In February 2011, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Main St., Middletown, Conn. as the Most Romantic Main Street in the country.
"Middletown's allure includes an artful Main St. brimming with elegant restaurants, an award-winning local chocolatier, and the romantic Inn at Middletown, offering the best of New England charm."
A heads up to retail developers: the downtown Middletown market has a 2.17 pull factor. Our diners, business and healthcare professionals are looking for more places to shop and your store could be more profitable here.
New retail stores moving to Main St. include: Trendz on Main, Edible Arrangements, Hancock Pharmacy, Lizzy B's Sweet Celebrations & Pralines Ice Cream, Mezzo Grille, Mondo, Esca, K. LaMay's and Titanium.
The extraordinary growth of our downtown has driven office space vacancies to record lows. CPAs Guilmartin, DiPiro & Sokolowski will build a new 12,000 s/f mixed use retail/office building on Main St. - the fourth new mixed-use building on Main St. in the past five years. Recent arrivals downtown include: Emmy Award winner Moving Pictures and newly formed Asterisk Financial Insurance.
Retailers are continuing to acquire sites on CT Rte. 66. Some of our new retailers on Washington St. include: Price Chopper, Aldi, CVS, Dunkin' Donuts, Old Glory, 5 Guys Burgers & Fries, Computer Tune n' Lube, Sears Automotive & Nardelli's.
Construction of new medical office space is booming in Middletown! Recent growth includes: Orthopedic Associates of Middletown expansion with two new office buildings totaling 37,000 s/f and Davita Dialysis opening the 15,000 s/f of space for the Middlesex Dialysis Center and their regional management offices. The Community Health Center, Inc. is constructing a 35,000 s/f medical facility downtown. Even with all this new space, we need an additional 150,000 s/f of new medical office space and more new housing for healthcare professionals. Now there's a great opportunity for a developer looking to capitalize on the healthcare boom!
Middlesex Hospital is Connecticut's first and only hospital to earn the coveted Magnet Award for nursing excellence - for the third time. Middlesex Hospital was recognized as one of the top 100 hospitals in the U.S. in the Thomson Reuters 100 Top Hospitals: National Benchmarks for Success study.
If you're looking for big development opportunities, Middletown has some very exciting projects for experienced developers.
First, we are working closely with Aetna on the redevelopment their 250 acre site on I-91. This development of this property offers a huge opportunity for the city and the region.
Secondly, the South Cove project on the Connecticut River offers a prime 85-acre waterfront site. Our plans call for an entertainment and residential mixed development to connect with our vibrant downtown. This is a unique opportunity since there are very few commercial development sites along the river.
Near the Aetna site, CenterpointCT is building 96,000 s/f of LEED Silver-registered office condominiums. We have expanded our Tax & Business Incentive Program to offer a 10% Green incentive for LEED registered buildings.
Our aerospace industry is flying high with United Technologies Pratt & Whitney division gaining new engine orders. Pratt is the exclusive manufacturer of the F-35 fighter aircraft engine and the Air Force's KC-X tanker aircraft program.
Norpaco Gourmet Foods recently relocated to Middletown and built a new 50,000 s/f food processing plant. Jarvis Products Corp. is building a 15,000 s/f addition and Suburban Stationers recently completed a 25,000 s/f expansion.
Middletown is very supportive of business development. We offer:
* A generous Tax and Business Incentive Program.
* The 2,500 member Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce www.middlesexchamber.com - a strong advocate for business.
* Free business counseling for new and expanding Middletown businesses from the Middletown Small Business Development Center and the Downtown Business District www.middletowndowntown.com.
* Small Business Grants for start-ups and expanding small business.
* Enterprise Zone benefits for qualifying businesses.
* A smart workforce with grads from Wesleyan University, Middlesex Community College and nearby Yale University and Trinity College.
I am very pleased to report that our April 2011 Semi-Annual Business Climate Survey indicates improving market, employment and revenue stats.
I think Middletown can offer your business many ways to grow.
Please email: mayor@cityofmiddletown.com or contact Rick Kearney, economic development specialist at richard.kearney@cityofmiddletown.com. Let's talk about how your business can become more successful in Middletown.

Sebastian Giuliano is the mayor of the City of Middletown, Conn.