration of various and divergent community groups aimed at addressing critical issues.
• The City in the few years has or will achieve almost $400 million in public investment in projects in keeping with its overall economic development plan:
• West End Industrial Park, $12 million
• Housatonic Community College, $23 million
• Ferry Terminal, $2.5 million
• Police Barracks, $10 million
• Seaview Avenue, $20 million
• Cultural - Downtown Cabaret Theatre, Klein Memorial Auditorium, Polka Dot Playhouse, $4 million
• Downtown Capital Improvements, $7 million
• Ballpark at Harbor Yard, $18 million
• Harbour Place, $200 million
• Sports/entertainment arena, $35 million
• Intermodal Transportation Center, $45 million
• Industrial Retention Projects, $7 Million
• Other, $10 Million
• Today, the City and the business community commonly and regularly work together toward common ends.
• Today, crime is decreasing and there's a sense of continued improvement.

A summary of the Business Council's 10-year history will serve to demonstrate the relations between its changes and its programs to an improving City.

• 1986 -- Business Council becomes a regional umbrella organization.
• Business Council creates an economic development initiative plan.
• Business leadership adopts six strategic goals.
• Work on the Downtown Schiavone rehab plan.
• Management improvement project.
• Completion of Waterfront Development Plan that recommends strategy for waterfront vision and, for example, results ultimately in creation of Port Authority.
• Development of three-pronged strategic vision.
• Reorganization of BRBC to create Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce and Regional Leadership Council.
• Initiates HCTC project proposal.
• Encourages Seaview Avenue Industrial Corridor Project.
• Initiates, supports, and is the catalyst behind Bridgeport casino development proposal.
• Creates Yes Bridgeport campaign.
• Creates special three-year fundraising project that results in reality image campaign and development vision materials.
• Initiates and supports and raises money to create and submit a City Strategic Plan as application for Federal Empowerment Zone designation.
• Bridgeport Chamber affiliate initiates work in targeted industries area in support of Strategic Plan proposal.
• Completes Consolidated Economic Development Initiative Plan for City of Bridgeport.
• Coordinates and funds casino referendum.
• Lobbies actively for casino legislation.
• Creates 10-point action plan subsequent to casino defeat which recommends strategies to continue progress made through casino effort.
• Participate in TEAM Bridgeport effort, Governor Rowland's process to create a development initiative for Bridgeport.
• Submittal of proposal to TEAM Bridgeport that includes a recommendation for the creation of a public investment fund to be leveraged by private dollars to support development projects that are in keeping with an agreed to development plan.

The Mayor announces his initiative called "Clean and Green", the logical next step for the City to improve its image and make it development ready, and the BRBC submits a proposal offering ways in which it can assist and be supportive, including what is now the Bridgeport Chamber’s “Bridgeport in Bloom” program.