Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 10

53 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 10 horseshoe foundry for the military – is a hotspot for hikers to explore. Meanwhile, residents enjoy shooting hoops, playing baseball and volleyball, picnicking, listen to music at the stadium, and climbing through the kids’ playscape at the Owen Bell Park family recreational center. This appreciation for the outdoors translates into Killingly’s several green initiatives. Awarded the Sustainable CT Certification last year, the town is part of the Last Green Valley, a national corridor of natural resources and culture. They have also installed electric vehicle chargers across the community in the shopping center, and at the townhall. All these initiatives are notably spearheaded by Killingly’s own natural resource conservation officer. The future projects include an expansion of the East Coast Greenway bicycle pathway, which currently extends from Putnam into Killingly. The town hopes for grant application approval to extend the pathways into its industrial park. Future goals include making the town a renowned location for innovative education and business. St Clair highlights continued plans to create a desired community for education, raising a family, and developing a great living surrounded by New England mill town history, arts, and culture. She also aims to build the town’s restaurant scene. She admits, “I know the restaurants have taken a pandemic related hit right now, but they’re reinventing themselves with creative solutions in food delivery systems.” In that same vein, LaPointe is focusing on the business end of the town’s plans. He has his sights on expanding existing programs that assist local businesses with employment, particularly with developing training opportunities for students and increasing college enrollment so students can gain employment with these companies. He applauded helpful residents for their support in this endeavor, who despite being laid-back have proven to be effective collaborators and movers and shakers in growing business. LaPointe boasts, “They call us the quiet corner for a reason, but we make a lot of noise out here.” K I LL INGLY , CONNECT I CUT Frito-Lay has been a proud member of the Killingly community for more than 40 years. To help strengthen our business and community, we’re embarking on a $235 million expansion project at our Killingly manufacturing site. Frito-Lay’s Killingly site began operations in 1980 with just 200 employees, and currently employs approximately 740 full-time associates at the site. This investment will create an additional 120 new jobs.  Through the project, Frito-Lay will expand its existing manufacturing facility and warehouse, as well as add two new Cheetos manufacturing lines. This is the first time that Cheetos will be manufactured by Frito-Lay in Connecticut.  We never take for granted the need to support the 200+ communities in which we live and work. Our business values and investments are grounded in knowing that we succeed when our communities succeed. ® www.fritolay.com | 860-412-1075