Berlin has seen great progress over the years, and we welcome you to be a part of it - by Chris Edge

Christopher Edge, Town of Berlin

The town of Berlin, located in the geographic center of Connecticut, is a community made up of 20,000 people and is home to firms of many different types and sizes.  In fact, Berlin is the location of the Western New England Regional Headquarters for Comcast, Eversource Energy, ASSA Abloy (including Corbin Russwin, Yale Lock and McKinney Hinge), numerous regional and national retailers, as well as firms such as Premier Limousine and Fosdick Fulfillment.

The Berlin Turnpike is seeing a resurgence with businesses growing onto and relocating to it.  Acura of Berlin, part of the Executive Auto Group, has broken ground for the construction of a state-of-the-art dealership and PetSmart will be joining Kohl’s, Home Depot and Michaels in the Brickyard Plaza. South of Rte. 9, the Berlin Turnpike is also seeing progress.  A fixture of Central Connecticut for almost 100 years, the Hawthorne Inn has been given new life as Casa Mia @ The Hawthorne.  Two locally owned firms, Euro-American Connections & Homecare and MidState Air Compressor both have purchased and renovated larger buildings.  These new and larger locations will allow Euro-American and MidState to be able to expand their businesses as well as add employees.  From a recent Hartford Business Journal article, John Orsini, owner of Executive Auto Group stated, “My location is a great location.  That’s why I considered it.  I’ve said this is the place to be.” 

Since early 2015, we have seen 25 businesses which have relocated to Berlin or have started in Berlin.  These businesses come from many different industries such as retail, restaurant, service, distribution, manufacturing and even an auction house and an art re-use store.  Names such as Michael’s Arts & Crafts, Fenn-Torin, Back East CrossFit, Wine Merchants, ProNatural Physicians, Leone’s Bakery & Café, Nest Egg and Tandy Leather bring a wide range of job opportunities, as well as products and services to our residents.  In that time, we have celebrated these firms with over 20 ribbon cuttings and 2 groundbreakings. 

Berlin has seen great progress in the past few years with the assistance of the state of Connecticut in the form of grants.  These grants have helped to pave the way for a new and growing Berlin.  Projects that have been spearheaded by these monies include our soon-to-be completed Main St. streetscape (which includes plantings, new sidewalks, decorative lighting and curbing), Veterans Park, and our façade and landscaping program.  We have just been awarded an additional $500,000 for the program to help change the face of the area surrounding our historic Train Station.  This will help to add to the 22 façades that have been completed or are now underway in town.  Recent grants for environmental assessments will help to facilitate bringing 4 different properties back into viable and taxable use.

Though it is a little-known gem, Berlin touts a historic Train Station built in 1900. It is the first stop south of Hartford on the New Haven Springfield Line.  A partnership between AMTRAK, the town of Berlin and the Connecticut Department of Transportation will bring high speed rail service to town starting in early 2018.  This will provide riders at least 15 round trips per day from our station as well as the restoration of the station.  We have begun to see Transportation Oriented Development (TOD) in the area of the Train Station and expect to see more as we get closer to spring 2018.

The town has been a great partner with both the private sector and non-profit sector.  The Corporation for Independent Living (CIL) has partnered with the town on two projects.  The first is The Lofts At Sherwood Falls, a 71-unit condo complex which took a 4-story mill and turned it into a beautiful place to live.  The second project is Depot Crossing, which took a vacant eyesore on Farmington Avenue and turned it into 16 apartments with retail and office below.  At present they are working on getting tenants for this building which is across the road from the historic Train Station.  Earl Wicklund Builders is now under construction of building 3 of a 23,000 s/f retail and office development on Webster Square Road.  This complex already is home to ProNatural Physicians, an integrated group of practitioners including naturopathic doctors, acupuncturists, APRNs and massage therapists and Realty 3, a multi-office boutique firm with 4 offices in Connecticut including Berlin, Essex, Southington and Stonington. 

With my history working for a non-profit finding jobs for individuals and as a commercial real estate agent, I understand many of the challenges that firms face with their growth.  I walk hand-in-hand with these businesses through the process within Berlin Town Hall. 

My role is to help facilitate bringing a firm to Berlin, as well as help businesses to grow and be successful.  Creativity has been key with economic development in Berlin.  Since late 2015, we have added two uses to our regulations – winery and brew pub.  We are working with a proprietor who we expect to open a brew pub near the Train Station in early 2017.

As the home of many family-owned businesses, we are working to help them continue to be successful by bringing them together to talk about their businesses, their customers, who they would like to do business with and more.  Thus our goal of Let’s Do Business! 

As you can see, things are happening in Berlin and we welcome you to be part of it.

Chris Edge is the director of economic development for the Town of Berlin, Conn.