Bridgeport is not just Connecticut’s largest city. It’s also a state hub for entertainment, jobs, and economic and cultural vibrancy.
Bridgeport City Council Aidee Nieves and Bridgeport Regional Business Council CEO Dan Onofrio brought that pitch for the Bridge City to the latest episode of WNHH’s “Municipal Voice” radio program.
Both Nieves and Onofrio agree that the city is on the right path. It’s just a matter of getting people outside of Bridgeport to see that.
There’s a lot to celebrate, they said, as well as a lot of work to do.
They both cited the new natural gas-powered PSEG power plant, which held an official opening ceremony on July 29 that was attended by Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, Gov. Ned Lamont, and a host of PSEG officials.
The PSEG Ready2Work program, they said, places Bridgeport residents on a training path to get modern jobs in advanced manufacturing. Bridgeport can’t just be about bringing jobs to town, Nieves said. It must also prepare residents with training that makes the city’s workforce attractive for businesses looking to relocate.
“It’s not just about college,” she said. The state has dedicated $90 million towards turning Bridgeport’s Bassick High School into an advanced manufacturing and career high school, she said, thereby creating a “synergy” between people and business through the local government.
Onofrio agreed, saying that “manufacturing is changing, not only here, but throughout Connecticut.” He cited Sikorsky as a model for what 21st century manufacturing should look like in the state.
“All of these jobs are changing so rapidly,” he said, “We need to evolve.”
Long term, the plan is to get people back on to the harbor, Nieves said, just as the Baltimore National Harbor has done. Onofrio said the city’s approach to developing its waterfront should involve a “mix of live, work, play.”
“We are reinventing Bridgeport’s image as being entertainment friendly,” Nieves said, saying that it’s “about building up. We want a hotel, and a destination.”
As the radio interview was taking place, CTNewsJunkie reported that a behind-the-scenes deal between state lawmakers and tribal leaders in the state is in the works that might land a new casino in Bridgeport.
“Lawmakers from different regions of the state who had previously been at odds over casino expansion have joined forces with the state’s two tribes to come up with a proposal to build a Bridgeport casino and three entertainment zones,” CTNewsJunkie Editor Christine Stuart reported.
The investment minimum from the two tribes would be $100 million, whereas the MGM proposal was offering $500 million.
But the oft-discussed Casino isn’t a “magic pill” for the city, Nieves and Onofrio said. Rather, it compliments Bridgeport’s goal of being the entertainment hub of Southern Connecticut.
Along with the new amphitheater, boat docks, and renewal happening in the Steelpointe area, you have a fresh landscape on which to build, the two guests said.
It’s going to take a partnership though. From Onofrio’s side, it’s as simple as, “If you build it, they will come.” But the good news stories and growth aren’t being shared as much as he wants it to, so he argues that BRBC will have to “continue to be the marketing engine for the region.”
And from Nieves’ side as the president of the Bridgeport City Council, she said she has recognized that every project has an impact and that not everything is right for Bridgeport.
For her, as a second generation Bridgeport resident, it’s important that she be able to live where she works and important to keep families in the city. “It’s affordable for me,” she said. But also that means looping people in from further down the coast and into Manhattan, maybe those who don’t realize how affordable Bridgeport really is. .
Onofrio said he believes that with the right message, the right marketing, you can even lure them into going the “opposite direction” and settling right in Bridgeport.
For both, Bridgeport has that mix. It’s just a matter of letting everybody know.
