The New Year is sure to bring changes, great and small, across the country, but here in Trumbull, Connecticut, there is a steady stream of investment. Development of new business locations ranges from residential development, which brings needed housing diversity to town, to commercial and even large-scale industrial developments all over town.
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Trumbull has plenty to offer everyone, whether you are a life-long resident, have recently arrived, or are planning for Connecticut to be your next business location.
“Some of the things that attract talent and business to Trumbull are the convenient location, the strong financial position and stability of the town, the strong school system, well-priced housing, as well as industrial, retail, and office space. The quality of the business environment and the quality of life, combined with affordability, makes Trumbull a top destination in Connecticut,” said Rina Bakalar, the Economic and Community Development Director for the Town of Trumbull.
“In addition to being a financially strong destination and an affordable place to live and locate a business, Trumbull is proud to offer a concierge level of services to businesses looking to locate and expand. All of our permitting offices work as a team. Trumbull’s motto is ‘Trumbull Working for You’ and we mean it. When businesses locate here or want to invest here, we want to be sure they have a good experience. Many of our businesses have provided testimonials as to their positive experience locating and growing their business in Trumbull. That has been very helpful to us,” stated Bakalar.
Trumbull is home to over 1,500 businesses. Last year brought a wealth of expansion to Trumbull with over twenty new businesses and five significant expansions. Trumbull is seeing a few themes with new business locations, including a number of new recreational and entertainment businesses offering an experience, as well a number of for-profit educational businesses. Some of these were opening their first location in Connecticut, while others found Trumbull desirable for a second or third location.
“One of these places is called D-Bat, which is where athletes of all ages can go for training in softball and baseball. D-Bat took up about 24,000 square feet in our Trumbull Corporate Park, filling the remaining portion of a larger complex. This is exciting as they will be bringing a lot of activity to the corporate park on evenings and weekends,” said Bakalar.
Another of the recreational businesses coming to Trumbull is Escapology, a dedicated escape room outlet looking to capitalize on the recent adventure game craze in which friends or family work through clues and puzzles to figure out how to escape from a themed room. Escapology will be opening in another industrial zone where it is sure to bring the same kind of traffic and attention that Trumbull hopes will diversify businesses in these areas.
Over at the Westfield Trumbull Shopping Park, space is being utilized for more varied recreational activities. Kidz Klub opened this year, allowing a much younger crowd to take advantage of a large indoor playground, promoting a healthy lifestyle and social gatherings. Also coming to the mall is a brand new aquarium called SeaQuest, which is predicted to bring in 350,000 visitors annually. It has a tentative opening date of July 2019, and construction has already begun on the educational destination that the town sees as a great addition to the tourist scene.
Another entertainment experience that has expanded is the Bow Tie Cinemas, a family-owned movie theater chain that has revamped the moviegoer experience to include reclining chairs and a new restaurant and bar. This brings Bow Tie in league with other private theater chains that have seen an increase in attendance when offering these full-fledged services.
A focus on early childhood development has also come to Trumbull. Two new state-of-the-art early learning centers are opening. Educational Playcare opened its 17th Connecticut facility in January in the Trumbull Corporate Park. The Learning Experience is also coming to Trumbull and will be opening in 2019. Both of these businesses will provide care and educational environments for children from birth to the age of six. Early childcare businesses opening in the corporate parks offer a reputable, nearby location for people who live and work in the area.
“Locating near easily accessible business centers and areas with recently approved multi-family, luxury apartments makes good business sense for these two early learning centers. Together they will employ approximately 90 people and have the capacity to service over 350 children,” stated Bakalar.
Two new schools for youth and adults have also been added to the Town of Trumbull. The Fairfield-Trumbull School of Music has opened alongside a new art school that, like many of the other businesses, is generating new traffic in areas that are seeing expansions.
Trumbull is also seeing corporate expansion. Henkel Corporation not only renovated its existing consumer testing location at 30 Trefoil Drive, it took over an entire building at 4 Trefoil Drive to create a new state-of-the-art research and development facility.
“They basically gutted the entire building for a complete renovation, which includes state-of-the-art labs and workspace. The approximately twenty-million dollar investment in their Trumbull facilities has been great for our local economy. They have approximately one hundred employees in Trumbull now and they have said they hope to expand further in Trumbull in the future,” stated Bakalar.
It is easy to understand why Trumbull is enthusiastic about Henkel’s expansions since the company brings respectable, well-paying, technical jobs for engineers and scientists to the community. The company has indicated a high level of satisfaction in finding talent in Trumbull and Connecticut.
The Town of Trumbull welcomes everyone into the community, whether they are the owners of new businesses or the residents who passionately partake in everything the town has to offer. A major component of revitalizing and building up the community has been the efforts of First Selectman Vicki A. Tesoro’s office to find owners for long-vacant properties. Under her watch, a large percentage of vacant business properties have been bought or leased. This has created rapid expansion, economic stability, and a vibrant community.
“There was an older devaluing building, with an 110,000-square-foot call center that had been vacant for many years. It was just sitting there, and a gentleman purchased it under this push to move our vacant properties. He is going through the permit and construction process now to develop a business called the Trumbull Tradesmen Center. This will be a shared workspace for trades like landscapers, plumbers, and electricians. These businesses will co-locate to have equipment and offices on site, so it’s a really interesting project we’re all excited about,” stated Bakalar.
Another massive 250,000 square foot facility has been purchased by Senior Living Development. They are planning to redevelop the site for independent living, assisted living, and memory care for residents over the age of fifty-five. This development not only reuses a vacant property that constituted 52 percent of Trumbull’s vacant office space, but it helps Trumbull to diversify its housing options, promote active living, and address the needs of the aging baby-boomer population.
The effort put forth by the local government to bring in new businesses and promote business expansion has been a resounding success in the Town of Trumbull. With more projects underway throughout town and even more on the horizon, it seems Trumbull is the place to be.
