CBIA BizCast

CBIA BizCast

By Connecticut Business & Industry AssociationBusiness
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CBIA BizCast episodes

  • Driving Economic Innovation
    Dr. Albert Green has spent his career at the intersection of technology and economic development.
    “I often refer to myself as bilingual, because I kind of speak both languages fluently,” he told the CBIA BizCast.
    QuantumCT just announced Green as its new CEO.
    The Connecticut public-private partnership is working to drive the adoption of quantum computing technologies and position Connecticut as a hub for research, technology development, and jobs.
    The University of Connecticut and Yale University-led partnership is competing for up to $160 million in funding as part of a National Science Foundation competition.
    “When I first learned about QuantumCT and what Connecticut was doing in this space, it just fit exactly what I'd done my entire career,” Green said.
    That career includes a PhD in physics from Stanford, more than 20 patents, and leading several technology companies.
    Green said it’s an exciting time to be part of the quantum ecosystem in part because of the building excitement surrounding the technology.
    “If you look at popular culture, you see all these movies like Quantumania and stuff,” he said. “Leveraging that excitement is kind of cool.”
    He compared the technology to what we’re seeing with the growth of artificial intelligence.
    ““I'm a firm believer that quantum technologies and quantum computing is where AI was 10 years ago,” Green said.
    “The regions that really drove that have to turn away people. And the idea is for us to do the same thing with quantum technologies.”
    With QuantumCT, Green said Connecticut is perfectly positioned to build an ecosystem that will make the region the Silicon Valley of the quantum economy.
    “It's higher ed, it's workforce, and it's our business community,” said Green.
    “What we're trying to do is to create essentially a mechanism that allows these organizations to effectively collaborate in this area that we see is coming, and that's really the core mission of QuantumCT.”
    Green said it was that workforce, higher education system, and culture of collaboration that attracted him to the role.
    “I've been a part of many different ecosystems,” he said.
    “The ability for those three elements to work together, I saw here in Connecticut—mainly the ability of the large R1 research institutions to work with the state government, and also the workforce to really bring these new innovations to the marketplace—was exciting.”
    With QuantumCT, Green said he hopes to capitalize on that collaboration and engage with the business community to put a framework in place that will grow Connecticut’s quantum economy.
    He said some of Connecticut’s biggest industries like defense, advanced manufacturing, and finance give the state a leg up because they’ve been early adopters of new technology.
    “Regions that tend to thrive, there is an ecosystem around large anchor corporations,” Green said.
    “What's really, really important is that the large institutions, the large anchor organizations and companies, view and recognize the importance of those smaller new [companies].
    “They recognize that importance by being early adopters, by being helpful and in partnering with them for government grants, engaging with them.”
    Green said that while there’s a lot of work to do, he’s excited about what QuantumCT means for the future of Connecticut’s economy and workforce.
    “Ultimately,” he said, “we win when the seven year old says, ‘Oh, wow, I want to work in something associated with quantum,’ when that's no longer a mystery.”
    “The idea here is that QuantumCT really is about building that ecosystem that accomplishes that goal.”
    Related Links:
    QuantumCT
    Website: https://quantumct.org/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/quantumct/
    Dr. Albert Green LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albert-m-green/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    23 min
  • Shaping Connecticut’s Future
    Since the day it launched as Rebel Interactive in 2013, Rebellion Group has strived to do things differently.
    “I saw an opportunity to build an agency that was focused around disruption,” Rebellion Group CEO and owner Bryn Tindall told the CBIA BizCast.
    Tindall and senior vice president of client services Sam Barrett joined the BizCast to highlight the company’s evolution and the growth of its Shaping CT’s Future event series.
    The agency works with businesses for services including marketing, advertising, brand awareness, video production, customer engagement, and website development.
    “If you’re going to do great things in life, then you have to believe you have it in you to do it,” Tindall said.
    “And we were associating the word rebel with that inner essence, that inner belief that you could do amazing things.”
    The rebel spirit extends not only to the name of the company and the workforce—team members are known as rebels—but also to the physical space.
    The company themed every room in their Cheshire office after a well known rebel from history or pop culture.
    “It’s an environment that is fun to work in. You feel good when you’re in a good place,” said Barrett, who joined the company in 2023 just before they rebranded as Rebellion Group.
    Tindall said that rebrand was the next evolution of the company.
