Anthony Musto

Musto Attends Bridgeport Job Creation Workshop

Small businesses connect with new ‘Jobs Bill’ programs to aid in their growth

BRIDGEPORT—This morning State Senator Anthony Musto (D-Trumbull) joined Bridgeport area business leaders in attending a job creation workshop at Housatonic Community College, hosted by the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).

“Last year’s bipartisan jobs legislation created multiple incentives to help small businesses grow and to hire and train new workers. Job creation is our number one priority, and it's important to inform businesses all around the state, and especially in our urban centers, of how they can use these tax benefits to grow their businesses and create jobs in Connecticut,” said Senator Musto.

Today’s workshop was the 8th of 10 planned events hosted by DECD to inform participants about the bipartisan jobs legislation passed last October, as well as existing programs to assist Connecticut businesses.

Nearly 800 people have attended these workshops so far, seeking advice and direction regarding the state’s economic development tools.  The events have led to more than 144 applications for the state new Small Business Express Program (EXP), which provides a total of $100 million loans and grants to help the state’s small businesses grow.

The Small Business Express Program was created by the October Jobs Bill, which also:

• Establishes the Job Expansion Tax Credit (JET) for businesses ($500 per new hire)
• Credit increases for the unemployed, veterans or disabled ($900/hire)
• Creates the STEP Up program to subsidize hiring and training of new employees
• Cuts the $250/year business entity tax in half, by making it payable biannually
• Expands the successful “First Five” program to cover 10 companies total

For those unable to attend today’s workshop, DECD has scheduled two online webinars that will cover the same topics.  They will be held January 18 from 9-10 a.m. and January 19 from 1-2 p.m. Visit www.decd.org to participate.

To find out more about other provisions of the bipartisan Jobs Bill, visit: http://senatedems.ct.gov/GrowJobs.php

State Senator Anthony Musto represents the 22nd District towns of Trumbull, Bridgeport and Monroe. He is Senate Chair of the Human Services Committee.