Some Connecticut education jobs could be affected by state budget cuts.

The Connecticut Association of Urban Superintendents is planning to host a legislative breakfast next month to help promote its goal to preserve state education aid and spend unfunded mandates. According to an article by The Hartford Courant, Connecticut’s education board approved potential budget cuts earlier this month that could cut Education Cost Sharing aid to school districts by $230 million.

Municipal leaders have met with legislative delegations to press for protection of ECS funding and the urban superintendents group plans to voice that message as well. Even well-off communities are facing budget cuts because costs for staff, insurance and special education are increasing while state aid is decreasing. This is a turn-around from previous months when education jobs increased.

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Many automotive jobs in CT may depend on the success or failure of the “Big 3″ auto companies: GM, Ford and Chrysler.

While hardly any Connecticut companies make car parts for the Big 3, about 25,000 Connecticut jobs, or 1.5 percent of overall jobs in the state, are directly tied to the automotive industry, specifically in retail sales and service. Because of this, the success of a proposed $14 million bailout plan for the Big 3 could determine whether several thousand Connecticut workers lose their jobs, according to an article by the Hartford Courant.

If the Big 3 were to shut down, Connecticut would lost about 31,200 jobs, or 2 percent of the state’s employment, through direct and indirect jobs. In comparison, Michigan – the biggest automotive state – would lose about 407,300 jobs, or 8.9 percent of its workforce, while Indiana would lose about 5 percent of its workforce and at least four states in the South and Midwest would lose 4 percent of their jobs.

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Those who have a Connecticut career with a small business may soon get some help.

The State of Connecticut recently announced that the U.S. Small Business Administration is offering federal economic injury disaster loans to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and private, non-profit organizations that received damages as the result of abnormal storms last summer. Most of the storms from July 27 to Aug. 12, 2008, included high rainfall, high winds, hail, lightning and flooding.

“These loans will help Connecticut’s small businesses and non-profit organizations that were hurt financially by the wicked weather we had this summer,” Governor M. Jodi Rell said in a press release.

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A new cell phone company is creating plenty of customer service jobs in Connecticut.

Pocket, a small cell phone network based in Texas, is planning to open a Northeast call center in Bloomfield, a move that will create 400 Connecticut jobs. According to an article by WFSB, the jobs will be in everything from customer service to engineering positions. So far, 120 employees have already been hired, many who were previously out of work after losing their jobs with other local companies like Nesco.

Pocket already held two training classes, during which time 25 people began learning to become sales managers and sales associates. Currently, future employees are learning telecommunications terminology, and will soon learn how to ring up a sale. The company plans to hold a job fair in New Haven sometime in January.

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