In the News
In a potential boon for Connecticut's defense industry, the Pentagon upped its spending request Monday from two Virginia-class submarines to three per year starting in 2020, responding to pressure from Congress and the Navy.
The submarine funding is part of a $750 billion annual defense budget that is expected to be unveiled next week by President Donald Trump and submitted to Congress.
Groton — When China implemented a 25 percent tariff on seafood from the United States in reaction to U.S. tariffs, last summer, company officials at the Garbo Lobster facility on Thames Street reported that they got calls overnight from China to cancel orders.
U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, announced a $62,100 grant Tuesday from the federal Economic Development Agency to the Naval & Maritime Consortium, formerly known as the Connecticut Undersea Supply Chain Consortium, headquartered in Groton.
The consortium, a partnership between the University of Connecticut and Thames River Innovation Place, is a network of companies that collectively addresses challenges, shares solutions, collaborates on opportunities, and capitalizes on the growing undersea supply chain.
U.S. Rep. Joseph D. Courtney, D-2nd District, recently introduced legislation aimed at reducing increasing rates of on-the-job violence experienced by health care and social service workers.
The "Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act" directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to establish a standard requiring health care and social service employers to write and implement a workplace violence prevention plan to protect employees from violent incidents.
A bill that would compel the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue a standard requiring health care and social service employers to write and implement workplace violence prevention plans was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday.
Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., introduced H.R. 7141 — the Workplace Violence Prevention in Health Care and Social Services Act — in response to increasing rates of workplace violence against health care professionals, according to a statement issued on Friday.
A group of House Democrats introduced a bill on Friday to help protect millions of nurses and other health care workers from the high rates of violence they experience on the job.
Groton — As director of workforce development for Electric Boat, Courtney Murphy has seen a 20 percent reduction in departures of first-year employees, just due to the Eastern CT Manufacturing Pipeline.
"When they come into Electric Boat and the first time they're given that job assignment, they have some confidence," she said. "They know how to do it safely."
Third-quarter data released by the Eastern Connecticut Association of Realtors last week shows that single-family home sales in New London and Windham counties are up over last year, which CEO Susy Hurlbert takes as a sign of increased buyer confidence.
"There is no real fear of a recession over the next 12 months at least, so I think there's confidence in the housing market because of that," she said.