Senator McCrory Highlights State Investment in Hartford’s Swift Factory
For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Senator Doug McCrory, D-Hartford, visited the Swift Factory in Hartford Tuesday to highlight the work of the North Hartford Partnership, a recipient of a $900,000 Community Investment Fund grant intended to offset the cost of establishing a community Workforce and Youth Hub.
The grant was awarded by a state program designed to encourage economic development in historically underserved communities through investments in municipalities, nonprofits, and other organizations supporting community development.
“The North Hartford Partnership’s work at the Swift Factory is exactly the sort of project we had in mind when we created the Community Investment Fund,” Senator McCrory said. “By transforming a longstanding eyesore into a hub of support for local entrepreneurs, the Swift Factory proves that our community has the ability to thrive when government provides resources and then gets out of their way. I’m honored I could help support that mission.”
The partnership owns and operates a roughly 80,000 square foot facility in a formerly abandoned gold leafing factory in Hartford’s North End. The campus now serves as a multipurpose hub for local entrepreneurs, offering kitchen and office space as well as services like an early childhood education program run by the Capitol Region Education Council.
This year’s CIF grant will help the North Hartford Partnership expand its already robust services through a workforce development center as well as a new Energy Justice and Climate Resilience Hub, where local organizations will collaborate on strategies for transitioning to renewable energy and resiliency planning.
“This investment is critical to confronting the injustice of our past,” Brenda Watson, executive director of the North Hartford Partnership, said. “This community has been left behind, despite that, the talent, the dream makers, the builders, who contribute to our economy and our culture, come from this community. And we want to remain here or come back, to give back and make it better because this is our ‘Main Street!’ Investments in economic development don’t start or end Downtown.
“Main Streets are located throughout our great city and thanks to the support and commitment of Senator McCrory, and this award, we can offer more opportunities for the next generation of talent, dream makers and builders! Come to Swift, and you’ll see and feel this magic for yourself,” Executive Director Watson said.
This roughly $5 million project is expected to begin next April and be completed by the end next year. The expansion is expected to serve more than 950 disconnected, working-age adults in the Hartford area, facilitate the creation of more than 42 new jobs, and create 100 before and after-school child care spots.
Tuesday’s event featured a performance by the Hartford’s Proud Drill Drum and Dance Corp, a community organization based in the Swift Factory and designed to give the community’s young people constructive opportunities to showcase their talent.
The Hartford’s Proud Drill Drum and Dance Corp was in the process of moving their operation into the Swift Factory. Terry Starks, the group’s founder and CEO, called the state investment in the Swift Factory “a game changer.”
“This has been a miracle,” Starks said Tuesday.
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