New London Promotions
New London Promotions is a newly launched endeavor with a mission to promote the economic community of greater New London, Connecticut. This is in response and recognition of the present economic climate of the city juxtaposed against the potential for the city to enjoy a new and unique prosperity and revitalization at the center of the southeastern Connecticut region.
In recent decades, New London has experienced what has become the norm for American cities, especially those that were once prosperous and vital economic engines. New London has seen a shrinking of both population and wealth, with the resulting high unemployment, empty commercial buildings and residential properties, crime, drug trafficking, and more.
And yet the city lies at the mouth of a deep water river, with both river and ocean front properties, a port for large ships and pleasure boats. There are multiple colleges and technical schools, a major hospital and multiple medical centers, a vibrant arts community, museums, parks, restaurants, and a robust schedule of public events. New London should in many ways be a prosperous city with high employment, low crime, and loyal residents.
In fact, though, the median income of city residents at $40,000 is the lowest in the region (neighboring and nearby towns run from $65,000 to over $100,000). There are many reasons for this, of course, and changing this reality lies at the heart of New London Promotion's core mission.
Conversely, efforts to make New London more like Mystic, Newport or Essex miss the mark and the greater opportunity presented by New London. Those towns have prosperous businesses whose employees can't afford to live where they work, while the fine and expensive real estate is owned by people whose income often and largely depends on sources centered far from where they live. This makes all of the residents of these towns vulnerable to buying, re-locating, and employment decisions far outside the control of most residents or employees of these towns. Thus they are not what can honestly be described as economic communities.They do, however, attract large amounts of imported income, which is necessary to any township faced with maintaining balance of trade between the import/export of dollars, whether in the form of goods, services, or cash. This will be expanded on at a later posting.
New London, in its' unique position of undervalued and underutilized yet immensely valuable assets, is poised to develop a new kind of economic prosperity, where the economy within the city limits supports and sustains a decent standard of living for it's residents. The instrument of this prosperity, already growing roots in numerous sections of the city's economy, is a balanced and sustaining economic community.
To accomplish this, four areas of the economic community will need to be promoted and grown on an ongoing basis:
1) local patronage of locally owned businesses, to keep more money in the city's economy
2) draw people into the city to patronize city businesses, performances, and other economic engines, on a regular and ongoing basis.
3) rehabilitate the city's image in both tangible and perceived ways
4) attract new residents to the city and it's evolving lifestyle
There is much work to be done in New London, part of which is letting people know what positive things are happening in the city. That is the role to be played by New London Promotions, in line with the principles of a sustaining economic community as referenced above.
In recent decades, New London has experienced what has become the norm for American cities, especially those that were once prosperous and vital economic engines. New London has seen a shrinking of both population and wealth, with the resulting high unemployment, empty commercial buildings and residential properties, crime, drug trafficking, and more.
And yet the city lies at the mouth of a deep water river, with both river and ocean front properties, a port for large ships and pleasure boats. There are multiple colleges and technical schools, a major hospital and multiple medical centers, a vibrant arts community, museums, parks, restaurants, and a robust schedule of public events. New London should in many ways be a prosperous city with high employment, low crime, and loyal residents.
In fact, though, the median income of city residents at $40,000 is the lowest in the region (neighboring and nearby towns run from $65,000 to over $100,000). There are many reasons for this, of course, and changing this reality lies at the heart of New London Promotion's core mission.
Conversely, efforts to make New London more like Mystic, Newport or Essex miss the mark and the greater opportunity presented by New London. Those towns have prosperous businesses whose employees can't afford to live where they work, while the fine and expensive real estate is owned by people whose income often and largely depends on sources centered far from where they live. This makes all of the residents of these towns vulnerable to buying, re-locating, and employment decisions far outside the control of most residents or employees of these towns. Thus they are not what can honestly be described as economic communities.They do, however, attract large amounts of imported income, which is necessary to any township faced with maintaining balance of trade between the import/export of dollars, whether in the form of goods, services, or cash. This will be expanded on at a later posting.
New London, in its' unique position of undervalued and underutilized yet immensely valuable assets, is poised to develop a new kind of economic prosperity, where the economy within the city limits supports and sustains a decent standard of living for it's residents. The instrument of this prosperity, already growing roots in numerous sections of the city's economy, is a balanced and sustaining economic community.
To accomplish this, four areas of the economic community will need to be promoted and grown on an ongoing basis:
1) local patronage of locally owned businesses, to keep more money in the city's economy
2) draw people into the city to patronize city businesses, performances, and other economic engines, on a regular and ongoing basis.
3) rehabilitate the city's image in both tangible and perceived ways
4) attract new residents to the city and it's evolving lifestyle
There is much work to be done in New London, part of which is letting people know what positive things are happening in the city. That is the role to be played by New London Promotions, in line with the principles of a sustaining economic community as referenced above.
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