ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COORDINATORS

You asked how many towns have full- or part-time economic development coordinators or specialists.

As Table 1 shows, 16 towns have economic development coordinators or specialists. At least 11 are full-time positions and four part-time. (We are waiting to hear from one town about the status of its coordinator, and we will update this report when we do. ) Most of the coordinators and specialists work exclusively on economic development in separate economic development offices or departments; some work in the planning department or the first selectman's office. Two coordinators report to their towns' economic development commissions. All but one work in towns with fewer than 50,000 people.

Table 1: Towns with Full- or Part-Time Economic Development Coordinators or Specialists

* Job duties combine economic development and planning without delineating time allocated to each.

** Job's primary duties relate to economic development, but coordinator performs other unrelated duties.

Source: Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Local Elected Officials, Town Clerks & Economic Development Contacts, municipal web pages, and Department of Public Health

As Attachments 1-3 show, hiring economic development coordinators and specialists represents one way municipalities perform economic development functions. Attachment 1 lists the 43 municipalities with economic development staff (including the 16 with coordinators or specialists). Many have departments or offices headed by economic development directors. These include all of the municipalities with more than 50,000 people except Greenwich, where the first selectman performs economic development duties. Except for the four coordinators mentioned above, all of the directors are full-time employees, but some perform planning and community development functions.

Attachment 1 also shows how the municipalities organize their economic development functions. Most house the economic development staff in a municipal office or department dedicated to economic or community development. But nonprofit corporations prepare economic development plans and related services in Naugatuck, Shelton, and Waterbury. Bristol's quasi-public development authority is that city's economic development arm.

Attachment 2 lists the 55 towns where the first selectman, mayor, or town manager performs economic development duties. Most have fewer than 20,000 people. Attachment 3 lists the towns that list the chairman or another member of their economic development commission as the economic development contact. Most have fewer than 10,000 people.

