CEDAS Academy Webinar Series

CEDAS Academy is a web-based educational learning series developed in partnership with Connecticut Economic Development Association and CT American Planning Association.  The series was offered in 2016-17, 2018, and 2019.  Below you will find archives of the webinars and related materials.

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2019 CEDAS Academy Confluence Series: At the Intersection of Planning and Economic Development

Addressing Climate Change Through Resilient Development
A CEDAS Academy Webinar
May 28, 2019
11:00 am- 12:00

This webinar is over.

Connecticut’s coastal and inland communities are experiencing climate change impacts on infrastructure, real estate values, human health, and the environment. As communities across the state begin planning for these anticipated changes, economic developers and land use planners must have a better understanding of ways to address them and guide developers to responsible and sustainable construction projects.

This webinar will explore the effects of climate change on sea level rise projections for Connecticut as well as the impact of increased flooding on critical infrastructure, transportation, and housing. Our speakers will also describe resilient design strategies for new development and provide examples from their work on the ground in communities throughout the northeast.

Attend this webinar to learn:

  • The anticipated impact of climate change on infrastructure, transportation, and housing.
  • Best practices in designing new development for climate resiliency.
  • Real life examples of communities throughout the northeast that are successfully implementing resilient development projects.

This event is free and offered as a program of the Connecticut Economic Development Association (CEDAS) and the Connecticut Chapter of the American Planning Association (CCAPA). Approved for CM Credits through the American Planning Association.

About Our Speakers

Yaprak Onat

Yaprak Onat is the Assistant Director of Research for the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation (CIRCA). She coordinates the planning, development, design, implementation, and evaluation of flood risk mitigation projects for coastal resilience and engages in workshops and training to improve science communication for capacity-building activities.

Before joining CIRCA, Yaprak worked as a post-doctoral researcher, specializing in modeling the extreme swell environment of the Hawaiian Islands. She also developed the coastal vulnerability map and modeled the extratropical storm-generated swell effects and their impact on the coastal exposure of the Hawaiian Islands. Yaprak worked on various risk assessment and engineering projects, with topics including tsunami inundation, sea level rise, and wave exposure assessment. Her work led her to collaborate with multi-disciplinary groups, including scientists, municipality representatives, and members of the indigenous and coastal community. She has experience doing fieldwork, focusing mostly on in-situ deployments and assisting in managing experimental laboratory conditions.

Her goal is to increase the adaptive capacity of coastal regions via hazard management strategies to develop the most optimal approaches for the sustainability of the coastal communities. Her outreach interests focus on improving the learning environment and teaching techniques for STEM students.

Yaprak holds a Ph.D. in Ocean and Resources Engineering from the University of Hawai‛i at Manoa and M.S. from Ocean and Resources Engineering from the University of Hawai‛i at Manoa and Civil Engineering from Middle East Technical University.


 

Alexander Felson

Alex Felson joins CIRCA as the new Deputy Executive Director and Director of Resilience Design. He will play a key role in developing the state’s resiliency planning. This includes working on the Connecticut Connections Coastal Resilience Plan – a US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) National Disaster Resilience (NDR) grant. This four year science-based risk assessment and broad consultation planning initiative will produce a resilience framework for Connecticut. Dr. Felson will serve as Associate Research Scientist in UConn’s Department of Marine Sciences.

Dr. Felson is a senior certified ecologist and a registered landscape architect who founded the Urban Ecology and Design Lab and runs Ecopolitan Design. Prior to joining CIRCA, he held the position of associate Professor at Yale University jointly between the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Architecture. Felson works nationally on resilience projects including in Miami and California, and continues to work on coastal resilience planning extensively for the State of Connecticut. He built bioretention gardens in Bridgeport through a community process, worked on the first resiliency plan for the State in Guilford, served as a core team member on Rebuild by Design, and recently completed the Regional Resilience Framework Plan with the Nature Conservancy. He currently serves on the SAFR Council (State Agencies Fostering Resilience) and he is collaborating on a municipal economic planning tool to evaluate and prioritize alternative scenarios for coastal adaptation. Alex holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from Rutgers University an MLA from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, and an MS in Land Resources from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.  He can be reached at alex.felson@uconn.edu.

 


 

Robert Freudenberg

Robert Freudenberg is vice president of RPA’s energy and environmental programs, leading the organization’s initiatives in areas including climate mitigation and adaptation, open space conservation and park development, and water resource management. He oversees a comprehensive program of projects and policies to improve public health, quality of life, sustainable development and climate resilience in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan area. Rob works closely with other RPA staff to integrate these objectives with RPA’s economic, transportation, land use, design and community development initiatives.

