Groton —  The town must be willing to invest public money and partner with businesses if it wants more economic development, the senior vice president of the New York-based firm that completed a market study of Groton said this week.   

"You have to be able to put some skin in the game and some resources on the table, and a willingness to work with that community," Jim Damicis, senior vice president of Camoin Associates, told the town council. "Because if you don't, somebody else is doing that, and that's where they're going to go."

Groton has opportunities, but it has to prove it's a great place to do business now and in the future, and remarket itself as one, he added.

"We all feel we pay too many taxes, and I agree with that. I wish I didn't have to pay any taxes at all," Damicis said. "But when we talk to companies, when we talk to entrepreneurs, when we talk to large companies, they rarely, rarely talk to us about taxes. What they talk to us is about talent."

Businesses want a predictable permitting process, a community with access to talent, and the housing, transportation and amenities to keep their workforce happy, he said.

Groton should choose one or two priority projects, he said. Both options would require investment.

Route 1 has potential to attract aging baby boomers and young people with the right mixed-use development that offers high quality housing, retail, office space and amenities, he said. But the town would have to partner with businesses to make that happen, Damicis said. Investment could take the form of tax increment financing or improvements to roads or other infrastructure.

The town also has opportunity to attract small and medium-sized manufacturing companies, but it lacks an adequate number of "shovel ready" industrially zoned properties with water and sewer.

Taxpayers overwhelmingly rejected a $9.9 million bond referendum in 2013 that would have extended utilities to industrially zoned land on Flanders Road.

Camoin recommended the town reconsider that referendum for utilities if it wants new industry.

"They don't want to hear that, 'Oh, in two years we can bring that to you,'" Damicis said. "You need it today if you want to play in that game."

Groton has long relied on the "Big Three" — Pfizer, Electric Boat and Naval Submarine Base New London — to keep its economy steady.

But the reliance has made the community vulnerable to losses when the industries change, and discouraged smaller entrepreneurs from investing as they feel overshadowed, Damicis reported.

Businesses also look at Groton and see complicated regulations with vague language and layers and layers of government, he said.

The town needs to streamline regulations, said Ken Schwartz, a senior vice president at Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., which completed a zoning audit of Groton along with Camoin's market analysis.

"Your table of permitted uses is 12 pages long," he said. "I think it rivals any other community in terms of length of table of permitted uses."

Newly hired staff in the town's planning department have improved the business climate and bode well for the future, but more must be done, Schwartz said.

The town needs to update its regulations, consider online permitting, create a handbook for developers to explain the process, and possibly hold joint hearings before boards and commissions.

The town can have high standards, but they must be reasonable, understandable and predictable. Too much government is confusing and makes businesses turn away, Damicis said.

There's "no longer the excuse that there's a district that does this, the town does that, the city does this, and why do we have two fire departments, and why are there two public works garages? It's insane in terms of the business community," Damicis said.

It might provide services, "but if I'm a person holding dollars to invest my business somewhere, I look at that and say, 'No thank you, I'll try somewhere else.'"

Christa Franzi, senior economic development specialist for Camoin, said Groton also needs a separate website dedicated to economic development. It should be designed by a specialist, not just a friend or local company, she said.

"This takes a lot of time, staff time, and you really need to dedicate the resources," she said.

Groton's retail is dated and sales are slipping in town. They're rising in other communities, she said.

The town can turn things around by streamlining its processes, working on customer service, partnering with property owners, making investments and focusing on doing one or two developments well, Damicis said. 

"You need more quality in the market," Damicis said. "You don't need more things. You need more quality."

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim