Yankee Ingenuity

Hartford reinvents as it builds an innovations ecosystem.

- Janice Hecht

QUIET CONNECTICUT. The Land of Steady Habits. Not sobriquets you’d expect to define the home state of an emerging technology hub tucked between New York and Boston. In fact, Hartford — deeply engaged in the digitized economy — ranks as the fourth-best city for tech jobs in the country, according to the Brookings Institution. A big accomplishment for a mid-sized city.

The state and its capital boast a long history of ideas and inventions — from the Colt revolver to a Revolutionary War submarine to the Frisbee. The first insurance company opened here in 1810, setting Hartford on its path as the Insurance Capital of the World. Defining cultural figures such as Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, J.P. Morgan and Katharine Hepburn called Hartford home.

As insurance, finance and health care drive the digital economy, this region proves a great place for people with technology skills to work, live and play. The commitment of CVS to keep its new acquisition, health insurer Aetna, in the city helps Hartford retain jobs and its status as insurance capital. And as technology transforms the insurance sector, the city looks to innovate within its legacy industries. Last year the National League of Cities and Schmidt Futures named Hartford “the country’s premier destination for insurance technology,” as part of the new City Innovations Ecosystem initiative.