Hartford, Conn. - Today Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President and CEO Eric Rosengren, along with Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy and public and private funders, officially recognized ten $15,000 design grant awards as part of the Working Cities Challenge in Connecticut. The Challenge is a grant competition that is designed to support cross-sector collaborative leadership and ambitious work to improve the lives of low-income people in Connecticut's cities.

The ten cities—Bridgeport, Danbury, East Hartford, Hartford, Middletown, New Britain, New Haven, Norwich, Torrington, and Waterbury—were selected by an independent jury to receive these design grant awards. Following the six-month design phase, these teams will compete for larger implementation awards expected to be between $300,000 and $500,000. The cities are focused on increasing job opportunities for various populations (youth, Latino, single-headed households); aligning workforce training with local industry needs; retaining and attracting a younger workforce; and reducing barriers to employment (basic life skills, childcare, and transportation). 

"We are very pleased to reach this important milestone in the Working Cities Challenge in Connecticut and are grateful to Governor Malloy and our local and national philanthropic and private sector partners for their early and continued support," President Rosengren said. "Now, these cities will have the opportunity to refine their proposals with guidance from the Fed and other experts. We look forward to working with the teams in the weeks and months ahead."

"Today, we are celebrating the passion, collaborative spirit, and ingenuity of Connecticut residents to push forward proposals toward bettering their cities and our state economy," Governor Malloy said.  "This is just the beginning of a transformative partnership and we cannot thank our private and philanthropic partners enough for their participation. The success of our communities with concentrated pockets of poverty is an essential part of the equation for building a stronger Connecticut. We look forward to working with the winning teams and the Boston Fed as they move forward in the Challenge."

Funding for the Working Cities Challenge

Funding for the Working Cities Challenge in Connecticut is provided by the State of Connecticut, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Living Cities, NeighborWorks America, the Avangrid Foundation, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals BI Cares Foundation, Eversource and Eversource Foundation, Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Stanley Black & Decker, Travelers and the Travelers Foundation, Webster Bank, Liberty Bank Foundation, Bank of America, Barnes Group Foundation, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Charter Communications, Connecticut Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut, Community Foundation of Greater New Britain, Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, Ion Bank, Fairfield County's Community Foundation, Hartford HealthCare, Hoffman BMW of Watertown/Hoffman Auto Group, Jewish Community Foundation of Hartford, Main Street Community Foundation, New Canaan Community Foundation, Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation, Thomaston Savings Bank, United Technologies Corporation, and Valley Community Foundation. Funding is not provided by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

About the Working Cities Challenge

The Working Cities Challenge, launched in 2013 in Massachusetts, builds on Boston Fed research that identified cross-sector collaboration and leadership as the key ingredients in resurgent smaller cities across the country. The Working Cities Challenge in Connecticut builds upon the success of the initiative in Massachusetts (now in its second round of competition) and Rhode Island.

In March 2016, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren announced Connecticut would be the next New England state to participate in the Working Cities Challenge. Eligible Connecticut cities included: Bridgeport, Bristol, Danbury, Hartford, East Hartford, Manchester, Meriden, Middletown, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwich, Torrington, Waterbury, West Haven, and Windham.

For more on the Working Cities Challenge, visit www.bostonfed.org/WorkingCities.