Hamden Economic Development Fund

The old Newhall Community Center and School was an abandoned, decaying shell of its former self. It stood next to a brownfield, a contaminated field the Hamden Economic Development Corporation (HEDC) was remediating and redeveloping.

“The building really was like something out of a horror movie,” said Joseph Aceto, vice president of the HEDC’s board.

“Our executive director Dale Kroop had the foresight and the optimism to see that it could be something else,” Aceto said, noting that Kroop worked for years to obtain grants, to get state help, to get community members involved to make that happen. “He navigated a process that was enormous in scope in terms of cost and time and complexity. Many years and many bumps later, the Hamden Business Incubator was complete.”

“But what we discovered was that while HEDC is very good at creating and developing space, we didn’t have the expertise to run it. A business incubator is a very specific kind of program with a huge time commitment to do it right,” Aceto said.

It just so happened that the Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program (ConnCORP) was actively developing the Dixwell/Newhallville corridor and discussed acquiring the building.

It has been transformed into the Lab at ConnCORP, a state-of-the-art incubator “for business and entrepreneurship education forming the ecosystem for minority business growth and increased home ownership.”

The funds from the sale of the building have been used to establish the Hamden Economic Development Fund at The Community Foundation so that economic possibilities can bloom exponentially.

The fund will be used to support programs including “workforce development, entrepreneurship training, business counseling, education and planning, and tech investments,” Aceto said. The HEDC started an advisory committee which is partnering with the Hamden Chamber of Commerce to determine the kinds of programs and projects the fund can support to provide the widest possible benefit.

The HEDC chose to create the fund at The Foundation because “you can see the impact of The Foundation on the community on a regular basis,” Aceto said. With The Foundation’s intricate understanding of the needs in Greater New Haven and with its financial expertise, “you know you are going to get a level of stewardship that is unparalleled.”

The HEDC is excited about the changes the fund will bring about. “If, for example, there’s entrepreneurship training in Newhallville and the program attracts 30 people, and one of them creates a multimillion-dollar company, think of the ripple effect,” Aceto said. “Think of the hiring possibilities and the ability of those employees to have ownership in their community. They could buy a home in the area or start another business or counsel others on creating a company. We are planting the seeds for something to really grow.”