Business New Haven October November 2016

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High-Tech Hasn’t Taken the Place of High Touch For These New Haven County Bankers Page 20

The Time Has Come To Decide

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ON THE RECORD Lacing Up Again For Bridgeport Serial CEO and Entrepreneur Takes On A New Challenge

Mickey Herbert, 71, is a classic entrepreneur and CEO. Last month Herbert was appointed to the position of CEO of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council.

As early as the 1970s, Herbert was leading a change to the nation’s health care system and would go on to commandeer Connecticut’s first wide-scale Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), Physicians Health Services, to huge success. Business New Haven interviewed Herbert as its inaugural interview back in 1993. After taking PHS public, he would eventually manage a sale of the company. Herbert took his money and invested in bringing minor league baseball to Bridgeport. After nearly a decade, he sold the team to take the helm at ConnectiCare and guide that health plan to greater success. We are fond of saying that Herbert doesn’t think outside the box, “he brings his own cardboard.” He needed that cardboard to help break another HMO into the market, the non-profit Harvard Pilgrim.

Herbert is well known for his choice of colorful footwear, that began when PHS sponsored fundraising walks. We asked him to bring his latest pair to our office for the photoshoot.

Herbert’s latest challenge is a real one; he takes over the Bridgeport Regional Business Council after a decades-long run by Paul Timpanelli, a chamber and Bridgeport business stalwart.

You’re known for running your own course, but weren’t you taking a personal risk being an early supporter of Mayor Joe Ganim’s controversial new run for mayor of Bridgeport?

Finch didn’t expect to lose, but yes, I supported Ganim full bore because he was so good [at Mayor] the first time around, that’s when we were building the Ballpark, the Arena, he made things happen.

Rowland became an inner city guy and in tandem with Ganim, they worked together, that’s how things got done.

You you were Connecticut’s first healthcare Entrepreneur, running the first break-out HMO, Physicians Health Services. How did you get there?

OCTOBER NOVEMBER 2016

I grew up outside of Washington, D.C. in Maryland in Prince George’s County.

Eventually went to Harvard Business School and joined a consulting firm after, Crescent McCormick. They had some financial difficulties and then laid off all the MBAs. Suddenly I was unemployed and I went to Minneapolis to work for Dr. Paul Elwood, a Pediatric Neurologist who had coined the term Health Maintenance Organization.

He was a really charismatic guy, it was in the 1970s, Nixon was in office and his big health initiative was going to be to promote private health plans all over America.

That was Elwood’s vision, so all of a sudden he was thrust into the national scene going down to Washington working with [Bob Finch] who was the secretary of HEW. I was working for him as his assistant, right with him.

He [Elwood] was running a health policy research firm and the Sister Kinney Institute, which was a post Polio Hospital, it had treated Polio patients and was a leader in the country. Along comes the Salk Vaccine and it became a quadriplegia recovery institute. He was running the hospital and running this research organization, doing health policy.

That’s an odd combination of effort?

Patients used to be in for six months. He got so efficient in treating them, they were getting out in a month and he was bankrupting the hospital. He became a huge advocate of pre-paid healthcare and that’s how he developed this health maintenance organization concept.

He was remarkably successful in convincing the Nixon Administration to make it part of Federal health policy. The Health Maintenance Organization Act was passed the last day of 1973, providing $375

million to start new health plans all over America. Nixon’s vision was to start 2000 new health plans.

As non-profits?

Virtually all were non-profits, the funding could only go to non-profits. There was some loan money that could go to for– profits, but it had to be paid back. We got nowhere near 2000 health plans, we did get six or seven hundred started up using that money.

Is that really any different than what Obama did, helping start Healthy CT and a bunch of other health plans around the country as part of the Affordable Care Act? Different era, and the money was much bigger this time, but against much greater odds. Some of my colleagues that were at the {Elwood] firm went off to start their own health plans. I had hired Rich Burke to come to work for the research firm, he went off and founded what is now United Healthcare.

He did okay.

I stayed through most of 1976 and decided I wanted to do one of these too. I had three job opportunities, one was in L.A., one was in Boston, and one was in Bridgeport. So why would you choose Bridgeport?

They had the defending national champion softball team, that was the real avocation of my life— was to play fast pitch softball.

I traveled around the Midwest doing that, I decided to come here and play with this defending national championship team, it was the Raybestos Cardinals.

