Sandy Hook Financial Firm

Pursuing Expansion Project

By Andrew Gorosko

A local business services firm that is planning to expand operations is considering constructing a new headquarters building at Curtis Corporate Park off Toddy Hill Road in Sandy Hook.

Michael Bodetti, founder, president, and chief executive officer of TnT Partners, LLC, on July 18 told members of the Economic Development Commission (EDC) that the firm, which is now located in a 7,500-square-foot office building at 13 Berkshire Road, is considering constructing new 29,000-square-foot building about one mile away on Turnberry Lane in Curtis Corporate Park.

The firm also is considering constructing the corporate headquarters at alternate sites in Monroe and Southbury, he said.

The company, which employs 59 people, is in the business of telecommunications expense management. TnT performs computer analyses of its clients’ telecommunications bills to find ways that they can cut their operating costs.

Mr Bodetti, a Dodgingtown resident, said he approached the EDC in seeking to ensure that the town land use review process of the company’s expansion project would not be too lengthy, and also in seeking property tax breaks for new construction through the town’s Business Incentive Program.

After discussion, EDC Chairman Chet Hopper said the EDC would work to aid TnT in its constructing a new headquarters in Sandy Hook.

Because the EDC did not achieve a quorum of its members on July 18, the panel would formally take up the TnT expansion proposal at its August 15 session. If a majority of EDC members formally endorses the firm’s Sandy Hook expansion proposal, an EDC letter of support would be submitted to the town agencies that would review the project.

The Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance, and Legislative Council would consider the tax break aspects of the project. The Inland Wetlands Commission (IWC) and Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) would review the land use and the environmental protection aspects of a construction project.

The EDC is an advisory panel that guides and promotes local economic development, including the expansion of the municipal property tax base and the creation of jobs.

Presentation

In a presentation to the EDC, Mr Bodetti explained that the privately owned company formed in 1999 and has grown rapidly since then. Key people at the firm have worked in the company’s specialty for more than 20 years, he said. “We’re growing at a pretty good pace,” he said.

The firm’s clients include Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Mohegan Sun, Priceline.com, and the State of Kentucky.

“We are very computer-intensive,” Mr Bodetti said, explaining that the firm uses computer analysis to find ways that its clients can reduce their telecommunications costs. Work includes invoice processing, contract negotiations, network engineering, and wireless communications management.

Stemming from its growing space needs, the company is considering building new quarters in Newtown, Monroe, or Southbury, Mr Bodetti said. “I would prefer to stay here in Newtown,” he said.

Mr Bodetti said the firm has placed purchase deposits on two building lots in Curtis Corporate Park. Those lots are at the end of the dead-end Turnberry Lane. As the company expands, there is the potential for it to construct a second building at the site, he said. The firm projects that it may have 180 employees by 2008.

TnT’s construction of new facilities in Newtown would aid the municipal property tax base, Mr Bodetti said. The value of the new construction could range from $4 million to $6 million, he said.

Saying that growth has resulted in crowded conditions at its 13 Berkshire Road offices, Mr Bodetti stressed that the firm wants to move rapidly to create new larger facilities.

Mr Hopper said, “We’d love to have you [remain] here. We want to keep you in town.”

The town’s Business Incentive Program could provide the firm with as much as a 50 percent property tax break for each of three fiscal years, Mr Hopper said.

Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker said she does not foresee TnT encountering any problems in receiving the required municipal approvals for its project.

Mr Bodetti said the response that he received from the EDC at the July 18 session is “encouraging.”