*Municipality*	*Population as of July 1, 2008*	*Designated Economic Development Official*	*Full-Time Position*	*Full-Time on Eco Dev*	*Organizational Unit*	*Economic Development Commission*
Bridgeport	136,405	Office Director with E. D. specialists	Yes	Yes	Office of Planning and Economic Development	No
Hartford	124,062	Department Director	Yes	No	Department of Development Services with Economic Development Division	No
New Haven	123,669	Economic Development Administrator	Yes	Yes	Economic Development Administration	No
Stamford	119,303	Director of Economic Development	Yes	Yes	Office of Economic Development	Yes
Waterbury	107,037	Chief Executive Officer	Yes	Yes	Nonprofit Waterbury Development Corporation	No
Norwalk	83,185	Director of Marketing & Business Development	Yes	Yes	Office of Economic Development	No
Danbury	79,256	Economic Development Director	Yes	Yes	Office of Economic Development	No
New Britain	70,486	Business Development Coordinator	Yes	Yes	Municipal Economic Development Agency	No
Bristol	60,927	Director	Yes	Yes	Bristol Development Authority	No
West Hartford	60,495	Director of Community Services	Yes	No	Community Services Department	No
Meriden	59,186	Economic Development Director	Yes	Yes	Office of Economic Development	No
Hamden	57,862	Director of Economic and Community Development	Yes	Yes	Department of Economic and Community Development	Yes
Fairfield	57,345	Director of Community and Economic Development	Yes	No	Office of Community and Economic Development	Yes
Manchester	56,385	Director of Planning and Economic Development	Yes	No	Planning and Economic Development Department	Yes
Milford	55,907	Director of Community Development	Yes	No	Department of Community Development	Yes
West Haven	52,420	Commissioner of Planning and Development	Yes	No	Department of Planning and Development	Yes
Stratford	48,853	Special Projects Coordinator Economic Development	Yes	Yes	Office of Economic Development	No
East Hartford	48,571	Director of Development	Yes	No	Development/Planning Department	Yes
Middletown	48,030	Economic Development Specialist	Yes	Yes	Department of Planning, Conservation and Development	Yes
Enfield	44,895	Director of Economic Development	Yes	Yes	Economic Development Department	Yes
Wallingford	44,859	State and Federal Program Administrator	Yes	No	Department of Program Planning	Yes
Southington	42,250	Economic Development Coordinator	Yes	Yes	Economic Development Office	Yes
Shelton	39,991	President	Yes	Yes	Shelton Economic Development Corporation	Yes
Groton	39,167	Economic Development Specialist	Yes	Yes	Office of Planning and Development	Yes
Torrington	35,312	Director of Economic Development	Yes	Yes	Department of Economic Development	Yes
Trumbull	34,688	Director of Economic Development	Yes	Yes	Department of Economic Development	Yes
Glastonbury	33,263	Director of Community Development	Yes	No	Department of Community Development	Yes
Naugatuck	31,931	Director	Yes	Yes	Naugatuck Development Corporation	Yes
Vernon	29,839	Economic Development Coordinator and Assistant Town Planner	Yes	*	Department of Economic Development	Yes
Newington	29,699	Town Planner	Yes	No	Planning and Development Department	Yes
Cheshire	29,066	Economic Development Coordinator	Yes	Yes**	Department of Economic Development	Yes
Branford	28,969	Special Projects Manager	Yes	No	First Selectman Office	Yes
Windsor	28,851	Economic Development Director	Yes	Yes	Department of Economic Development	Yes
East Haven	28,590	Director of Administration	Yes	No	Department of Administration and Management	Yes
New Milford	28,338	Economic Development Supervisor	Yes	Yes	Economic Development Office	Yes
Newtown	26,737	Director of Economic and Community Development	Yes	No	Economic and Community Development Office	Yes
Westport	26,592	Planning Director	Yes	No	Planning and Zoning Department	No
New London	25,891	Economic Development Coordinator	Yes	Yes	Office of Planning and Development	No
Wethersfield	25,719	Director of Planning and Economic Development	Yes	No	Economic Development Department	Yes
Farmington	25,116	Economic Development Director	Yes	Yes	Planning Department	No
Mansfield	24,622	Director of Planning	Yes	No	Town Planning	No
Guilford	22,398	Economic Development Specialist	Yes	Yes	First Selectman Office	Yes
Watertown	22,095	Economic Development Coordinator	No	Yes	Economic Development Commission	Yes
Bloomfield	20,727	Director of Planning	Yes	No	Economic Development Department	Yes
Berlin	20,364	Economic Development Director	Yes	Yes	Department of Economic Development	Yes
New Canaan	19,912	Town Planner	Yes	No	Planning and Zoning Commission	No
Monroe	19,359	Economic and Community Development Coordinator	?	?	Department of Economic Development	Yes
Rocky Hill	18,852	Economic Development Director	Yes	Yes	Economic Development Department	Yes
Waterford	18,794	Planning Director	Yes	No	Planning and Zoning	Yes
Ansonia	18,503	Economic Development Director	Yes	Yes	Department of Economic Development	Yes
Killingly	17,826	Economic Development Coordinator	Yes	Yes	Economic Development Office	Yes
Avon	17,328	Director of Planning and Community Development/Zoning Enforcement	Yes	No	Planning and Community Development	No
Plainville	17,221	Director of Planning and Economic Development	Yes	No	Department of Planning and Economic Development	Yes
Seymour	16,251	Economic Development Director	Yes	Yes	Economic Development Department	Yes
Suffield	15,136	Director of Economic Development	Yes	Yes	Director reports to Economic Development Commission	Yes
Ledyard	15,078	Town Planner	Yes	No	Planning and Development Department	Yes
Ellington	14,568	Town Planner	Yes	No	Planning Department	Yes
Orange	13,781	Executive Director	Yes	Yes	Orange Economic Development Corporation	Yes
Oxford	12,734	Economic Development Director	Yes	Yes	Department of Economic Development	Yes
Derby	12,393	Director of Economic and Community Development	Yes	No	Office of Economic and Community Development	No
Coventry	12,207	Town Planner	Yes	No	Planning and Zoning Office	Yes
Plymouth	11,969	Director of Planning and Economic Development	Yes	No	Land Use Department	Yes
Griswold	11,398	Town Planner	Yes	No	Planning and Community Development Department	No
Granby	11,219	Director of Community Development	Yes	No	Office of Community Development	No
East Windsor	10,888	Director of Planning and Development	Yes	No	Planning and Development Office	Yes
Winchester	10,716	Town Planner	Yes	No	Planning and Development Department	Yes
Old Saybrook	10,521	Executive Director Economic Development	Yes	Yes	Director reports to the Economic Development Commission	Yes
Woodbury	9,650	Planning Consultant	No	No	Not Applicable	No
Portland	9,551	Economic Development Consultant	No	Yes	First Selectman	Yes
Putnam	9,307	Economic and Community Development Director	Yes	No	Department of Economic and Community Development	Yes
Thompson	9,269	Director of Planning and Development	Yes	No	Economic Development Office	No
Hebron	9,228	Town Planner	Yes	No	Planning and Development Department	Yes
East Haddam	8,896	Economic Development Coordinator	No	Yes	Coordinator reports to Economic Development Commission	Yes
Marlborough	6,360	Planning and Development Director	Yes	No	Planning Department	Yes
East Granby	5,155	Director of Community Development	Yes	No	Planning and Zoning Department	Yes
Sterling	3,748	Economic Development Coordinator	Yes	Yes	Economic Development Office	Yes

