New Economic Development Coordinator Getting Down To Business

By John Voket

Newtown resident Betsy Paynter spent much of her career elevating popular consumer brands such as Vlasic, Miller Beer, and Nabisco in the eyes and minds of consumers. But as Newtown’s new part-time economic development coordinator, Ms Paynter will turn her attention to elevating the profile of local small businesses and companies doing business in town.

“I worked in consumer marketing and promotions building national brand recognition,” she told The Newtown Bee during a visit to her office in the municipal center’s former probate court. “Now I can apply my expertise elevating the town that I love and the people doing business here.”

Ms Paynter and her husband Brad have lived in town for almost 15 years. They have two children, Allie, who attends Newtown Middle School, and Gren, a sixth grader at Reed Intermediate. Her first taste of municipal work came as an intern in Danbury’s Planning & Zoning Department when she was a student at Southern Connecticut State University, where she majored in graphic design and marketing.

After graduation, she went to work for an international entertainment and sports company in Fairfield County where she was employed as a graphic artist and print ad buyer.

She transitioned to a position at a marketing firm where she started as a production manager and client services specialist.

“I worked directly with clients and eventually was promoted to managing several internal departments there including creative, and those handling sweepstakes, games, and in-store activities,” she said. “Later I worked from home on in-store promotional plans and representing those clients in social media marketing campaigns.”

This is where Ms Paynter feels she will be a great asset.

“People today want information immediately, so we want to satisfy that need by taking all the businesses in Newtown to the next level of social media communication. Today everybody is communicating via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and we want to be able to represent our local businesses in those media,” she said. “Deals and benefits can be lost if you move too slowly.”

That prompted Ms Paynter’s first project — amassing an accurate database of the nearly 2,000 businesses, from corporate to home-based, that are currently operating in town.

“The more businesses in our database, the faster I can inform them of new programs or benefits that might be available to them from the state or federal government. There are new loans and programs being announced almost every day that can apply to many local businesses,” she said. “The town has programs to help support businesses as well.”

She plans to include information about various programs, grants, and loans through an electronic news letter and bulletins she will blast to companies on the database.

“Any Newtown business or business owner, entrepreneur, or anyone interested in establishing or relocating a business to town should contact this office,” Ms Paynter said. “They can go to newtown.org and sign up for the e-newsletters, or they can like us on Facebook.”

She will also be attending meetings and working with the Economic Development Commision on other special projects, as well as providing some administrative report to Economic and Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker.

Ms Stocker said the contract with Ms Paynter will help elevate the Economic Development Commission’s business retention and expansion program that was initiated this past winter following the town’s approval of a Strategic Plan.

“We are very pleased to begin working with Betsy on this initiative and look forward to helping Newtown’s business community expand and to help innovators take the next steps leading to entrepreneurship,” Ms Stocker said. “There’s lots of work to do and Betsy is up for the challenge.”

The new economic development coordinator will also be working with local commercial brokers on behalf of home-based businesses that are ready to expand to commercial space or storefront locations.

“We’re all one big team here helping to grow Newtown,” she said. “And my door is open to anyone with suggestions or ideas to that end.”

During her free time, Ms Paynter enjoys skiing, yoga, and exercising. But she can most often be found on the sidelines of local youth football, lacrosse, and soccer teams cheering on her children.

Ms Paynter will be working Tuesday through Thursday, but her hours are flexible based on the projects at hand. She invites business people or residents with any questions to e-mail edc@newtown.org or to call 203-270-4281.