    “There’s a maturation that occurred,” he said. “So the version of today is a much more grown up version of what started 13 years ago.”
    “I feel like our aesthetic, the way we talk about ourselves, there’s that sense of depth and nuance,” Barrett added.
    “I think that lends itself to us being in conversations that potentially we weren’t in years ago.”
    Some of those conversations are happening in the form of Rebellion’s Shaping CT’s Future.
    The event series brings together stakeholders and thought leaders to dive into different important topics in the state.
    “We were in a perfect position to start to do something different and meaningful, to affect people’s lives, to benefit them,” Tindall said.
    “We have these organizations pitching in, coming in, willing to lend their thoughts, their time, their expertise, and I think it starts to become a coalition,” Barrett added.
    In its first year, the series grew from about 90 people to bring in hundreds of people to Rebellion’s event space.
    “I don’t think that we produce conferences,” Barrett said. “I like to say that we produce experiences.”
    “And so we want people to network. We want them to have a drink. We want to have intelligent conversation.”
    Tindall and Barrett said they are focusing on building on the momentum from their events to develop broader solutions.
    “There has to be next. We have to be able to have a path forward from here,” Tindall said.
    The second year of Shaping CT’s Future begins with a deep dive into the future of AI and cybersecurity.
    “We’re going to start generating themes, conduct in-depth analysis, and ultimately, recommendations, and that is a tangible product from the event,” Barret said.
    Rebellion is partnering with GreatBlue Research to capture data from the event.
    They also partnered with Fox 61 to live stream the event and so a broader audience can take part.
    “If we can get people in the room that can help inform what’s going on with important topics that are influencing business decisions, then our clients can be more successful,” Barrett added.
    “Ultimately, if Connecticut’s more successful then so are we.”
    Related Links:
    Rebellion Group
    Website: https://rebelliongroup.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rebelliongroup/
    Bryn Tindall on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryntindall/
    Sam Barrett on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barrettsamuel/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    33 min
  • Leading with Authenticity
    The Lee Company president and CEO Marietta Lee never saw herself leading the business her grandfather started 77 years ago.
    Today, the Westbrook-based manufacturer employs 1,200 people making miniature hydraulic components for the aerospace, medical, and automotive industries.
    “We are a family business,” Lee told the CBIA BizCast.
    “We’ve always treated our employees as our family and we’ve benefited from a lot of loyalty from our employees over the years.”
    But Lee, who was elected CBIA board chair in December 2024, started her career journey not just outside the family business, but far from the manufacturing floor.
    “It really wasn’t my dream to work there at all,” she said. “I went off to school and became a lawyer.”
    “I worked in TV news for a long time, that was what I wanted to do.”
    After several years working as an investigative journalist and having children, Lee moved back to Connecticut to be closer to family.
    “My dad came to me and said, ‘Have you ever thought about working at the company?’” she explained.
    After a lot of “soul searching” she decided to join the family business.
    Lee worked her way up, including earning a master’s degree in engineering management.
    “I worked in a lot of different facets of the company on my way to where I am now, which has been really invaluable,” she said.
    Lee became CEO of the company in 2023, but she points to the COVID-19 pandemic as a turning point in her career.
    Lee said she not only worried about her workers’ safety, but about getting groceries for her family as so many stores were impacted.
    “Somebody said, ‘How are you doing?’ And I just lost it,” she said.
    “I was like, ‘I am not good. I go home, I cry.’ I just totally let down my guard.
    “And the woman looked at me, and she was like ‘me too.’ And we had the best conversation.”
    Lee she’d previously emulated the styles of those that came before her, which she perceived as stoic and strong.
    “It sort of dawned on me that I need to be authentic. I need to be me.” she said.
    “I don’t have to be somebody else’s leader or lead the way somebody else does. I can be myself. It was refreshing.”
    Lee said that by being authentic and vulnerable, she works to empower the people that work for her.
    “I think people respond to it. And I make better decisions as a result,” she said.
    Lee acknowledged that being a woman in manufacturing isn’t easy.
    “I am usually the only woman at the table, and that’s kind of a lonely place,” she said.
    She said that when she joined The Lee Company, there were a lot of women, including young mothers.
    But there were not a lot of women in middle and upper management—something that has changed during her tenure.
    Lee also started “The Ladies of Lee,” an informal group that gets together every few months to talk about issues unique to being a woman in the workforce.
