Valley firm faces 'devastating' job cuts

Donna wrote:

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When a union was able to get into a Walmart, that Walmart shut its doors because they didn't want to pay fair wages and healthcare.

They do pay fair wages, all over the country. people work non-union at agreed pay rates all the time. That's fair, if you understand even basic economics. Wal-mart getting union-raped into paying union rates is not fair, and they would no longer beable to compete int he market, so once again, with the union, everyone loses except the greedy, lazy alcoholic bums of union members.

Donna wrote:

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The car manufacturers in this country are shutting its doors leaving many people jobless, and what people keep forgetting is we all pay when this happens,

The unionized auto plants are shutting down, while foerign competition is opening new and thriving plants run with NON UNION labor. That might tell you something. The non-union plants work, the union plants don't.

Unions wreck the economy.

This could be the perfect opportunity for Ansonia and other Valley towns to shed their old, run down industrial image. Soon enough the economy will improve again, and if local officials think outside of the box and start planning NOW, good things will happen down the road.

In my opinion, they should work on redeveloping those 42 acres mentioned in the article. It's the perfect area to move the Riverwalk through downtown up to Seymour. They should also include the Dairy Mart plaza and all those seedy-looking apartments over in that area. Create one giant parcel from the Church down, it could be something really big for the town and a much needed makeover.

Redevelopment ASAP wrote:

All those factories down there could be demolished and turned into a huge retail complex. The southern end of downtown already has Target, Bob's, Marshall's, etc. They should encourage this kind of stuff further north of downtown where those decrepit Farrell and Brass factories sit. Look at what they did in Waterbury years ago. That area by St. Mary's Hospital looked like a cesspool. Now they have the very profitable Brass City Mall.

Duuuuh People need JOBS to earn the money to spend at a Mall. You think putting a MALL in will solve Ansonia's problems? Ok Build a Mall, hire locals to work there, and then let them shop there. Who from Waterbury/Trumbull/Danbury etc will go to Ansonia for a MALL? It will only be locals. You need to creat middle class jobs. RETAIL WON'T GET IT DONE

Once again- Retrain and adapt to what is paying-X-Ray Tech, HVAC, Medical coding, global trade, ECT.
Unions had their time and place when Corps took advantage of the workers, but, just like EVERYTHING ELSE- GREED has effected everything and everyone....

Copper City Woes wrote:

This could be the perfect opportunity for Ansonia and other Valley towns to shed their old, run down industrial image. Soon enough the economy will improve again, and if local officials think outside of the box and start planning NOW, good things will happen down the road.
In my opinion, they should work on redeveloping those 42 acres mentioned in the article. It's the perfect area to move the Riverwalk through downtown up to Seymour. They should also include the Dairy Mart plaza and all those seedy-looking apartments over in that area. Create one giant parcel from the Church down, it could be something really big for the town and a much needed makeover.

How do you pay for that?

Wow... reading this is now Ansonia's big chance to advance:
An Out-siders story
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g2...

"You need to creat middle class jobs. RETAIL WON'T GET IT DONE."

As an ex-Ct resident who has seen a well-functioning economy elsewhere for 10 years, you must be dreaming. Why would anyone add middle class jobs in a high tax, high wage, high utility, anti-business climate like Ct? Retail comes because it can't get the money and operate elsewhere.

Jeff H wrote:

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How do you pay for that?

Federal brownfields grants, state grants, secial bonding. Let's not pretend it can't be done. It comes down to vision and drive. It's been done before, remember what was there before the Home Depot in Derby, the Shelton Riverwalk Park, Stop & Shop in Seymour, Brass Mill in Waterbury? If it can be done in those towns, or sin city, it could be done anywhere.

Not to mention, any intelligent person could see that the city is collecting practically NOTHING in taxes for 42+ acres. Why? Because it's underutilized, empty factories. It might be worth the initial investment to wipe the area clean and start over. That's the only way the town would ever get close to what it should be for tax revenue on the property.

RalfMalf wrote:

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Duuuuh People need JOBS to earn the money to spend at a Mall. You think putting a MALL in will solve Ansonia's problems? Ok Build a Mall, hire locals to work there, and then let them shop there. Who from Waterbury/Trumbull/Danbury etc will go to Ansonia for a MALL? It will only be locals. You need to creat middle class jobs. RETAIL WON'T GET IT DONE

Unfortunately, if you were paying attention you'd see why these kinds of businesses are closing down. Manufacturing is no longer sustainable in this country, let alone in a business-unfriendly, tax-hungry state like Connecticut!

