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ChamberWorks
» If it's Worth Doing, Do it Darn Well
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If it's Worth Doing, Do it Darn Well
It's fair to say that the Chamber's first-ever Wellness Revolution Health Fair was more than fair. You could call it well organized, well executed and well received. Downright healthy, at that.
One member of the public went so far as to call the Chamber office afterwards to tell us just how good the fair was. An unsolicited phone call out of the clear blue sky.
Maybe it was the 50-plus exhibitors that made it such a success. The wellness industry in its infinite variety was well represented, as was the fitness industry, but we also had local hospitals, insurance companies, education programs, dance studios, purveyors of healthy foods and even a veterinarian.
Hey — dogs do wellness too. And we had a live demonstration in the Roger Ludlowe Middle School gym to prove it.
Demonstrations played an important part. Pilates, dance, more Pilates, yoga, fitness, Pilates the Third, the aforementioned dog … and then World Champion Taekwondo blew the roof off the place by kicking some serious gungdung-i.
Our volunteers did a fantastic job, and the 250-300 people who came to the fair enjoyed the results of their efforts. We already have plans for next year's Wellness Revolution Health Fair — bigger, badder and done very, very well.
State Ends Year with $83.4 Million Surplus
Money. Money money money. Mooooney.
State Comptroller Nancy Wyman said Connecticut ended its 2008 fiscal year with a budget surplus of $83.4 million, created mainly by stronger-than-expected income tax revenue that offset higher government spending.
It was a year that saw a $280 million surplus in February turn into a $67 million deficit by May as the economy sagged. A late-summer rally in income tax collection finally pushed it into the black again.
Income tax collection grew by 11 percent for the year, while state spending rose by a more modest 8.8 percent thanks to the use of surplus funds from prior years.
Job growth paled in comparison to 2007, sales tax revenue grew only slightly and existing home sales hit a 10-year low (as if nobody saw that one coming). But overall personal income is up four percent, putting the state in the top 25 percent for income growth.