Rob has been with RPA since 2006 and most recently served as New Jersey director, where he managed the state program with a focus on sustainability planning and policy. He led projects including developing an arts and revitalization plan for Paterson and a neighborhood revitalization plan for East Camden; producing an economic and land use study for a future bus rapid transit corridor in Union County; advancing regenerative design efforts in the New Jersey Highlands; and facilitating land use and urban design recommendations and leading local demonstration projects for the 13-county Together North Jersey effort.

Prior to joining RPA, Rob served as a coastal management fellow at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where he focused on policies for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Rob holds a master’s of public administration in environmental science and policy from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and a bachelor’s in environmental biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

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A CEDAS ACADEMY WEBINAR – THE PARKING CONUNDRUM: SMART PARKING FOR PLANNING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

March 1, 2019
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

This webinar is over.

Parking for cars is almost always a component of development projects across Connecticut. Often times, developers must provide car parking because local zoning codes require it. These local requirements often add significant cost to development projects – which drive up prices for end users. Moreover, researchers have found that local parking requirements can burden the whole community with increased traffic, loss of taxable land, dirty stormwater runoff, and the urban heat island effect.

This webinar will explore the growing movement to eliminate parking requirements and allow cities to be “designed for people,” rather than cars. Our speakers will discuss their cutting-edge research into the impact of parking on the design, function, and financial feasibility of projects. They will then identify how projects may be better developed to enable trending development priorities like density, sustainability, transit-oriented development, mixed uses, and walking-biking connectivity. The webinar will highlight the parking conundrum in several Connecticut cities and feature the City of Hartford’s recent successful elimination of parking minimums.

Attend this webinar to learn:

  • Key issues regarding the integration of parking in downtown projects, including convenience, safety, right-sizing, good design, and financing.
  • Trends taking place today in downtown and urban development and the impact of parking on the design, function, and financial feasibility of these projects.
  • Best practices related to financing, designing, right-sizing, and developing parking to support downtown / urban development.
 

This event is free and offered as a program of the Connecticut Economic Development Association (CEDAS) and the Connecticut Chapter of the American Planning Association (CCAPA). Approved for CM Credits through the American Planning Association.

 

Speakers

Norman Garrick Norman Garrick is Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Connecticut, Visiting Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH-Zurich), and a Fellow and former Board Member of the Congress for the New Urbanism.

 

 

 

Sara BroninThomas F. Gallivan Chair in Real Property Law and Faculty Director, Center for Energy and Environmental Law Sara C. Bronin is an architect and attorney who chairs the City of Hartford Planning & Zoning Commission. In that role, she led the once-in-a-generation overhaul of Hartford’s zoning code, earning national recognition for the elimination of minimum parking requirements.  In her day job, she is a UC onn Law professor specializing in property, land use, historic preservation, and renewable energy. 

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  2018 CEDAS Academy Reuse, Recycle, Rejuvenate Series

In these slim budget times, the three webinars in our series ask: how can our communities make best use of the physical infrastructure we already have?

  • March 28, 2018:  Brownfields from Start to Finish
  • July:  Reurbanization of Manufacturing
  • September: Adaptive Reuse

In each webinar you’ll hear examples from around the Nutmeg State to inspire and help you avoid pitfalls from an economic developers perspective, get a taste of best practices and community successes from other practitioners and community leaders, and access local resources relevant to your community.  

CEDAS Academy is a web-based educational learning series developed by CEDAS in partnership with the University of Connecticut-Extension Program in Community & Economic Development.

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Thursday, September 27, 2018 11 am – 12 pm
Adaptive Reuse of Historic Mills – Resources and Tools

This webinar is over

This webinar examines the state of adaptive reuse in Connecticut, outlining preservation programs and policies designed to support economic development professionals at various stages of the process. Speakers will discuss the Making Places program which promotes the renewal, reuse and appreciation of historic industrial properties through the website (www.connecticutmills.org), historic redevelopment incentives, how to do a “back of the envelope” pro forma to understand the viability of adaptive reuse projects, possible barriers in the regulatory environment, and provide examples of successful redevelopment projects including the Threadmill project in Stonington, Connecticut and “MUMS”, Mixed Use Mills, for smaller scale manufacturing.  Speakers include Renee Tribert, Project Manager of the Making Places project for the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation and Jason Vincent, Director of Planning for the Town of Stonington.

