Nominations for Retailer of the Year
Registration for CRN Big Fall event open
News and notes from around the State Capitol
News and notes from around the state
- Nominations for the 2023 Retailer of the Year remain open until Tuesday, September 12, 2023. You can send in your nomination – including for your own company – by sending the nomination to CRN President Tim Phelan at tim@ctretailnetwork.com.
- While we have already received some excellent nominations and are super excited to review those, we are still strongly encouraging retailers throughout the state to send in your nomination today.
- The Retailer of the Year is the highest award that CRN can bestow on a retail business, and we have a long list of distinguished retailers that have received the award.
- It is important to remember that the CRN Board looks at all nominations that are submitted and recognizes excellence in retail in a variety of ways – from excellence in community service, to marketing and outreach, to customer and employee relations.
- So, please consider all those aspects – and others that we may have missed – and send in your nomination today!
Registrations for CRN Big Fall event open
- We will honor a retailer with our Retailer of The Year award during our annual event that is being held on Wednesday morning, October 11, 2023, at the Bushnell Theater in Hartford.
- Registration for that big event is open now! You can go online and fill your registration form by going to our website, www.ctretailnetwork.com.
- This year in addition to honoring retailers, we will be hearing from Mr. Mark Matthews, Vice President, Research Development and Industry Analysis, for the National Retail Federation.
- Mr. Matthews will give us a “Retail Economic Outlook” and will discuss the current state of the retail industry nationwide, the health of the consumer, and some key trends that are emerging ahead of the holiday shopping season.
- We are also excited to recognize our 2021 Legislator of the Year Rep. Kerry Wood for her unwavering support of the retail industry. Rep. Wood received this award “virtually” in 2021 and now that we are back in-person, we are thrilled that she will be joining us to receive the award in person.
- So, we are very excited about this year’s Big Fall Event, and we hope you and your colleagues will join us – Wednesday morning, October 11, 9:00 – 11:30 AM. Doors will open at 8:30.
- Please register today to secure your seat!
News and notes from around the State Capitol
- Tuesday is Primary Day throughout Connecticut. Primary elections for Mayor are being held across the state on Tuesday, including in Bridgeport, New Haven, Middletown, Hartford, Hamden, and West Haven. Connecticut Post has a round-up of the contests here.
- One race we have been keeping our eye on is the contest for the next Mayor of the Capitol City of Hartford. Current Finance Committee Co-Chair Sen. John Fonfara failed to receive his party’s nomination to run for mayor, but secured enough signatures to gain a place on the primary ballot.
- The three Hartford mayoral candidates seeking the Democratic nomination appeared Thursday in a televised debate. CTNewsJunkie has the highlights here. We will be keeping a close eye on the race due to Fonfara’s position as Finance Committee Co-Chair and will keep you posted in next week’s FF.
- Another interesting primary for Mayor is taking place in Bridgeport, where incumbent Mayor Joe Ganim is in a typical Bridgeport showdown, with challenger Johnny Gomes. Ganim came out with a pretty hard-hitting piece against Gomes this week. You can take a look at the story by going here.
- Sen. James Maroney has created a new task force to look at the issue of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on business and government.
- We have been added to the notification list to attend Maroney’s task force meetings and will keep a close eye on this emerging issue that is sure to be looked at in more detail next legislative session.
- In his first monthly financial update for Fiscal Year 2024, state Comptroller Sean Scanlon projected a General Fund surplus of $390.2 million and a Special Transportation Fund surplus of $204.2 million. CTNewsJunkie’s Christine Stuart reports on the numbers here.
- Gov. Ned Lamont introduced Nora R. Dannehy as his nominee to the Connecticut Supreme Court, a second effort to fill a vacancy after an earlier nominee failed to win confirmation by the General Assembly. CT Mirror’s Mark Pazniokas reports on the nomination here.
- Two Connecticut Governors – Ned Lamont and M. Jodi Rell – will be discussing civility in politics at an event sponsored by the University of Hartford and Connecticut Public next week. Details from CT by the Numbers here.
News and notes from around the state
- A long-awaited sports bar and sports betting venue at the western edge of Hartford’s XL Center will debut tomorrow with a soft opening, just as the NFL season gets underway. Hartford Business Journal provides a preview here.
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declared a federal agriculture disaster declaration due to the heavy rainfall that occurred in early July and caused significant flood damage to the state’s farms and crops. Fairfield County Business Journal has the details here.
- If every unemployed person in Connecticut were hired tomorrow there would still be 22,000 openings, according to the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA). Fairfield County Business Journal explores the numbers here.
- Connecticut officials marked the upcoming 22nd anniversary of the 9-11 attack in New York City with the annual remembrance in Westport. CT Post has that story here.