ATTENDANCE – Attendance spiked thanks to a move back to a luncheon meeting. We moved to a breakfast meeting about six months ago, but attendance hovered in the low-mid teens. This week (Feb. 6) we returned to the luncheon format, still at the Country Club of Farmington, and achieved a welcome attendance of 24 Rotarians plus one guest. Let’s make this attendance a trend!!!!
ANNOUNCEMENTS – Patty Strazzulla, chair of the March Madness wine tasting, said plans for the event are going well overall, though obtaining sponsorships has been problematic.
SPEAKER – Our own Rose Ponte, director of Farmington economic development, gave us a lesson in just what economic development is and how Farmington is doing. She defined economic development as the effort of a municipality to “create and cultivate a fertile business climate in order to increase jobs and the town’s grand list of taxable property.”
She compared her job to the plate spinners who were frequent guests on the old Ed Sullivan Show during the 1960s. Those entertainers had to keep their eyes on multiple plates that were spinning on thin rods in order to keep them spinning. Likewise, she has to keep her attention on all the different elements of Farmington businesses in order to keep the town growing the way the residents and taxpayers want it to grow.
“When you look at Farmington, we are the economic leader in the Hartford region. We have the lowest tax rate in the 40-town region,” she said. “We have a population of 25,000 and have more people who work in Farmington than actually live here. We also have one of the lowest unemployment rates.”