After visiting Danbury, Middletown, and Waterbury last month, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President and CEO Eric Rosengren visited Connecticut on March 5 to meet with the Working Cities Challenge grant winners in East Hartford and Hartford—and joined Connecticut state officials, members of the philanthropic, nonprofit, business, and local government at the Old State House to celebrate the five communities, each of which will receive $450,000 grants to implement initiatives focused on improving the lives of lower-income residents.

In the morning, Rosengren met with the East Hartford team, CONNEcts, at the Silver Lane Elementary School. The team will use the grant to improve the quality of life in the Silver Lane neighborhood by improving access to workforce development and educational resources. Later, he met with the Hartford team, South Hartford Young Adult Employment Zone, at the Center for Latino Progress. Hartford will use the award to tackle two economic challenges: poverty and the need for an educated workforce to attract and retain employers to the city and the region.

Following Rosengren's visits with the teams, he was joined by Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy at Connecticut's Old Statehouse for an event celebrating the five cities named last month as winners of $450,000 multiyear grants as part of the Working Cities Challenge. The group heard remarks from President Rosengren, Governor Malloy, Andy Bessette of Travelers Insurance, and Jay Williams of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and other Boston Fed officials.

The Working Cities Challenge, a program designed to lead communities through a rigorous process that builds cross-sector collaboration and works toward solving issues impacting the lives of lower-income residents.