To the Editor:

The recent announcement by Kendro Laboratory Products that it is leaving Newtown is certainly upsetting news. My sympathy goes out to the more than 200 employees who will be released from Kendro in the coming months.

According to your article, Kendro is the fourth large manufacturing company to leave Newtown in the past three years. I question how often our first selectman has met with representatives of our ten largest commercial taxpayers during the past year? Does he maintain an ongoing dialogue with businesses that are located here? When will the next “disappointment” occur?

We cannot afford to lose more of our top-ten taxpayers. This time it is costing the town $338,000. What will it cost us next time? If we cannot keep the businesses we have, how can we expect to attract new businesses to town?

Sincerely,

William Sheluck, Jr

36 Greenleaf Farms Road, Newtown                              June 3, 2003