From Paddi's Desk: Sept. 27, 2019

This and that....

Each week, I usually take one topic that hits me and explore what's really going on underneath the digital and traditional media coverage and how I see that it ties to something else. The hope is that I will get you thinking about it for a day or two. Whether I succeed each time, that's for you to determine!

This week, I picked three things that caught my attention and I thought I would share some thoughts...

The brain drain in CT. If you listen to the pundits, CT is in trouble. The best and the brightest are leaving the state and the knowledge-based residents are fleeing for better pastures. If you went to yesterday's "Future of Healthcare" Conference, you would definitely say "No way, Jose!" The morning kicked off with a panel of technology and venture capital folks talking about what's around the corner in healthcare, the rapidly changing environment in medicine, patient care and payer models.

The most frequent questions of the panel were:

• Where does CT fit?
• How do we finally get there?
• Is it quality or cost which should drive healthcare?
• Is it payers with utilization review models, practicing physicians with experience, artificial intelligence or a combination of both?

Very exciting stuff, very important stuff and certainly no shortage of really smart CT people working on the solution to fix our state. Question is, can Connecticut be a leader in bold innovations that will result in improved healthcare access, outcomes and efficiency?

Young professionals don't want to return to Connecticut to work and raise a family. Word is, we can't keep young professionals in Hartford. No way again!

The Hartford Business Journal hosted its 23rd annual "40 Under Forty" Awards recently, which honors young professional leaders. What a turn out and what excitement at UConn's football stadium, Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field! It was a perfect setting for the high energy group of up-and-coming professionals to collaborate and receive the accolades of company, friends, family and the powers that be in the city. A balanced group of demographics made those of us who exceed the "Under Forty" crowd feel that the city will be in good hands in the years to come (P.S., see the side article for our own Mike Johnson, who was one of the 40 young professionals that want to take the reins in Hartford in the upcoming decades! Congrats to him again!). Question is, where will they all be in five or ten years?

Economic development, then and now in Connecticut. Finally, this week I was rummaging through my office storage closet for an old file. I came across a 1985 magazine ad for Connecticut showcasing the state's then economic development incentives for companies (Get the connection to last week's blog?). Take a look at what it said...

"Offering one of America's most innovative incentive programs!" Good Ole' Governor Bill O'Neill (D) was on the right path in 1985, because it was working. However in 2019, almost 35 years later, we're looking at a whole new world. Everything has changed. There is new and enhanced technology every few months, different workforce demographics, different lifestyles and a different nation's economy too. Let's all cheer for the hometown team again! Come on Connecticut you can do it!

That's what caught my attention this week, hope it gets you thinking!