Mayor Edward M. O’Brien is touting his economic accomplishments as he heads into a Sept. 12 primary against former Seventh District Councilwoman Nancy Rossi.
In a press release sent out this week, O’Brien and his campaign said new economic development and more economic opportunities have arisen since he took office four years ago.
“I am extremely proud of the amount of the economic development that has occurred during my two short terms. West Haven residents have more opportunities to find jobs in our city now than they did four years ago and that trend is going to continue,” he said.
O’Brien specifically pointed out the Allingtown area which has three brand new mixed-use buildings being constructed, the first of these, The Atwood, being nearly completed.
“These are developments that will not only revitalize the Allingtown area, but will provide more jobs for our residents as each building includes new businesses,” O’Brien said.
The next two buildings in this Allingtown development, Parkview and The Forest, are expected to be completed within the next few years and add nearly $1 million per year to the tax rolls once completed.
He pointed to the Sawmill Road area as the summation of new opportunities in the city.
“You can literally look at this single street in West Haven and see great new opportunities. There is Chipotle, Aspen Dental, T-Mobile, McDonald’s, Firestone, and a newly renovated gas station and Dunkin’ Donuts on this road alone, all of which have jobs available for West Haven residents and all of which have opened their doors during my administration.”
Other new projects include Enthone, Watson, Lighting Quotient, and AAIS have all expanded in recent years and created new jobs, O’Brien said.
O’Brien also points out that all of this new development across the city creates good-paying construction jobs as well. “The Haven alone will create hundreds and hundreds of construction jobs in the coming months only before it creates an estimated 1,200 permanent jobs in West Haven. This is a new and exciting time for our city,” O’Brien said.
His campaign noted that according to the independent CT Data Collaborative, the unemployment rate in West Haven was 9.5 percent in 2013 before O’Brien took office. The West Haven unemployment rate is now only 6.8 percent, a nearly three-point drop in the past four years.