So the job was to start a new health plan [Physicians Health Plan] from scratch to compete against Blue Cross and Blue Shield. They were insuring more than half the people in the state, there wasn’t much competition. There were others that started taking the federal dollars.

We didn’t take Federal money initially, we didn’t have a lot of money. We got licensed and were off in 1977. Well, when I arrived it

Continued next page 5

Continued from previous page was called Greater Bridgeport Medical Foundation, a crazy name.

One of the first things I did was change it to a marketable name, Physicians Health Services and it became known as PHS. We went back in ‘78 and got some of the Federal HMO Act money, about $1.6 million, and that helped capitalize us a little better and we started growing.

By 1984, we were the largest health maintenance organization in Connecticut [not counting Blue Cross, an indemnity insurer at the time]. We didn’t really have many HMOs in the east yet. The closet thing was Community Health Care Plans CHCP [operated on Long Wharf], a bricks and mortar staff model HMO.

So you’re saying the HMOs were not able to intervene and that drove costs, but there was technology and drug discovery and mergers, and a lot of unhealthy people, weren’t there?

There were a number of factors that created a perfect storm [for cost increases].

Certainly technology accelerated. A new technique would come along, cost four times the old technique, and everybody

wanted it, patients, doctors. The population was a factor, certain illnesses like AIDS, [Cancer] we would insure them and they would have very substantial healthcare costs.

You would have the relaxing of the tight controls.

Another thing is that in fee for service medicine, doctors want to maximize their income. If health plans are watching utilization, the one thing that had never been controlled is what doctors charge, so they would raise fees.

We would turn around and try to negotiate a better fee schedule, but it was always off a higher base. All of these factors combined in the late nineties to raise premiums. During the Bush era, in order to keep premiums so that employers wouldn’t quit or go ballistic, that’s when they started to introduce these high deductible health plans, started increasing deductibles, and co-insurance.

You were holding premiums in check seemingly, but people didn’t have as good coverage. Which is what has continued and by 2008, health care costs had gotten incredibly high. Obama gets swept into office, controls both houses and passed this huge act.

Just to go backwards for a second, how did you do on the sale of PHS? I basically got cashed out and became reasonably wealthy for the first time. I took that money and invested a large amount of it in the Bridgeport Bluefish.

So you’re really not that smart? [laughs] I figured I would become a minor league mogul, and probably never go back into healthcare and the Bluefish would make money every year and because I was the owner…

I like to call myself a serial entrepreneur and the Bluefish were the next serial.

I owned that team for eight seasons and I loved everything about it, except I did lose money every single year.

I realized that probably after about the third year, but I loved it so much that I deceived myself that next year was going to be better, when I knew the business model was an enormous challenge.

But we still have the Bluefish.

I am an enormous fan of the Bluefish and one of my missions in my new job is to see what I can do to keep the Bluefish in

Bridgeport. They just got a one year lease extension so we just have one year to get it thriving again. Even though we lost money in those first three years, we drew record crowds, we had the enthusiasm, we had sell outs.

What made you want to take on this new challenge as President of the Bridgeport Regional Chamber?

I’m under no illusion as to how challenging this new job is. But when I invested in the Bluefish in 1996, I was under the illusion that Bridgeport was about to undergo this great economic renaissance and things would be marvelously better. There were good things happening, the dot com burst, the mayor went to jail, everything came apart.

It’s kind of easy to identify what New Haven or Stamford looks like a decade or two from now. If it’s a few years from now and you’re successful and Mayor Ganim is successful, what is Bridgeport going to look like?

I don’t know if we’ve found the particular niche yet. The way I would have answered that question a few years ago is if you can look at how Stamford gentrified and brought in the big companies. You look at what happened to its downtown, all

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Well, membership is one of the things you did excel at with PHS and ConnectiCare?

those vibrant restaurants and the same thing happened in South Norwalk. I thought the natural evolution is it would continue up the road and it would happen in Bridgeport, and Main Street would become many great restaurants.

Yes and I have to go out and convince those members that their membership is valuable and go out and recruit new members. We need them to help us promote the economic well-being of the region, new economic development and promoting the vibrancy of the existing companies.

I think Steel Point [new development on the Harbor] still has enormous promise now that we’ve cleared some of the road blocks, and we’ll get some housing there.

The [Long island, Port Jefferson] Ferry is going to move across to that side and they’ve begun the work for that.

