Resources
Business Articles |
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2010 Tax Calendar Available from the IRS in electronic version |
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| The 2010 IRS Tax Calendar for Small Business and Self-Employed is full of useful tools and information for small business owners. Note: as of 1/15/2010, the hard-copy calendars were out of stock, but you can view the calendar online or download the electronic version and integrate the information into Microsoft Outlook and iCal applications - now there's no excuse to miss your tax deadlines! | |
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ARC Loan Program FAQs, Small Business Administration |
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| Frequently asked questions about the stimulus-funded ARC Loan Program for struggling businesses, administered through the Small Business Administration. | |
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ARC Loan Program General Information, Small Business Administration |
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| If your small business is stressed meeting expenses during these economic times, the U.S. Small Business Administration has a stimulus-funded loan program designed just for you. Read more at SBA.gov's ARC Loan Program page. | |
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Avoid a Bad Business Partnership – And Your Options if You Find Yourself in One |
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| A business partnership is like a marriage - it takes a lot of hard work to keep it together, but if done correctly, can be very rewarding. Follow this quick Business.gov guide for tips on how to keep your partnership healthy and what your options are if things take a turn for the worse. | |
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Best Industries for Starting a Business Right Now |
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| Do you have money and want to start a business, but are not sure what kind of business to launch? Inc.com has 18 ideas to stir your creativity, presented in a slideshow format. | |
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Cautionary Tips: Turn Delectable Tasty Treats Into a Home-Based Business Enterprise? |
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| Are you artful in the kitchen? Have your friends praised your delectable tasty treats? Perhaps you’ve been encouraged to turn your culinary skills into a business of your own. But before you start dreaming about becoming the next Mrs. Field’s, make sure you have the right recipe for success. It’s not as simple as whipping together the flour, sugar, butter and eggs. If you don’t do your homework, you can end up in hot water. Read more at Business.gov. | |
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Changing Business Direction – Four Steps to Consider as you Chart a New Course |
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| Changing the direction of your business - including altering your product or service offering, selling to a new market, or opting for new distribution channels - is no mean feat and requires significant planning and organizational buy in. If you have reached the point where diversification has not worked, or your business model simply isn't working for you anymore, how do you start going about a change of business direction? Here are some steps to consider as you redirect your business acumen and investments into a new venture. Read more from Business.gov. | |
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Claiming a Tax Deduction for Business Use of Your Home |
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| Business.gov explains the basics on how qualified businesses can file the "business use of the home" tax deduction. | |
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Collecting from Any Customer (Even Enron) |
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| Thirty ways to get paid within 30 days. Read more at Inc.com. | |
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Credit and Debit Cards: To Accept or Not to Accept |
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| Should your business accept debit and credit cards? What are the costs and benefits? Choosing to accept debit and credit card payments is a big step but often necessary in running a successful business. It is important to be aware of all the benefits, downfalls, and laws that regulate their use. Read more at Business.gov. | |
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Cutting Sales Costs in a Recession |
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| Efforts to reduce sales costs might seem inevitable during tough economic times. Yet McKinsey’s client work shows that such measures can backfire unless the impact receives careful consideration. Read more in McKinsey Quarterly's November 2009 issue. | |
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Department of Labor Publishes Updated Employment Law Guide |
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| The Department of Labor is making it easier for employers to understand and comply with U.S. labor and employment laws. The agency's newly updated Employment Law Guide addresses the new changes in labor policy. Read more at Business.gov. | |
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Dollar's next challenge: Inflation or deflation? |
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| A What Matters Debate: As the US economy emerges from the crisis, there’s little consensus on what lies ahead. Economic forecaster David Levy says chronic high unemployment will lead to, at worst, slight deflation. While former Fortune writer and financial adviser Al Ehrbar says, not so fast: with the Federal Reserve having flooded the market with dollars, massive inflation is likely. Read more in the January 2010 issue of McKinsey Quarterly. | |
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Domain Names: How to Select One for Your Company's Web Site |
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| Online businesses have become extremely popular in the last few years. While many steps of starting an online business are the same as those for a traditional business, several additional requirements are necessary to create your website. To understand the basics of starting your website, you must understand what a domain name is, how to select one, and how to register it. Read more from Business.gov. | |
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Elevator Pitch for Your Business (and Tips on How to Target it to your Audience) |
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| Whether you are on a trade show floor, making a sales pitch, or seeking investment; perfecting your elevator pitch can be one of the most important things your business can do. From the moment you start-up, having a well rehearsed and compelling elevator pitch can help buyers, clients and potential investors get to know you quickly. To help prepare your elevator pitch you need to take a three-step approach and address these key elements of your business. Read more from Business.gov. | |
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Email Marketing: “The Most Powerful Tool in Your Relationship-Building Toolbox” |