    “It’s always going to be tough, but to know that you have a little bit of a support system at work, I think is really great,” she said.
    Lee’s term as board chair comes at an historic time for CBIA and a pivotal moment for the state’s economy.
    “For the first time ever, we have more women than men on the board, which is really great,” she said.
    Lee said the diversity of the board of directors is critical, not just when it comes to gender, but also the size of the companies and the different industries represented.
    “Connecticut, I think, is in a really good place right now, and we have a great opportunity to make Connecticut even better for our business community,” she said.
    “I think it’s very important that we work hard to make Connecticut an affordable state for both potential employees and for businesses.”
    Related Links:
    The Lee Company
    Website: https://www.theleeco.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-lee-company/
    Marietta Lee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marietta-lee-17729410a/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    23 min
  • 'Moving the Needle' to Reimagine Connecticut
    With the start of the 2025 General Assembly session, the CBIA BizCast team sat down with CBIA vice president of public policy Chris Davis to discuss the session and CBIA’s ReimagineCT policy solutions.
    Supported by a bipartisan group of 73 lawmakers and a growing coalition of businesses, the policy solutions are designed to drive economic growth, address the high costs of living and running a business, expand career pathways, and foster innovation.
    "If legislators were able to really sit back and think about, 'Is this making Connecticut more affordable, and is it making easier to employ people here in Connecticut,' I think you'll see a lot of good legislation get passed," Davis said.
    CBIA developed the solutions in collaboration with residents and business leaders from across the state.
    “What’s really impressed me is the level of engagement that our business community has, especially around public policy issues,” Davis said.
    “These are items that they have said to us, ‘If we can implement these changes, we can really start moving the needle here in Connecticut to grow our economy and improve our workforce.’”
    Davis said the ReimagineCT policy solutions are a way to build coalitions around critical issues to the business community.
    “It's a way for us to really have those conversations across party lines about these real solutions that will really grow our economy and our workforce," Davis said.
    "Because at the end of the day, that's not a partisan issue.
    “Trying to get your constituents more access to jobs and trying to help those businesses within their communities, is something that transcends party.”
    While Davis and the CBIA’s policy team will be advocating for these solutions at the State Capitol, he said CBIA members and the business community also play an important role.
    “One of the key things that we do on our public policy team is getting out and meeting with members,” he said.
    “We oftentimes will bring a legislator with us and have them have the opportunity to see firsthand exactly how that business operates here in Connecticut.
    “Hearing directly from your own constituent business can play such a huge role in your decision making process as a legislator.”
    Related Links:
    ReimagineCT: https://www.cbia.com/news/media-center/reimaginect-cbia-2025-policy-solutions-2
    https://www.cbia.com/resources/issues-policies/reimaginect-general-assembly-pledges
    CBIA Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    22 min
  • CBIA BizCast: STEM Lab Turns Play Into Learning
    On any given day after school, you might think kids would rather play than to keep going to class.
    But in a way, that’s just what’s happening at the Wakeman Boys & Girls Club’s new STEM lab at their Madison Avenue community clubhouse in Bridgeport.
    The organization gave the CBIA BizCast team an up-close look at the space that they built in partnership with global semiconductor industry leader ASML.
    “We have about 50 to 75 kids, depending on the day, that are coming in regularly, to use our space,” said Wakeman Boys & Girls Club CEO Sabrina Smeltz.
    “When you have the opportunity to see the students in the kids in this space, they look like they're playing, but they're learning,” said ASML program manager for society and community engagement Brian Amero.
    “They're actively learning. They’re problem solving.”
    The Wakeman Boys & Girls Club first opened its doors in Southport in 1913.
    The organization opened its first location in Bridgeport about 15 years ago, and opened the Madison Ave. clubhouse in 2023.
    The facility offers programs for kids aged three up to 18, with an early learning preschool center and after school programs including sports, arts, technology, and STEM.
    “It's a community center, it's a partnership, and it's an awesome space,” said Smeltz.
    Wakeman’s relationship with ASML began a few years ago.
    The Netherlands-based company, which employs 3,300 people at its Wilton location, is an advanced lithography company that makes machines used to produce microchips.
    Amero, who started with the company in 2022, was looking to build new community partnerships.
    “It's not enough for us to write a check, slap our logo on something, and walk away from it,” Amero said.
