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“If you go to sleep when you’re winning, then you wake up losing,” he told about 250 people at the chamber’s 26th annual dinner. The noontime event was held at the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa.
Malloy touted his job record as governor and said the state has seen the creation of 41,000 jobs since his election in 2010.
“We are adding jobs at a rate that we have not seen in 20 years in Connecticut,” he said, praising his audience of business leaders for creating those jobs.
The state has added an average of 1,650 jobs every month, he said, but more has to be done.
“Again, I would reiterate that it’s not enough. It’s not enough until every person who wants a job gets a job, but it is a substantial beginning,” he said.
The state is in competition with every other state to keep and retain jobs, he said.
“We’ve got to be in the fight. We’ve got to be in the hunt,” he said.
Audience member Peter Slavin, who lives in Wilton but works in Stamford, asked Malloy about the state’s effort to keep a giant hedge fund in Connecticut by aiding its move to Stamford. The state worked with Building and Land Technology to find a home in the massive redevelopment underway in the South End of Stamford.
However, controversy has surrounded that move as a boat yard was razed to make room for Westport-based Bridgewater. Some residents criticized the developer for that and urged it to find another location for a boat yard.
Malloy - who poked a little fun at his Wilton questioner, raising the issue of the boatyard - said the state faced losing the hedge fund to Westchester County, N.Y., along with its many six-figure jobs.
“I also look at the revenue numbers. If you lose it, it’s a big loss. It’s a big loss.” Malloy told his audience.
He made it clear that the developer and the city have to work together to resolve the issue.
“I’ve done my part. Now the rest of it is local,” he said.
The state also has to work harder on raising the graduation rates in the state’s bigger cities in order to create a better educated workforce to help the economy grow, Malloy said.
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