News March 14, 2025
Connecticut’s Dept. of Economic & Community Development Wants To Launch Branded Merch Program
The initiative would help generate money for state tourism marketing efforts – and be an opportunity for promo products pros in the Southern New England state.
Key Takeaways
• Constitution State Merch: Connecticut’s legislature is considering a bill that would allow the Department of Economic & Community Development to sell state-branded merchandise to fund tourism marketing.
• Swag Opportunity: The program, if authorized, would present new sales potential for promotional products distributors in the state.
A new promotional products opportunity may be brewing in the Constitution State.
Connecticut legislators on March 11 discussed a bill that, in part, would allow the Department of Economic & Community Development (DECD) to sell official Connecticut branded merchandise.
DECD Commissioner Daniel O’Keefe said in submitted testimony that the idea would be to create an ongoing Connecticut-themed merch program that would help generate funding. DECD is also interested in selling advertising on the state’s tourism website, CTVisit.com.
Officials would put money generated from the initiatives into a fund designed to fuel tourism marketing efforts for Connecticut. At least some of those dollars could, potentially, be put toward more state-level merch initiatives.
“DECD hopes to follow in the footsteps of our sister agencies, the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection and Department of Agriculture in creating a sales program,” Hartford Business reported O’Keefe as saying. “This will help tourism funding become more self-sustaining.”
Connecticut’s Commerce Committee, which contains members of the State House and State Senate, discussed House Bill 7165. The bill still needs to make its way through the legislature and receive a sign off from Gov. Ned Lamont.
There’s certainly precedent for governments selling or licensing merch. New York City, for instance, reportedly brings in millions annually through a licensing program that allows authorized sellers to use logos from NYPD, FDNY, NYC Taxi & Limousine, and additional New York municipal offices for apparel and other merch.
Last year, Boston city leaders began considering the launch of an official swag collection for Beantown.
ASI Media’s 2023 State & Regional Report showed that total promo distributor sales in 2022 across all end-markets in Connecticut were about $198 million.