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Bill Trotta | Published: December 7, 2021

Danbury School System Looks to Fill Over 100 Positions, Boasts Diversity   

If the pandemic has set you back in your career, or if you're simply searching for a new challenge, the Danbury Public Schools are hiring for well over 100 positions.

How are your math skills? Or maybe you could see yourself on the sidelines coaching JV Baseball or Volleyball? Or you may be one of those that have mad tech skills. There's even an open position for Chief Strategy and Operations Officer. If any of these sound like you, the Danbury Public Schools may be looking for you.

Even though the school year is almost halfway through, there are still opportunities to get on board and become part of the Danbury Public School system.

They are looking for full, part-time and seasonal employees, and have a number of jobs that are available immediately.

While celebrating the fact that the Danbury Public School System prides itself on the diversity of the 75 different ethnicities living, working, and going to school in the Hat City, the human resources department explains why they feel that Danbury Schools are an amazing place to work.

"The crown jewel of Connecticut lies in northern Fairfield County, right over the New York border," says a representative of the DPS. "Danbury incorporates the virtues of both an urban center, together with small town charm. Our city is situated at the heart of the Housatonic Valley Region. Danbury is convenient to major interstates that will take you from Maine to Florida for scenic, as well as fun filled times."

As of this writing, Danbury is looking for teachers at the High School level in English, Business, Math, Technology Education, and plenty more.

Elementary School teachers are wanted for Park Ave, Morris Street, Hayestown School, Ellsworth Ave. and others.

There are also job openings in the Athletic Department for an assistant Football Coach, JV Baseball, Head Coaches for Wrestling, Boys Soccer, Girls Lacrosse, and Girls Swimming. On the office side, they are looking for office clerks, and bookkeepers. Heck, you could even be a part of the music department as a long term substitute

Check the Danbury Public Schools site for a full list of all available positions.

Read More: Danbury School System Looks to Fill Over 100 Positions | https://danburycountry.com/danbury-schools-now-hiring-for-multiple-positions/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

Rob Ryser | Nov. 30, 2021

BUSINESS

An industrial stretch near Danbury Airport is taking off as a ‘mecca for high-end autos’

DANBURY - An industrial stretch that hugs the southern perimeter of Danbury Airport is becoming a niche for the high-end automotive market on the city’s booming west side.

From a 50,000-square-foot storage and restoration center for luxury cars expected to be the largest in Fairfield County when it opens in the spring, to a film director’s company that recently began producing $400,000 sports cars in the shadows of Runway 26, the conversion of Miry Brook and Sugar Hollow roads into a high-end auto corridor is seen by leaders as the kind of economic development Danbury welcomes.

“Call it expanding or exploding or whatever adjective you want to use, but there’s tremendous interest in commercial development on the west side,” said Paul Rotello, the City Council’s Democratic Majority Leader. “It’s great for business.”

The latest evidence of the emerging high-end auto niche on the eastern and southern borders of Danbury Airport came in the summer, when a high-end auto dealer won zoning approvals to build a Mercedes-Benz dealership at the corner of Miry Brook and Sugar Hollow roads. The corridor is already home to Porsche and Audi dealerships, as well as high-end auto garages and storage facilities such as Speedsport Tuning and Collector Car Services.

“That end of Danbury has more high-end cars stored than you can imagine,” said Neil Marcus, a land use attorney who has represented developers in the corridor. “It has become a mecca for high end autos - for automotive storage and assembly and sales and restoration.”

Meanwhile, other automotive dealers are kicking the corridor’s tires. At least one dealer is drawing up blueprints for the former Sports Authority building on Sugar Hollow Road, said Roger Palanzo, Danbury’s economic development director, during a meeting earlier this month.

It remains to be seen whether the dealer with plans for the corner of Miry Brook and Sugar Hollow roads will win approvals from Danbury’s Environmental Impact Commission and Planning Commission, along with approval from the Federal Aviation Administration.

As of Monday, Curry had not submitted blueprints to the city’s Planning Department.

Curry Automotive plans to “redevelop a highly visible site to a high standard with new Mercedes-Benz sales and service center,” according to the dealer’s attorney, Meaghan Miles.