Well isn’t there some push back in places like Trumbull not wanting more economic development?

Is it going to be Arts and Culture? Is it going to be manufacturing? I don’t think so. There are things that are happening in different parts of Bridgeport. There is an area we call the “smile,” which is a little strip as you leave Bridgeport heading to Fairfield. It’s been burnt out factories for decades, now it’s being converted to housing. There is a shopping center going in there. My challenge is to make sure that happens, developers are in there, they’re ready to go.

When I was on the Trumbull board, our concentration was trying to push any economic development to the absolute outside borders. And not to let anything come into that nice residential center.

In New Haven, the demographics of four growing colleges, including Yale University, means that New Haven will progress pretty much.. What is the driver for Bridgeport?

I guess what I’m saying is that I see Bridgeport on the verge of a comeback and I can be a catalyst to help make that happen like it didn’t happen twenty years ago.

Things are happening, there is a substantial amount of capital directed to projects both public and private. The big power company that has the great smokestack next to the ball park, they’re involved in a [hundreds of million of dollars] building of a new power plant right there.

There is a lot of housing being built in the downtown area now, I don’t think it is at a sufficient mass to start creating things all by itself. It’s a necessary step, we certainly didn’t have that in the nineties. My challenge is to help get more and keep it going.

What was the pull for you personally by seeking the role of Bridgeport Regional Council President?

When I was CEO of PHS in 1981, I was on the board and have been on the executive committee for years and years. The search committee failed to produce a candidate that they could bring to the board. They said “we had a candidate but they said we weren’t able to reach an agreement, we’re going to have to start all over again, people were groaning in the room.” I went home that labor weekend and said, I’m healthy, I still have a lot of energy, I’m familiar with the organization, I’ll make a commitment for [at least two years].

They put me through the process, it just happened a week ago.

Sometimes when you’ve been around something for a long time, you’re just steeped in the problems. Where are the fresh eyes?

bore on economic development. I intend to make this organization really transformative and take all the years I have as an entrepreneur to figure out how to really boost economic development.

How do you see the role of the chambers of commerce today?

We have an eco-technology park, there is a bunch of businesses in there, they almost all are small businesses. There’s a mattress recycling company, it has fi nally gotten to where it is breaking even. There are a whole bunch of towns, including in Fairfield County, that do not send their mattresses into that facility. They put them in the chute at the dump. Fairfield’s on the list, and I live in Fairfield, and the Fairfield dump is about three miles from the mattress recycling center.

That is an example where I can be helpful in getting these other towns to help out in some fashion so that can become a really thriving company.

For us [BRBC] it can be acting as a real catalyst for projects, many already on the drawing board, others that need a further boost to bring to fruition and some handholding to keep them developing. BNH

The Mayor’s been in office just a year now, he’s now really eager to concentrate full

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} BIOTECH

New Haven Biotechs Attract Investor Interest and $80 Million A Novel Business Approach and New Technology Bring Funds To Two Companies

N

By Mitchell Young

EW HAVEN: Biohaven, a privately held Hew Haven-based “pharmaceutical holding company,” has secured $80 million in new funding. Biohaven has created a diverse portfolio of potential drugs and drug platforms through investments and licensing.

The company has licensing and drug development agreements with Yale University, Massachusetts General Hospital and Rutgers University, among others.

The company says its role is to apply its “expertise in late stage clinical development” to bring drug development forward.

The FDA gave the company the Orphan Drug status this summer and the authority to begin a clinical trial for a drug to treat Spinocerebellar Ataxia [SCA], a rare, debilitating neurodegenerative disorder that is estimated to affect approximately 150,000 people in the United States.

Vlad Coric, M.D., CEO of Biohaven, explained why the FDA moved forward with the designation and trial plan, “our clinical development program in Spinocerebellar

Ataxia is particularly important because there are no currently approved drugs for this neurological disorder.”

The Orphan Drug designation is granted for drugs that can treat, prevent or diagnose diseases for fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. Drugs granted that status, if eventually approved, receive an extended marketing exclusivity.

Kleo’s CEO and Co-founder, David Spiegel, is Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacology at Yale University where he heads the Spiegel Research Group and has received wide acclaim and awards for his lab’s research. While Spiegel co-founded Kleo, he was only appointed CEO in September in connection with the fi nancing.