    “We wanted a seat at the table. This entire process has been incredibly hands-on for us.”
    That partnership led to the creation of the STEM lab.
    “There's been a lot of intentionality around this,” Smeltz said. “We both went into this being transformational.”
    “We built in staff time and training time to be able to be successful, because ultimately, we don't want a whole bunch of stuff just sitting in a room.
    ”We want it to be used all the time.”
    Smelz said ASML helped them train their staff to run the lab, which offers everything from robotics to hydroponics, mechanics, engineering, and STEM art learning opportunities.
    “We're challenging our kids to learn,” she said.
    And it’s not just Wakeman staff that are getting hands on with the kids. ASML employees also spend a lot of time volunteering at the club.
    The company provides eight hours of PTO time for full-time employees to volunteer.
    “When the students here have the opportunity to engage with ASML employees, they see themselves reflected in our workforce,” Amero said.
    “And if they can do it, so can you. And I love that secondary benefit to giving back to our community."
    Smeltz said the skills the students are gaining in the lab go beyond learning technical skills.
    “Sometimes these projects don't go the way they planned,” she said.
    “And I think that sometimes is even the more exciting part of it, because our kids are learning in a day-to-day environment that isn't scripted, but is helping them learn how to solve the problem, deal with conflict.”
    “The skills that they're learning in this lab are the skills that will help elevate them to jobs and career success,” Amero added
    “It is absolutely magic. It's just great to see.”
    Related Links:
    Wakeman Boys & Girls Club
    Website: https://www.wakemanclub.org/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wakeman-boys-girls-club/
    Sabrina Smeltz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabrinasmeltz/
    ASML
    Website: https://www.asml.com/en
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asml/
    Brian Amero on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bamero/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    31 min
  • CBIA BizCast: Words of Wisdom
    Over the course of this past year, we’ve spoken with some exceptional leaders on the CBIA BizCast.
    Some are entrepreneurs, growing successful businesses.
    Others are changemakers, leading organizations with lasting legacies in Connecticut.
    These leaders have not only shared their stories, but also insights and wisdom into overcoming challenges, building successful teams.
    To close out 2024, we wanted to share some of those stories.
    This episode features insights from:
    Jeremy Bronen, founder and CEO, SedMed
    Stephen Tagliatela, managing partner, and Chris Bird, general manager, Saybrook Point Resort & Marina
    Jill Mayer, CEO, Bead Industries Inc.
    Meghan Scanlon, president and CEO, Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence
    Stephen Moroney, market president for Connecticut and Rhode Island, TD Bank
    Mike Abramson, General Manager, Hartford Yard Goats
    Jamie Lissette, president, Popup Bagels
    Kevin Barros, president and CEO, The Computer Company
    Jenny Drescher and Ellen Feldman Ornato, co-founders, The Bolder Company
    Carmen Romeo, president, Fascia’s Chocolates
    Elona Shape, market retail leader, KeyBank
    Sal Marino, director of finance and operations, Charles IT
    Carl Zuanelli, founder and CEO, Nuovo Pasta Productions, Ltd
    Thank you to all of the leaders who sat down with us this year.
    And we want to thank you for listening and watching the BizCast. We look forward to sharing more insights, lessons, and stories of success in 2025.
    Connect with CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    17 min
  • Fascia’s Chocolates’ Sweet Legacy
    Fascia’s Chocolates president Carmen Romeo has a sweet job.
    “I still have a vision that until everybody has had a piece of Fascia’s Chocolates, then my job's not done,” Romeo told the CBIA BizCast.
    But Romeo wasn’t always in the chocolate business.
    As an engineer, Romeo spent the first part of his career working for different manufacturing companies in different parts of the country.
    In 1995, he met his wife Louise, the daughter of John and Helen Fascia, the founders of Fascia’s Chocolates.
    “When you marry into the family, you learn quickly about the business,” Romeo said.
    Fascia’s has been part of the Waterbury community for 60 years, ever since John Fascia started the business in his basement when Helen was pregnant with Louise.
    “He just wanted to make a little extra money,” Romeo said.
    “He would go to New York and buy nuts—literally, big bags of nuts—and re-bag them and sell them to his coworkers.
    “And somebody finally said, ‘You should put chocolate with those.’”
    Fourteen years later, the business outgrew the basement and moved into its first retail store, even though John Fascia was still working full-time as an electronic technician.