Part of the proposal that would certainly make the dealership visible calls for 87 spots for “rooftop inventory parking and a second-floor vehicle display.”

The idea, according to Curry Automotive, is to conserve the amount of environmentally sensitive land near the Kissen Brook that needs to be paved for parking by using the roof surface. The applicant’s attorney Miles called it “a creative solution to parking and storage.”

Plans call for clearing the concrete building, the storage container, and the trailers on the 2.5-acre site, which is used to park construction equipment and stockpile soil and gravel.

Rotello said he was impressed up to a point.

“They were all excited about cleaning up a corner that’s a gateway to Danbury but then they showed us the renderings with the parking on the roof,” Rotello said. “Cars on the roof. I guess this is how we roll in Danbury now.”

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342

Rob Ryser | Nov. 28, 2021

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DANBURY — The city’s economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis is underway and trending in the right direction, an expert said, thanks to relatively low unemployment and a strong local job market fueled by a booming health care industry.

“Even during the challenging economic recession back in the 2008-to-2010 range and the current 2020 pandemic, Danbury’s unemployment was lower than both Fairfield County and the state - and (unemployment) has actually come down substantially since the high point of the pandemic,” said Eric Halvorsen, an economic consultant, during a task force meeting of Danbury leaders who are writing a master plan for the next decade. “The recovery seems to be in full swing in Danbury, which is great news.”

The latest jobless data put Danbury’s unemployment at 4.4 percent in September, compared to 5.3 percent in Fairfield County as a whole, and 5.4 percent statewide. The 1,960 people still out of work in Danbury is significantly down from the 3,000 who were jobless at the height of the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, the data shows.

Danbury still has progress to make to get down to its pre-pandemic jobless number of 3.2 percent.

To be sure, the coronavirus crisis had a crushing effect on the Danbury economy - costing 790 local jobs in the accommodations and food service industry, 680 local jobs in the retail industry, and 370 local manufacturing jobs, according to the data.

The anomaly was in Danbury’s thriving health care industry, which from 2019 to 2021 added 385 jobs. Led by Danbury Hospital and its parent organization Nuvance Health, the city’s health industry employs 8,500 people, or 23 percent of all Danbury jobs.

Other important employment sectors in Danbury are retail, which accounts for 14 percent of all Danbury jobs; government work, which accounts for 13 percent of Danbury jobs; manufacturing, which accounts for 8 percent; professional, scientific and technical, which accounts for 6 percent; accommodations and food services, which accounts for 6 percent; and construction, which accounts for 5 percent.

“Some of these jobs are expected to come back, and there is a lot of economic development activity in the city — not just in healthcare, but also for some of these manufacturers, which is really exciting to see,” Halvorsen told the master plan task force at a meeting last week. “Danbury’s health care industry is a clear leader within Fairfield County.”

One of the keys to Danbury’s strong job market is that Danbury is an “employment destination,” where 6,000 more people come to the city to work on an average day than those who leave to work out of town.

“Danbury is also very unique in that about 33 percent of Danbury’s working residents remain in the city for their jobs,” Halvorsen said. “From my perspective, working in other communities, that is a really high percentage.”

The result is a “positive inflow of workers” who not only support Danbury’s employers but also create “a strong daytime population that ends up spending money at local establishments such as retail, service providers and restaurants.” Halvorsen said.

Moreover, those who do work outside Danbury tend to have short commutes, either within Fairfield County or no further than New Haven County or Westchester County, N.Y.

“The strength of Danbury’s economy and the diversity of industries here provide a lot of different opportunities for residents to both live and work within relative close proximity to each other,” Halvorsen said. “We know that this helps cut down on commuting costs, time spent away from family, and also fewer vehicle emissions, so it’s good for the environment.”

Halvorsen said the data should help city leaders set economic development priorities for the next decade.

“If an industry like health care is both specialized and growing (as it is in Danbury) this could indicate a real competitive advantage and maybe suggest to the city that this is a sector that they might want to invest more time and energy into,” he said.

rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342