SOUTHBURY, Conn. (WTNH) – Elected representatives and business leaders gathered for an annual legislative summit in Waterbury on Monday. It’s an event organized every year by the Waterbury Regional Chamber.

The event allows lawmakers and business leaders the opportunity to discuss ways to grow the region moving forward.

“When you can bring 200 business owners and employees together to be able to talk to legislators, it can make a huge difference,” said Lynn Ward, Waterbury Regional Chamber’s President & CEO.

Each year, the Waterbury Regional Chamber holds its annual legislative summit. This year’s event was held in Southbury with two key-note speakers, Speaker of the House Matt Ritter and Attorney General William Tong. The chamber says this is an opportunity for businesses to get in touch with issues outside their own organizations.

“They don’t have the opportunity to get out, to listen, to know what the challenges are for the entire business community, and to have a chance to talk to legislators one on one,” Ward said.

During his key-not speech, Tong discussed one modern issue impacting organizations across the state and country: cyber security.

“Let me just tell you that the number of attacks and data breaches, I don’t have to tell you, is going up,” Tong said.

To make his point, Tong referenced a recent cyber-attack in Plainfield. He discussed how his team is working daily to help that community recover and that it could happen to any organization.

“That town, a small town in eastern Connecticut, is still struggling to recover $300,000 a year to fix that problem,” Tong said.

While the cost to pay for privacy and prevent cyber-attacks can get expensive, Tong says it’s worth the cost.