OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced a formal partnership with North America Building Trades Unions at a BlackRock infrastructure summit, committing $1.5 million over five years to support NABTU training and recruitment as the company projects it will need 20 percent more skilled tradespeople than currently exist to hit its 10 gigawatt compute target by 2030.

Connecticut's Community Investment Fund 2030 board has approved nearly $63 million in grants for 38 community development projects across the state, spanning affordable housing, office-to-residential conversions, workforce training, and neighborhood revitalization. Highlights include $6 million each for demolition of the St. John Towers site in Stamford and conversion of the 111 Founders Plaza tower in East Hartford into residential apartments. Grants still require final State Bond Commission approval.

Charter Oak Communities, formerly the Stamford Housing Authority, is moving forward with the second phase of a $60 million renovation of Stamford Manor, an 11-story affordable senior housing development at 26 Main Street in downtown Stamford. The project will modernize units and building systems at the federally assisted property while keeping residents in place during construction.

German consumer goods manufacturer Henkel has broken ground on a new 45,000 square foot Center for Research and Development at 9 Trefoil Drive in Trumbull, its largest non-manufacturing capital investment in North America in a decade. The $70 million project will consolidate the company's North America Consumer Brands R&D teams from three separate Connecticut locations into a single campus expected to open at the end of 2027.

A proposed $272 million expansion of the Iroquois Gas Transmission System in Brookfield has drawn rare bipartisan opposition, with both Republican and Democratic local officials citing concerns over air quality, noise, and proximity to Whisconier Middle School. State Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding and other local Republicans have broken with national party energy priorities to oppose the project, which awaits final air quality permit approval from DEEP.