REGIONAL ASSETS & ACTIVITY

CEDS 2017 detailed eight categories: Transportation, Utilities, Land Use and Agriculture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Manufacturing and Defense, Education and Workforce Development, Healthcare, and Innovation.4 Highlights of significant projects, events or changes that have impacted the region over the past five years are presented in Appendix F, and will be updated periodically throughout the life of the plan.

The SECT EDD is strategically located within a day’s drive of over 30 percent of the nation’s effective buying income, retail sales and manufacturing firms (Figure 14). The region marks the midpoint between the major metropolises of New York and Boston, and is within an hour of New Haven and Hartford, CT, Springfield, MA, and Providence, RI – all significant urban centers providing additional economic and cultural opportunities for residents and business owners of SECT.

Long Island Sound forms the southern border, ranging from the Connecticut River to the Pawcatuck River and providing easy access to the shipping lanes of the Atlantic Ocean. Marine resources have influenced the region’s