It'd be very hard to find a similar business to move in and take its place. They even tried to subdivide the property a few years ago... and look, nothing! No one gives property like that a second look. The best you're going to get today is light industry at best. More likely, you obtain a a federal brownfields grant, raze everything, remediate the property of all the pollution, cap the site, and market the property to someone interested in office space or retail. Even Stop & Shop in Ansonia was the former site of a successful manufacturer at one time. Our economy has been in transition for 20 years now from heavy to light industry, in addition to growth in the service, office, and retail sectors. It's not the best thing to happen. But it's a sign of the times and people/town officials need to adapt or risk ending up left in the dust.

Seymour and Beacon Falls are already in the planning stages of a huge, smart-growth, planned-community on the site of former industrial property behind Stop & Shop along the Naugatuck River. They're even talking about relocating the train station to the sprawling property so that people can take the train to work. They'd also be able to walk to the stores, restaraunts, and other downtown amenities without ever having to get in the car. Ansonia can sit around and hope another factory moves to town. But I wouldn't bet my money on it. It's better to think out of the box like surrounding towns.

As an Oxford resident I am almost scared to drive by the area of those old closed factories or the front door main street corridor to the town's Main Street. I WONDER IF THE OWNERS OF THOSE BUILDINGS ARE RECEIVING THERE FAIR SHARE OF A $100.00 A DAY FINE- PENALTY FOR PROPERTY REHAB REQUIREMENTS. I recall one windy day a piece of the building (metal strip) blew of the side of the structure and landed in back of my pick-up. No damage but if there was damage health or otherwise the liability would be interesting. Reading local news from time to time I hear they want to squeeze or develop a power plant mixed or hidden in that mess.
That should couple nicely with a river walk beautification project.
I am trying to imagine what visually pleasing views are offered within the Ansonia’s river walk segment other than a 25 foot cement retaining wall, dirt containment hill, viewing of closed factories and retail traffic.

As a north end resident I run and walk my dogs all over Ansonia from as early as 5am to as late as 11pm (young woman) and NEVER have had a problem. If your scared to drive past abondoned buildings then your gonna have to leave Connecticut because as a former industrial state they are everywhere.

And the one "tripadvisor" rating is just one individuals opinion of Ansonia, so what's that worth? Stop posting it in every Ansonia related thread....

Back to topic; My regards goes out to the people losing their jobs.

Too bad we couldn't elect George Bush another four years and totally wipe out our manufacturing. We lost over 600 good paying Paper Mill jobs in Northern New Hampshire since he was elected. Now all who stay have to look forward to is the next Walmart Greeter job opening.

Kevin Fortin Berlin NH wrote:

Too bad we couldn't elect George Bush another four years and totally wipe out our manufacturing. We lost over 600 good paying Paper Mill jobs in Northern New Hampshire since he was elected. Now all who stay have to look forward to is the next Walmart Greeter job opening.

What did George Bush have to do with it? I think you can thank your liberal buddies just a bit more than George. Jiobs are gone because of high costs here, made that wy by liberal policy, not by george bush.

Good try, though, you can snag a lot of ignorant fools with that bullsh!t.

Yes We Can wrote:

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Federal brownfields grants, state grants, secial bonding. Let's not pretend it can't be done. It comes down to vision and drive. It's been done before,

Good answer!

Agree with "Valley Trash" on the numerous plant closing across the state as I worked at both Bridgeport Machines and AVCO/Textron Lycoming for years to name a couple. We all have to pick up our pieces and act as our own redevelopers. This means for our personal and public safety interests. It is instinctive for us to stay strong with our ability to remove what is bad around us or not good for us financially and get back on our feet again quick enough to succeed with a new sheet of paper. Do not dwell on the old times you will be left behind with a mess if you wait for the door to close on you. Both jobs I mentioned above did that to me but I went to work before they won their own fight of closing in my face. Now both old developments above as well as Ansonia continues to be De-Faced (correct only one opinion here).
Valley Trash - I'm not quite sure what you are referring to as a "tripadvisor" and a stop posting request as it relates to Ansonia. I do hear many opinions about the town but your saying there is something actually publicized about such a small town? Internet blog link maybe?

"Too bad we couldn't elect George Bush another four years and totally wipe out our manufacturing."

The worst decade for Ct mfg was the bloodbath of the mostly late 1990s. By the time the 00-01 recession had started (during BCs' last months), 120k of 300k (405) of Ct mfg jobs were gone.

A good example of the affect Cts' high wages/taxes/utilities had on this can be found by looking up Casco US mfg facilities:

In 1990, they made all their lighters in Bridgeport, CT.

In 2008, all US mfg is done in either Kentucky or Mississippi.

Many other manufacturers stayed in the US after departing Ct.(Carpenter Steel went to Pa, for example).

The problem is an internal Ct Cost of Doing Business problem. Whomever is the president cannot mitigate Cts' problems being competitive vs 49 other states.

405 should read 40 percent!