Businesses looking to start or expand in Connecticut can find assistance through the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, the main agency in Connecticut responsible for promoting economic growth in the state. The state has also launched the Connecticut Business Portal to guide businesses to appropriate state resources.

Some state support helps to reduce business costs, such as Enterprise Zones offering tax incentives to companies established in certain areas.

State programs offering direct funding opportunities for entrepreneurs include:

Brownfields Remediation Financing

• Provides funding to promote the remediation and development of brownfields
• The Targeted Brownfield Development Loan Program offers loans of up to $4 million through periodic funding rounds

Connecticut Department of Agriculture

• Offers funding opportunities and marketing assistance to agriculture and aquaculture businesses
• Grants and financial assistance support initiatives like crop diversification, specialty crops, and land restoration 

Connecticut Housing Finance Authority

• Offers real estate developers financing and tax credits for the construction of new properties or the rehabilitation of existing ones

Energy Assistance

• C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) offers 100 percent financing for green energy upgrades
• EnergizeCT provides interest-free loans of up to $100,000 for energy efficiency improvements and low-interest loans of $2,000 to $1 million for electrical and gas upgrades
• Connecticut Green Bank offers financing options for energy efficiency improvements

Incumbent Worker Training Program

• Assists manufacturers with matching funds of up to $25,000 per employee to support workforce training

JobsCT Grant Program

• An “earn as you grow” incentive for employers to bring jobs to Connecticut
• Provides eligible businesses with grants equal to 25 percent of the withholding taxes from net new employees
• Businesses located in one of Connecticut’s distressed municipalities or Opportunity Zones may be eligible for 50 percent grants
• Payouts are earned starting in the third year and continue through the seventh year, with discretionary grants in years eight and nine

Minority Business Revolving Loan Fund

• Offers loans or lines of credit to qualifying Connecticut businesses owned by minorities and/or women
• Financing options of $10,000 to $100,000

Small Business Express Program

• Helps small businesses with private investments, sharing credit risk, and other assistance
• Funding initiatives include partnerships to increase lending capacity to small businesses as well as targeted investments to support underserved entrepreneurs

State Trade Expansion Program (STEP)

• Offers grants to help small businesses explore new trade opportunities and access the global marketplace through exports