Breaking Ground in North Hartford's Promise Zone

Getting ready for the Swift groundbreaking in North Hartford's Promise Zone.

Residents and guests sign one of the beams that will be incorporated into construction.

After more than a decade of sitting vacant, a former economic engine of the Northeast neighborhood of Hartford will return to productive use. On September 8, Hartford Field Office Director Suzanne Piacentini joined Community Solutions as well as Hartford residents; Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin; Congressman John Larson; Senator Richard Blumenthal and other community partners to celebrate the groundbreaking of the historic Swift Factory. The principle economic development project of the North Hartford Promise Zone, the redeveloped and repurposed factory will become a food and job creation hub for the area.

Mayor Bronin applauded Community Solutions' work reimagining an economic engine of the neighborhood. "Again representing a new path to economic opportunity for residents, from gold leaf to green leaves," Mayor Bronin said. He also lauded local restauranteur, Jamie McDonald, whose Bear's Smokehouse is a Second Chance employer and will open a food manufacturing facility in the building, "Companies, like Bear's, committed to lifting people up."

The Swift Factory, formerly owned by M. Swift and Sons Company, was once home to one of the nation's most successful manufacturers of gold leaf and one of the largest employers in Hartford's North End. The company had produced layers of the gold leaf that once donned the dome of the Connecticut State Capitol. Once construction is complete, the repurposed factory will be a community health hub featuring a 35,000 square foot indoor hydroponic farm; Bear's food manufacturing space; a food business incubator, as well as community convening space.

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