About our speakers::  

Renee Tribert is the Project Manager for the Making Places Project of the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation. Renée Tribert joined the Connecticut Trust as Project Manager of Making Places in 2014, after sixteen years in environmental consulting.  She has an MS in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania, is a published author, and has been curator at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House and collections manager at the New Britain Museum of American Art. Connecticut Trust staff work with preservation and community groups, municipalities, organizations and individuals to identify and provide tools and guidance for preservation.

Jason Vincent, AICP is Director of Planning for the Town of Stonington. Jason worked in both the public and private sectors on various economic development initiatives over the past 22 year. Since 2002, Stonington has approved four adaptive reuse mill projects, providing over 150 multi-family housing units (34 affordable) and enabling over $50MM in private investment.

Attend this webinar to learn:

  • The status of adaptive reuse in Connecticut as well as resources, programs and policies that your community can use to get started
  • Lessons learned from other communities in working to adapt and reuse an historic structure
  • Resources and tools your community can use to engage small or larger scale adaptive reuse of structures

Webinar Resources

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Thursday, August 9, 2018 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
The Re-Urbanization of Manufacturing

This webinar is over

This webinar – this second in the 2018 CEDAS Academy.  Learning outcomes:

  • The status of re-urbanization of manufacturing in the US and the Northeast as well as current research, and references
  • Lessons learned from other communities in developing and sustaining urban manufacturing centers
  • Opportunities, successes, and challenges of urban manufacturing in addressing broader community goals as well as for low income and underserved communities

Speakers include:

  • Katy Stanton, Program Director, Urban Manufacturing Alliance As program and membership director, Katy works closely with the Urban Manufacturing Alliance’s (UMA) network to build programming that brings people together between and within cities to support urban manufacturing. She oversees many of UMA’s key research and activities, including UMA’s Communities of Practice, in-person events, national research, and membership communication. Building off of 10 years in campaign politics across the country, Katy takes a community-organizing approach to growing UMA’s network. She believes that manufacturing creates equitable pathways for people of all backgrounds. She is driven by creating opportunities for storytelling so that people can open their minds to this kind of place-based economic development. Katy also loves cities, having lived in Washington D.C., London, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Philadelphia before returning to her hometown of Madison, WI, where she lives with her husband and two cats.
  • Tanu Kumar, Senior Fellow at the Pratt Center for Community Development Tanu Kumar is a Senior Fellow at the Pratt Center for Community Development, consulting on economic development projects that foster more equitable and resilient communities through research, planning, and policy. She is working on several initiatives focused on advancing equity in the innovation economy and manufacturing sector, including the Urban Manufacturing Alliances’s Equitable Innovation Economies initiative and Pratt’s EquIP Partnership. She holds an Master’s in Regional Planning from Cornell University.

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Wednesday, March 28, 2018 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Brownfields from Start to Finish – Avoiding Pitfalls

This webinar is over.

This webinar – this first in the 2018 CEDAS Academy – examines the state of brownfield redevelopment in Connecticut, outlining programs and policies designed to support economic development professionals at all stages of the process.
Speakers will discuss challenges they have experienced, citing examples from specific projects across the state, and how they were addressed to lead to successful outcomes.

Speakers include:

  • Arthur BogenPresident, Connecticut Brownfield Land Bank, Inc.
  • Dale Kroop, Director, Economic Development Focused Business Retention, Attraction and Redevelopment, with the City of Hamden.
  • Thacher TiffanyDirector of Development at Beacon Communities in Boston who will discuss his work on the Montgomery Mill site in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

Attend this webinar to learn:

  • The status of brownfield redevelopment in Connecticut as well as resources, programs and policies that your community can use to get started.
  • Lessons learned from other communities in working through financial and physical aspects of brownfield redevelopment.
  • Avoiding challenges and pitfalls often encountered in Connecticut’s communities.

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Economic Development Strategy Tapas Webinar Series

2016-2017 Economic Development TAPAS Strategy Series

In the Spanish world, “tapas ” are small, flavorful dishes eaten with others to encourage conversation and sharing. The “tapas” webinar series takes a broad look at foundational economic development strategies and serves up several community based examples in a “small plate” format. This means you’ll hear a summary of what’s worked, and what hasn’t and pickup ideas to try out in your community straight from other leaders and local professionals. CEDAS Academy-ED Strategy Series is a web-based educational learning series developed by UConn Extension in collaboration with the Connecticut Economic Development Association and the Connecticut Economic Research Center. Join us for this series to: Learn about timely, relevant economic development issues and strategies, get a taste of best practices and community successes from other practitioners and community leaders, access local resources relevant to your community

Thursday December 15, 2016 11 am- 12 pm
Farming Opportunities: Food Systems Strategies for Economic Development

This webinar is over. Access the PDF of the slide presentation HERE

Read more about this webinar.