*Municipality*	*Population*	*Official or Officer*	*Economic Development Commission*
Greenwich	61,937	First Selectman	No
Norwich	36,388	Mayor	No
South Windsor	25,966	Town Manager	Yes
Ridgefield	24,011	First Selectman	Yes
Simsbury	23, 615	First Selectman	Yes
Windham	23,609	First Selectman	Yes
Darien	20,177	First Selectwoman	Yes
Wilton	17,698	First Selectman	No
Brookfield	16,657	First Selectman	Yes
Wolcott	16,434	Mayor	No
Plainfield	15,430	First Selectman	No
Tolland	14,705	Town Manager	Yes
North Branford	14,374	Town Manager	No
New Fairfield	14,059	First Selectman	No
Clinton	13,554	First Selectman	Yes
Stafford	11,773	First Selectman	Yes
Weston	10,183	First Selectman	No
Canton	10104	First Selectman	Yes
Woodbridge	9,193	First Selectman	Yes
Redding	8,789	First Selectman	No
Thomaston	7,766	First Selectman	Yes
Middlebury	73,43	First Selectman	Yes
Easton	7,340	First Selectman	No
New Hartford	6,728	First Selectman	Yes
Killingworth	6,463	First Selectman	No
Harwinton	5,560	First Selectman	No
Middlefield	4,249	First Selectman	No
Lisbon	4,210	First Selectman	No
Pomfret	4,168	First Selectman	No
Salem	4,110	First Selectman	No
Sherman	4,106	First Selectman	No
Salisbury	3,958	First Selectman	No
Chester	3,811	First Selectman	Yes
Barkhamstead	3,662	First Selectman	No
Washington	3,657	First Selectman	No
Bethlehem	3,560	First Selectman	No
Goshen	3,203	First Selectman	No
Sharon	3,014	First Selectman	No*
Kent	2,944	First Selectman	No
Chaplin	2,556	First Selectman	No
Bozrah	2,452	First Selectman	No
Roxbury	2,311	First Selectman	No
Hampton	2,149	First Selectman	No
Hartland	2,079	First Selectman	No
Lyme	2,077	First Selectman	No
Franklin	1,893	First Selectman	No
Bridgewater	1,873	First Selectman	No
Eastford	1,798	First Selectman	No
Scotland	1,722	First Selectman	No
Norfolk	1,647	First Selectman	Yes
Colebrook	1,520	First Selectman	No
Cornwall	1,481	First Selectman	No
Warren	1,385	First Selectman	No
Canaan	1,095	First Selectman	No
Union	751	First Selectman	No


October 30, 2009		2009-R-0378
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COORDINATORS

By: John Rappa, Principal Analyst

*Town*	*Population*
North Haven	23,961
Southbury	19,702
Montville	19,612
East Lyme	19,022
Madison	18,803
Bethel	18,438
Stonington	18,371
Colchester	15,578
East Hampton	12,685
Windsor Locks	12,495
Somers	10,984
Prospect	9,353
Burlington	9,150
Litchfield	8,625
Woodstock	8,229
Brooklyn	7,949
Haddam	7,885
Durham	7,456
Lebanon	7,358
Old Lyme	7,357
Essex	6,784
Westbrook	6,641
Willington	6,114
Beacon Falls	5,807
Bethany	5,575
Columbia	5,315
North Stonington	5,233
Canterbury	5,118
Bolton	5,117
Preston	4,931
Deep River	4,668
Ashford	4,467
North Canaan	3,347
Andover	3,183
Sprague	2,980
Voluntown	2,619
Morris	2,329


*Town*	*Population*	*Title*	*Position*		*Time Spent on Economic Development*		*Administrative Unit*
*Town*	*Population*	*Title*	*Full-Time*	*Part-Time*	*Full-Time*	*Part-Time*	*Administrative Unit*
New Britain	70,486	Business Development Coordinator	X		X		Municipal Economic Development Agency
Stratford	48,853	Special Projects Coordinator Economic Development	X		X		Office of Economic Development
Middletown	48,030	Economic Development Specialist	X		X		Department of Planning, Conservation and Development
Southington	42,250	Economic Development Coordinator	X		X		Economic Development Office
Groton	39,167	Economic Development Specialist	X		X		Office of Planning and Development
Vernon	29,839	Economic Development Coordinator and Assistant Town Planner	X		*		Department of Economic Development
Cheshire	29,066	Economic Development Coordinator	X		**		Department of Economic Development
Branford	28,969	Special Projects Manager	X			X	First Selectman Office
New London	25,891	Economic Development Coordinator	X		X		Office of Planning and Development
Guilford	22,389	Economic Development Specialist		X	X		First Selectman Office
Watertown	22,095	Economic Development Coordinator		X	X		Economic Development Commission
Monroe	19,359	Economic and Community Development Coordinator	?	?	?	?	Department of Economic Development
Killingly	17,826	Economic Development Coordinator	X		X		Economic Development Office
Portland	9,551	Economic Development Coordinator		X	X		First Selectman Office
East Haddam	8,896	Economic Development Coordinator		X	X		Economic Development Commission
Sterling	3,748	Economic Development Coordinator	X		X		Economic Development Office