Business View Magazine | October 2019

336 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2019 percent - there was no flexibility. So about three years ago, we brought an aerospace components manufacturer to town and gave them the first ever, seven-year tax abatement in the town’s history. So, now, our incentives are based upon the degree of investment. If you spend $50,000, you get three years; if you spend $1 million, you get five years; if you spend $3 million, you get seven years. And we’re looking at adding a ten-year abatement if you spend about $10 or $12 million. They all start at 50 percent and go down to 30 or 10 in the bottom years. In my five years, we’ve had no less than 12 manufacturers either grow or double in size.” Berlin, Connecticut has come a long way from the days when its Yankee peddlers roamed the countryside selling tinware. But the entrepreneurial spirit engendered early in its history lives on in the present and so, the town’s future continues to look bright. PREFERRED VENDOR n Forrest Machine, Inc. www.forrestmachine.com