 

Speakers:

  • Northwest Connecticut Food Hub Feasibility Study  Jocelyn Ayer – Community & Economic Development Director, NW Hills Council of Governments
  • Shellfisheries and Economic Development – Emily Stengel- Deputy Director, Greenwave

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Thursday February 16, 2017 11am – 12 pm
Innovations in Workforce Development

The webinar is over.  Access the PDF of the slide presentation here.

Read more about this webinar. 

Speakers:

  • Overview of the Workforce in Connecticut – Patrick Flaherty, Assistant Director of Research and Information, Office of Research and Information Connecticut Department of Labor
  • Eastern Connecticut Workforce Pipeline – Mark Hill Chief Operating Officer, Eastern CT Workforce Investment Board, Inc.
  • Greater Bridgeport Community Enterprises, Inc. – Adrienne Farrar Houel, President & CEO, The Green Team; Park City Green; Next Chapter Books

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Thursday April 13, 2-17 11 am- 12 pm 

Activating third places: Maker and co-working spaces

The webinar is over.  Access the PDF of the slide presentation here.

Read more about this webinar

Speakers:

  • SPARK Makerspace, New London – Hannah Gant Founding Member
  • BHive: Bridgeport – Marcella Kovak- Co owner of Founder / Partner at The Bananaland Co-Founder / Partner at B:Hive Bridgeport

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Thursday June 1, 2-17
Community Driven Business Retention & Expansion Programs

The webinar is over.  Access the PDF of the slide presentation here.

Read more about this webinar

Speakers:

  • Michael Darger Business Expansion Community Economics Specialist,  Director, Business Retention & Expansion Program University of Minnesota Extension
  • Steve Roe, General Manager Roe Motors, Grants Pass, Oregon Business Retention and Expansion Program
  • Garrett Sheehan,CEcD, Community Relations Specialist for Eversource Energy

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May 12, 2016 – Marketing Your Community for Economic Development.  11 am-12 pm

  • Access slides from this presentation here.  Webinar recording is available on request  info@cedas.org or to CEDAS members through the CEDAS member login.
  • Learn about the most important factors in community marketing, how site selection works, some “big ideas” and pitfalls in marketing your community for economic development.  The webinar will highlight concrete strategies to adapt and use in your own community.
  • About the speakers 
    Janet Ady, President & CEO, Ady Advantage
    Janet Ady is an experienced marketing strategist who knows how to reach expanding and relocating companies, talent, and stakeholders with compelling messages that promote business investment and growth. Janet’s passions are business-to-business marketing and economic development. As president of Ady Advantage, she has led marketing initiatives for a wide range of organizations. Ultimately, her work helps to strengthen existing businesses, enhance the quality of life, attract new and expanding businesses, and retain and attract talent. Janet’s background is in marketing research and strategy development. In that capacity, she has conducted over 2,500 in-depth qualitative interviews with business and technical decision-makers across a broad swath of businesses. Her knowledge of multiple industries allows her to provide value to individual businesses as well as communities and regions targeting specific sectors. She also brings an in-depth knowledge of the site selection process, especially in terms of understanding what factors are evaluated during each step along the decision-making process and how to optimally position places and develop compelling, differentiating messages. In this way, Ady Advantage brings both the science and the art to economic development marketing. Janet consults on many aspects of economic development marketing, including agribusiness strategies, rural economic development strategies, marketing planning, economic development branding, and websites. Janet authored The Rural Economic Development Toolbox in 2014 and regularly speaks and teaches on economic development business and marketing strategy.Andy Levine, President/Chief Creative Officer, Development Counsellors International (DCI)
    Andy joined DCI in 1991 and became DCI’s President in 1994. Under his leadership, the agency has grown to 50+ full-time individuals, the largest assembly of place-marketing professionals in the world. Andy is a frequent speaker on the topics of investment attraction and economic development marketing. Recent speaking engagements have included the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI), the Association of University Research Parks (AURP), California Association of Local Economic Developers (CALED) and the Select USA Investment Summit. He authors a column for Forbes.com on the topic of place marketing and is the primary author of “Winning Strategies in Economic Development Marketing,” a continuing survey of corporate executives with site selection responsibilities.