By Paul Hughes, Republican-American

HARTFORD — State lawmakers have approved legislation that could allow the Naugatuck Valley Regional Development Corp. to leverage state dollars to help finance large-scale economic development projects.

A unanimous House vote on June 4 sent legislation to Gov. Ned Lamont that will establish a $10 million grant fund that will be open to regional economic development corporations that meet eligibility criteria. The Senate passed Senate Bill 1020 in 35-0 vote on May 20.

The legislation had the backing of the mayors of Naugatuck and Waterbury, with support from the small cities of Derby, Ansonia, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, and civic and business leader from the Naugatuck Valley.

Naugatuck, Waterbury and the newly formed Naugatuck Valley Regional Development Corp. are looking to use $5 million funding from NVRDC and Waterbury Development Corp. to leverage state matching funds to provide gap financing for large-scale economic development projects in the Valley region.

The legislation directs the state Department of Economic and Community Development to establish a pilot grant program to offer up to $10 million in matching grants to regional development corporations for supporting programs and projects in distressed municipalities through June 2026.

“We talk about regionalization all the time in this building, and this bill is a prime example of that,” said state Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, R-105th, whose district represents all or part of Beacon Falls, Derby and Seymour. “This pilot program encourages distressed municipalities to work together toward that common goal, which is development opportunities.”