Issues. People. Events.

                                              By John Murray

   Waterbury Mayor Neil O'Leary signed a lease agreement this morning between the City of Waterbury and Luvata, a global force in the manufacturing of superconducting wires and cables. In 2010 when the City of Waterbury announced they were going to utilize the former Chase Brass factory on Thomaston Avenue as a public works campus, Luvata's space in the factory was reduced, and they explored relocating their operation out of Waterbury. Luvata Waterbury President Jim Lajewski, seated next to O'Leary, credited the mayor for changing the course of the relationship. After being elected in November 2011, O'Leary immediately nixed the public works campus as bad policy. O'Leary said the city should explore ways to use the massive facility to expand Waterbury's economic base, and reached out to Luvata to try and persuade them to stay in the city. The efforts of Neil O'Leary, then Congressman Chris Murphy (now a U.S. Senator), Economic Development Director Ron Pugliese, and Leo Frank and Andrew Martelli of the Waterbury Development Corporation convinced Luvata to stay. Instead of being squeezed out of Waterbury, Luvata is now explanding. "This was a great collaborative effort," O'Leary said today. "To see what Luvata does around the world is amazing, and I'm delighted they are staying in Waterbury." With the signing of the lease, Lajewski said, "The headache and frustration of the past few years is gone."

Almost seventy years after the last watches were produced along Cherry Street in Waterbury, the towering facade of the Waterbury Clock Company is nearing demolition. Using funds from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and under the guidance of the Waterbury Development Corporation, the building is being dismantled, and the soil will be remediated. There are plans currently being developed by New Opportunities of Waterbury Inc. to develop the site into hydroponic growing operations fertilized by farmed fish. Time, indeed,  has changed. Photograph by John Murray

Ron Pugliese, center, the economic development director for Waterbury, opened a press conference yesterday morning by announcing that Unipharm was building a new packaging center on Progress Lane in the East End of the city. Pugliese partnered with the Waterbury Development Corporation, the State of Connecticut, and Mayor Neil O'Leary, back left, to successfully lure Unipharm to the Brass City. Pictured on the right is Unipharm's chief operating officer, Robert Sires, who said his company considered more than 100 properties throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, and chose Waterbury because of the tremendous feeling that Unipharm was wanted by local and state officials.