    “When they finally went all in in 1985 it was a risk, but they had enough of a following that they were able to stay and grow,” Romeo said.
    Things changed in 2008, when the Fascias were notified that their lease was ending.
    “They’re forced to move without a retirement plan,” Romeo said. “And that was really when it was a little bit of crisis mode.”
    At the same time, the company Romeo was working for was moving and he didn’t want to move with it.
    “So I convinced my wife that we should be in the chocolate business,” he said.
    Romeo said it wasn’t always easy, but they were able to slowly rebuild.
    That rebuilding process began with the product itself, still made the old fashioned way.
    “The product is as pure as it’s ever been, and as long as I’m around, we’ll stay that way,” he said.
    Romeo’s main goal early on was getting the company more well known.
    Romeo said they began doing events, like chocolate lessons teaching people about making truffles or pairing classes.
    “We then focused on, not only making and selling chocolate, but what we call experiencing your chocolate,” Romeo said.
    He said that helped them buy the building they are in today, setting themselves up for future growth.
    Romeo said the company has evolved to focus on retail, tourism, and an expanding wholesale market.
    You can now find the company’s chocolates in 135 locations—and counting.
    The company also offers custom orders for businesses, including using company logos to create molded chocolates for branded boxes.
    “It comes down to the product itself,” Romeo said. “If I can get it into people’s mouths, it usually does the job.”
    Romeo said that it’s not always easy to do business in Connecticut, but he’s motivated to keep it going as a testament to his in-laws and the legacy they created.
    “I want to be able to live on the business,” he said. “I want to be able to say it was successful.
    “But the legacy from my in laws—it’s the family name, and I don’t ever forget that. It’s the family name.”
    And Romeo said he hopes that legacy will continue with the next generation.
    His son has joined the family business as wholesale manager.
    In the end, Romeo said the goal is to keep creating memories for their customers.
    “When a mother comes in with her daughter and says, ‘I had Fascia’s at my wedding as a favor, now my daughter is going to have it as a favor,’ there’s nothing more gratifying than that,” he said.
    “That’s the legacy that we want to continue.”
    Related Links
    Fascia’s Chocolates
    Website: https://faschoc.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fascia's-chocolate's/
    Carmen Romeo LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmenromeo/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    38 min
  • Saybrook Point 'All in on Connecticut'
    “Our number one market is Connecticut. We’re all in on Connecticut,” Saybrook Point Resort and Marina managing partner Stephen Tagliatela told the CBIA BizCast.
    The BizCast sat down with Taglietala and general manager Chris Bird at the resort overlooking the mouth of the Connecticut River.
    “We’re part of the community. We’re all open doors,” Tagliatela said.
    Those doors have been open since 1980 when Tagliatela’s family bought the former Terra Mar property, once a popular destination for Frank Sinatra and other members of the Rat Pack.
    Since then, the resort has grown to include not only the marina and guest rooms, but also restaurants, a full service spa, pools, and gymnasiums that are open to the community.
    “I think what makes it so special is the history, and 100% is the team,” said Bird, who joined the resort in 2022.
    “We hear it constantly, how genuine the team is. And you know, it’s one thing to have and talk about being a family property or family business, and it’s another that that is your value—run it like a business and have those family values.”
    Bird and Tagliatela said the team is indispensable to the resort’s success.
    “What’s really important for us is we have to take care of our customers,” Tagliatela said.
    “But in order for us to take care of our customers, we have to take care of our employees.”
    Bird said that when they look to bring on new employees, they “hire for personality and train for skill.”
    “We are very good about finding people who are gracious, are upfront, are very guest forward.”
    The company also partners with organizations like Lumibility, which helps people with differing abilities transition into the workforce.
    They’ve also worked with reentry programs, helping train formerly incarcerated individuals with skills to enter the workforce.
    “We just feel so strongly that we have to be the flagship, the steward of this area,” Bird said.
    “And so whenever it comes time for somebody who we can partner with we can help—we’re quick to do it.”
    Another of the family and business values is to ensure that they help preserve the local environment.
    “We want to be good stewards of this environment, because it’s so special,” said Tagliatela.
    The property was the state’s first certified clean marina, green hotel, and Energy Star hotel.
    “We have this outstanding natural resource here that is so beautiful and has remained beautiful over the course of time,” Tagliatela said.
