‘Make Connecticut a Place People Want to Build Their Lives’

For many Connecticut employers, there’s no one single issue or challenge facing their business.

It’s navigating the cumulative impact of rising costs, workforce challenges, emerging technologies, taxes, and regulatory requirements.

“It’s really hard to own a business these days,” U.S. Fabricating president Tom McGwire told a crowd of more than 430 business leaders and elected officials at the CBIA Foundation’s Sept. 17 The Connecticut Economy conference.

McGwire joined Loureiro Engineering president David Fiereck, The Walker Group co-CEO Jessica Rich, and CBIZ Hartford office managing director Michael Brooder to discuss findings from the CBIA Foundation’s 2026 Survey of Connecticut Businesses.

The discussion highlighted both the challenges facing employers and the differing ways business leaders view Connecticut’s economy.

Business Climate

Asked to describe Connecticut’s business climate in a single word, the panelists offered three different perspectives:

“Resilient,” said Rich.

“Confusing,” said Fiereck.

“Steady,” said McGwire.

While their answers differed, each reflected a common theme throughout the discussion: employers continue adapting to challenges, navigating uncertainty, and finding ways to grow despite rising costs and workforce pressures.

Rising costs remain the top concern for Connecticut employers, with 90% of survey respondents citing them as a major challenge.

Healthcare Costs

And for Fiereck and many other employers, one issue stands out.

“For us, it’s healthcare,” said Fiereck.

He said the company previously faced healthcare rate increases exceeding 40%.

Despite switching to an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement to manage healthcare costs, the company is still seeing double-digit rate increases.

Fiereck, like 54% of survey respondents, said healthcare costs should be a top priority for the legislature in 2027.

“Pass a bill to allow group healthcare coverage,” he said. “It seems like an easy win for the state.”

Cost Pressures

McGwire said the rising cost pressures affecting employers extend well beyond healthcare.

“Insurance in particular, covering health insurance for our employees, having IT services is very expensive,” he said. “Labor’s going up, materials are going up. It’s hard to compete.”

Rich noted the cost pressures show up across virtually every area of her company’s budget.

“Labor and healthcare are some of the biggest challenges,” she said, adding that software and technology costs are also rising.

“We have to do a constant review of what are we using, what’s growing, what are the subscription costs.”

Like healthcare costs, the impact of rising energy prices is creating new challenges for businesses.

Energy Concerns

Brooder noted that energy costs have become a much bigger concern for employers in recent years.

“Five years ago, energy wasn’t even mentioned as a problem here in the state of Connecticut,” he said.

“It was as recently as the last two years we saw it showing up on this survey.”

For manufacturers like McGwire, the impact is significant.

“Connecticut’s energy costs are about double the national average,” he said.

“We pay almost $100,000 a year in electricity bills on only one of our facilities. So I could be saving $50,000 a year in electricity if we were with the national average.”

Workforce Challenges

Beyond rising costs, the survey highlighted the ongoing struggle for employers to find and retain qualified workers.

Connecticut’s labor force declined by 54,000 people (-2.8%) in the 12 months through August.

“This is not a jobs crisis in the traditional sense—this is a people crisis,” CBIA president and CEO Chris DiPentima said to open the conference.

“We have the jobs. We don’t have enough workers to fill those positions.”

Brooder noted that seven in 10 employers reported difficulty finding new employees with the necessary skills, expertise, or work ethic, a challenge made more difficult by Connecticut’s shrinking labor force and more than 86,000 open jobs.

Rich said employers increasingly focus on finding workers who fit their organizations for the long term.

“We can all train talent,” said Rich. “We can train skills, but trying to find those right fit people so that you have lower turnover is so important.”

Fiereck said Loureiro has focused heavily on building relationships with colleges and universities.

“We don’t just look at juniors and seniors,” he said. “We’re looking at bringing in freshmen and sophomores and try to build a relationship with those interns.”

Retaining Workers

Rich’s point about finding the right people carried through much of the discussion, as panelists said retaining workers has become just as important as recruiting them.

“We really try to build a culture. We focus on keeping the people that we have,” McGwire said.

McGwire and Rich said workers are looking for more than just compensation.

“People want to know that what they’re doing is valued.”

U.S. Fabricating’s Tom McGwire

“Most people want to know that what they’re doing is valued,” McGwire said.

Rich echoed that sentiment, saying younger workers in particular “really want to feel like they are doing something that is impactful and meaningful.”

Fiereck said employees increasingly want opportunities for growth and advancement.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on training and career pathways,” he said. “Understanding your potential in the organization to grow and having a place to grow are critical.”

Investing in the Business

Despite concerns about affordability, workforce, and competitiveness, the panelists said they continue to invest in their companies and their employees.

As an employee-owned company, Fiereck said Loureiro has focused on investing in retirement benefits and emphasizing long-term wealth creation when recruiting workers.

“Our biggest investments have been centered around our employee experience.”

The Walker Group’s Jessica Rich

At The Walker Group, Rich said employee experience has been a major priority.

“Our biggest investments have been centered around number one, our employee experience,” she said.

“What do we need to provide to our employees to make them want to be with us, stay with us?”

Embracing AI

Artificial intelligence was another area where employers saw opportunity.

The survey found that 42% of Connecticut employers are already using AI in their operations.

The panelists described it as a tool for improving productivity rather than replacing workers.

“It’s within a very short amount of time caused us to be easily 10% more productive,” Fiereck said.

“It’s within a very short amount of time caused us to be easily 10% more productive.”

Loureiro Engineering’s David Fiereck

McGwire said AI is helping with production planning, noting that supervisors are using the technology to manage manufacturing schedules.

Rich said her company has embraced AI while establishing policies and safeguards around its use.

“Our employees are using it heavily to really improve their personal productivity,” she said.

“It’s important to think about how AI can affect your employee and the work that they do every day.”

Business Climate

As the conversation shifted toward Connecticut’s future, affordability again emerged as the central issue.

When Brooder asked for one word that describes their biggest concern for the state’s future, both Rich and Fiereck answered with the same word: affordability.

The survey found that just 27% of employers expect the state’s economy to grow over the next 12 months, with only 9% saying the state’s business climate is improving.

“I think cost of living is our biggest challenge,” said McGwire.

“I have more of an incentive to open my next unit somewhere down south or in Pennsylvania than I do in New England because of the cost of labor.”

Economic Success

Rich argued that attracting and retaining talent will ultimately determine the state’s economic success.

“We have to make Connecticut more of a place that people want to come and build their lives,” she said.

“Winning the competition for people will win the competition for business.”

When asked what gives them confidence about Connecticut’s future, Rich pointed to “the people,” Fiereck cited Connecticut’s aerospace and defense manufacturing expertise, and McGwire said the state’s support for manufacturers gives him confidence.

And when asked what policymakers should better understand about employers, the responses were simple but revealing.

“Employers care,” said Fiereck.

“We want to do right by our employees,” added Rich.

The discussion concluded with a common theme that connected many of the survey’s findings: employers, policymakers, educators, and communities must work together to address Connecticut’s challenges.

“Making sure everyone works together is the right answer,” said Brooder. “If we all work together, the common theme is a rising tide lifts all boats.”