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| While the rumor that email marketing is about to be replaced by social media continues to float around, all evidence points to the contrary. Here are a few pointers for leveraging email marketing to engage and build relationships with your customers. Read more from Business.gov. | |
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Expand Your Business |
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| Helpful advice on marketing, exploring new business opportunities, and implementing best practices. Read more from Business.gov. | |
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Expanding Your Business - Advice from Successful Entrepreneurs |
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| The U.S. Small Business Administration and Dell launched a new online video series that includes real-world insight, solutions and advice from small business owners who have succeeded, in good and bad economic times. Topics in the series include Government Contracting, Exporting Opportunities, Technology and Growth, Disaster Recovery, and Marketing. View the stories on SBA.gov. | |
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Freelancing – Assessing your Readiness to Be your Own Boss and Tips for Getting Started |
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| Who hasn't dreamed of being their own boss? Answerable to no one and free to choose how and when you work, freelancing is an appealing career choice that continues to gain popularity largely because freelancers and independent contractors offer businesses a flexible way of managing their labor needs and employing specialized workers at a low cost. Read more at Business.gov. | |
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Government Contract Training for Small Businesses |
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| How to become a contractor for federal, state and local governments. Read more from Business.gov. | |
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Greening Your Home-Based Business – Saving $, Saving the Environment, and Building your Brand |
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| Operating a home-based business means that you have a responsibility to ensure that your home office has a minimal impact on the environment and on your household's bottom line! From office equipment to government energy incentives, here are some ways to "green" your home-based business. Read more at Business.gov. | |
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How the Recession Has Changed US Consumer Behavior |
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| Companies waiting for a return to normality following the recession may be disappointed. Their customers have tried cheaper products—and actually like them. Read more from McKinsey Quarterly's December 2009 issue. | |
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Hurt on the Job: An Employer's Action Plan for Workplace Injuries |
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| As an employer, you have a responsibility to maintain a safe work environment, but accidents can happen even in the safest of workplaces. If one of your employees becomes injured on the job, do you have a plan? Read more from Business.gov. | |
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Industry Guides |
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| Industry Guides from Business.gov help small businesses in highly regulated industries comply with laws and government regulations. These guides also provide information on training, financing, and business growth strategies. | |
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Marketing Budget: How to Develop One for your Small Business |
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| Starting and growing a business presents many strategic planning challenges, not least of which is knowing how much to spend on marketing. Determining your marketing budget has a lot more to do with what you are trying to achieve as a small business than what your revenue numbers tell you. This means having a plan. Here are some tips from Business.gov for developing a marketing budget that works for your small business. | |
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Multichannel Retailing |
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| In a year of doom and gloom for retailers, the continued emergence of online sales has been a bright spot. Why then do so few companies get true multichannel retailing right? Read how, in McKinsey Quarterly's October 2009 issue. | |
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Risk: Seeing Around the Corners |
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| Risk-assessment processes typically expose only the most direct threats facing a company and neglect indirect ones that can have an equal or greater impact. Read more from McKinsey Quarterly's October 2009 issue. | |
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Site Selection Magazine (online) |
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| Monthly magazine of corporate real estate strategy and area economic development, to read about nationwide trends in site selection. | |
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Small Business Advocate, December 2009 Issue |
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| The Small Business Advocate is a periodic newsletter that details economic developments and regulatory trends related to small business as well as the latest initiatives of the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy. Read the December 2009 issue to learn about the latest developments. | |
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Small Business Marketing: Making Social Media Pay Off for your Brand and Your Bottom Line |
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| Duct Tape Marketing, a small business marketing site, published a survey in October 2009 that suggests that more and more small businesses are starting to adopt social media as a means to promote their business. Despite apparent initial skepticism, 45% of the 2,000 surveyed small businesses reported that they are now using some form of social media. Read more on Business.gov. | |
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Small Business Training Network: Free 30-minute online business courses |
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| Provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration, these free courses cover Business Management, Business Planning, Finance & Accounting, Government Contracting, Marketing & Advertising, Starting a Business, and Surviving a Slow Economy. | |
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Social Media: a Practical Guide |
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| If your small business would like to learn how to use social media as a lead-generating tool, view this invaluable "Practical Guide to Social Media" published by American Express OPENForum. | |
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Social Media: Where Your Customers Are |
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| Facebook, the largest social media network, recently reached 300 million users worldwide — roughly the population of the United States. Do your homework before you approach your customers online. BNET shows how users on the top social media sites broke down by age in August 2009 (data from The Nielsen Company). | |
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Starting a Business |