    Tagliatela and Bird also stressed the importance of being part of the broader tourism community.
    Tagliatela started the Connecticut Tourism Coalition seven years ago.
    The organization brings partners together from around the state to advocate for the industry and the importance of tourism marketing.
    “It’s not just in my mind that you’re marketing a guest room,” he said. “You’re marketing a future resident.
    “Because so many people that come and visit us here, they move into our own neighborhoods.
    “We really try to bring home the revenue, demonstrate that the revenue is so much greater when they just put a little bit of advertising into the program.”
    Looking ahead, Bird and Tagliatela said they have some exciting initiatives on the horizon including personalized butler service.
    “We’re seeing more and more of the luxury guests wanting more luxury experiences, more curated experiences, and so we’re really excited to launch that next year,” Bird said.
    “When you have a team that knows that they can consistently do everything and to make it world class, they make it world class.”
    Related Links:
    Saybrook Point Resort and Marina
    Website: https://www.saybrook.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/saybrook-point-inn-&-spa/
    Stephen Tagliatela LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-tagliatela-ab7056b9/
    Chris Bird LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-bird-5764a815/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    25 min
  • Building Relationships with TD Bank's Moroney
    “If you like what you do and you like who you do it with, you don't run away from happiness,” TD Bank’s Steve Moroney told the CBIA BizCast.
    Moroney has spent his entire 20-plus year career with the bank, including running the bank’s Westchester and Fairfield markets before being named market president for Connecticut and Rhode Island.
    “I've always liked the culture,” he said. “I love the brand, I love the people.”
    While he’s called Connecticut home since 2008, Moroney felt like he was starting over when he made the shift to New England.
    “The colleagues now that I have to lead, don't know who I am,” he said. “My peers that I need to get things done and be successful do not know who I am."
    Moroney said it was important for him to spend a lot of time getting to know his new team.
    “It's important for them to know that I'm someone that they want to follow,” he said.
    “So trying to be an empathetic leader, listening to them, finding out what's working, finding out what's not working.”
    As he’s built relationships with businesses, Moroney said he’s gained a new appreciation for manufacturing in Connecticut, and the industry’s impact on the state economy.
    “It's just a lot of fun as a banker to work with people and work with businesses that create things and build things,” he said.
    Moroney said it's particularly rewarding to be able to help small and mid-sized businesses achieve their goals.
    “You feel like you’re making more of an impact,” he said. “That piece of equipment that you're helping this company buy is really going to allow them to bring their business from good to great."
    Moroney said that many manufacturers in the state face similar challenges for their businesses' success.
    “I would say their concerns are all the same, which is mostly finding top talent, insurance costs, and energy costs."
    “I think our legislators and our local politicians in the state are going to be motivated to try to fix that for our manufacturers, because they see what a big part of GDP manufacturing is," Moroney said.
    Moroney also pointed to the shifting landscape surrounding interest rates as an important factor for manufacturers.
    He said when interest rates started spiking in 2022, manufacturers took a close look at their margins and profits.
    “I think a lot of manufacturers and other businesses started saying, ‘Maybe we're not going to invest in that piece of equipment, maybe we're not going to make that acquisition, maybe we're going to wait,’” he said.
    As rates come down, Moroney said many manufacturers will be able to take advantage of the lower cost of capital.
    Moroney said that as interest rates fall, TD Bank advises companies to be strategic about their opportunities to grow.
    “You want to make sure that you have the right talent for your growth,” he said.
    “The leadership table that you have might have allowed you to be successful, to grow from this point, it may not be the right leadership table to get you to the next point.”
    He said the second thing to consider is making sure companies are growing for the right reasons.
    “Sometimes chasing this new business that I don't have expertise in, I may not have the talent, I may not have the machinery, or I'm going to have to invest so much in machinery—if you don't execute, it could really hurt your business," he said.
    “So I think responsible growth and making sure you have the right talent is the key to the game.
    Related Links:
    TD Bank
    Website: https://www.td.com/us/en/personal-banking
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/td/
    Steve Moroney on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-moroney-3576094/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    23 min

About CBIA BizCast

From the publisher's feed

A podcast for the business-minded in Connecticut. Interviews consist of business and community leaders who are shaping the future of Connecticut’s economy. The CBIA BizCast provides new content every other week, introduces members of the business community, and tells stories about how businesses are innovating and growing in Connecticut!