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| Helpful IRS articles for anyone thinking of starting a new business. | |
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Starting a Business? Get the Right Kind of Advice & Take Control of Your Start-Up! |
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| Starting a business is a huge step for any entrepreneur to undertake, and requires careful planning as well as business smarts and the right advice. In addition to the wealth of online resources that can help entrepreneurs with start-up planning, preparation and management you should also consider seeking out specialist advice and help for three key business functions - tax and accounting, marketing, and business administration. Here are some pointers from Business.gov to help you source the right kind of help. | |
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Surviving the Recession and Planning for a Rebound – How Small Businesses are Doing It! |
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| No doubt about it, the current economic recession has hurt small businesses as well as the people they employ. Yet small business survival stories are appearing in the media and bringing with them hope and optimism. From customer service to marketing; from creative uses of technology to tighter financial controls - small businesses are fighting back with a toolbox of resources that challenges conventional business models, introduces greater efficiencies, and opens doors to new opportunities. Here are just some insights and tips from Business.gov on how small business is doing it. | |
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Taking Stock of the Business Year – How to Conduct a Year-End Review & Plan for the Year Ahead |
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| How is your business doing? Have you conducted a business review lately? As the year draws to a close, there is no better time to start planning again – and this invariably means taking stock of the business year, reviewing your market position, and deciding where to take your business in 2010. Here are some tried and tested tactics you can employ to review your business performance, together with some tips for seeing beyond the malaise of 2009 and finding optimism in your accomplishments. Read more from Business.gov. | |
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Taking the Plunge – Tips for Getting over the Fear of Starting a Business |
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| Starting your own business may be one of the biggest risks you will take in your life - and the statistics confirm it. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), two-thirds of new businesses survive for a minimum of two years, with only 44 percent surviving at least four years. But given the right preparedness, planning, and financing, many entrepreneurs do take the plunge and succeed. Here are some tips from Business.gov for making these three factors work for you as you consider starting your own business. | |
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Taxable Business Income: A Primer |
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| No one says that doing your taxes is easy, but being prepared when tax season comes can make the process less painful. When filing your business income taxes, you must report all income – not just income from the sale of goods, services, or property. For small business owners, taxable income falls into a few major categories. This Business.gov list is by no means comprehensive, but it provides an easy-to-read reference on taxable income on your small business. | |
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Tech Tools for The Small Business Traveler |
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| If you travel on business regularly, or even occasionally, you know how important it is to get work done while on the road. This Business.gov article has practical tips for the small business traveler. It includes 7 indispensable technology tools you will need to get work done while on the road, stay organized and have an enjoyable trip. | |
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Untangling the Hairball of Regulations that Apply to Your Specific Trade or Industry |
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| From the moment you start-up, and throughout the life of your business- hiring your first employee, formalizing your business structure, and so on-you'll need to understand and comply with a host of government laws and requirements. But for many business owners, there's a parallel path of ever changing trade- and industry-specific government regulations that must also be navigated. So how do you untangle the hairball and make sense of what regulations apply to your specific industry? Business.gov offers a couple of resources that can help. | |
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Writing a Business Plan |
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| A step-by-step guide to writing a new business plan, from the Connecticut Community Investment Corporation (CTCIC). | |
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Financial Documents |
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Loan Application |
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| Northeast CT Economic Alliance Loan Application Form | |
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Loan Information List |
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| List of Documentation Needed for Loan Application Process | |
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Personal Financial Statement |
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| Personal Financial Statement Needed for Loan Application Process | |
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Town Data from CERC |
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Town of Ashford |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Brooklyn |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Canterbury |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Chaplin |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Columbia |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Coventry |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Eastford |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Hampton |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Killingly |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Lebanon |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Mansfield |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Plainfield |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Pomfret |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Putnam |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Scotland |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Sterling |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Thompson |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Union |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Willington |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Windham |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Town of Woodstock |
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| 2010 CERC Data | |
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Northeast CT Economic Alliance 860-465-5141 Toll-Free: 800-635-9161 ECSU, Beckert Hall PO Box 186, 83 Windham St. Willimantic, CT 06226 (located at the corner of Valley and High Streets) |