Biohaven’s investment in Kleo will help the company develop its “novel” Antibody Recruiting Molecules (ARMs) and Synthetic Antibody Recruiting Molecules (SyAMs). Both drug platforms are consid-

The company plans to develop ARMs and SyAMs to treat cancer and infectious diseases.

Spiegel explained the role he hopes his technology will take, saying, “Biologics have been the gold standard for immunotherapies. With ARMs and SyAMs, we have the opportunity to raise that bar. Our molecules are hundreds of times lighter than their biological counterparts and thus may infi ltrate tissue more efficiently than large proteins.”

Of the investment by Biohaven he said, “Combining our expertise in ARMs and

The fi nancing was led by the venture capital fi rms Venrock, RA Capital Management, Vivo Capital, Aisling Capital, Rock Springs Capital, John W. Childs, Knoll Capital Management, Osage University Partners, Aperture Venture Partners, Connecticut Innovations, Greg Bailey and Litmore Capital, and two undisclosed “blue chip” pharmaceutical companies. Biohaven’s announcement said the offering was “oversubscribed.”

An investment by Biohaven in September in another New Haven biotech is likely one reason that investors were attracted.

Biohaven provided an undisclosed amount of Series A fi nancing to Kleo Pharmaceuticals.

Vlad Coric, M.D., CEO of Biohaven is marshalling funds and new drug candidates to company.

Yale researcher and Kleo CEO found a local partner to help push his “novel” technology forward.

ered by the company to be able to create entirely new drug types.

SyAMs with Biohaven’s investment and development expertise represents an ideal collaboration.”

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} ENERGY

Koch Brothers, Others Seek To Quash Tax Break That Aids CT Fuel Cell Industry

distortion of the tax laws for special interests in the renewable energy industry…” the groups’ letter said.

Adam Forni, a senior analyst at Navigant Research, said the end of the incentive would hurt the industry.

ers face greater challenges in getting this industry off the ground.”

He also said Connecticut is among the top states, besides Massachusetts, New York and California, in the production of fuel cells.

Connecticut’s Pork Barrel Dollars In Danger

W

By Ana Radelat the future of the tax break that shores up a ashington — Connecticut’s key industry in the state is cloudy. fuel cell industry, one of the most robust in the nation, is Forty-five conservative and anti-spendup against a powerful coalition ing groups led by the Koch brothers’ that includes the Koch brothAmericans For Prosperity, wrote Senate ers and other conservative interest groups Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and who want to end an important tax break House Speaker Paul Ryan last week to end for the industry. the tax breaks. The conservative coalition The showdown over extending the federal fuel cell tax incentive will occur after the elections, in a lame-duck session of Congress. It will also affect similar provisions for wind power technologies and geothermal heat pumps.

“We have a commitment from the Republican leadership that the fuel cell tax credit will be permitted to go forward this year,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

But despite the promise from GOP leaders and support from Connecticut lawmakers,

included Heritage Action, FreedomWorks, Citizens Against Government Waste and Americans for Tax Reform.

Koch Industries has a huge stake in the oil industry through, among others, the Koch Pipeline Company. It transports crude oil, natural gas and other products through 4,000 miles of pipelines.

“The $1.4 billion in expiring tax provisions currently under consideration — pertaining to wind power, geothermal heat pumps, fuel cell facilities, and combined heat and power (CHP) properties— are a

Pfizer will be instaling a 5.6 megawatt fuelcell made by FuelCell Energy of Danbury.

Pfizer has agreed to a twenty year power purchase agreement.

“The credit is worth around $0.02 per kilowatt over the project lifetime, a substantial amount that often decides whether the project is worth building,” Forni said.

“Without the credit, fuel cell manufactur-

Joel Rinebold, director of energy at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, called Connecticut “the Silicon Valley of fuel cells.”

AND THE

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He said the industry employs 3,000 people and generates $600 million a year in revenues.

“I can appreciate that there’s an interest in not spending money [on tax incentives], but we look at these tax credits as an investment,” he said. “Without some assistance, these companies may very well scatter.”

Energy 2013 Bport Fuel CellCongress extended similar tax credits for solar and wind at a cost of $23.8 billion over the next decade when it passed a huge omnibus spending package last December.

The tax incentives for fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen infrastructure expired at the end of last year, while the fuel cell investment tax credit for stationary fuel cells will end on Dec. 31.

Doosan Fuel Cells, a Korean company, also has a presence in the state with a facility in South Windsor.

An attempt to add those tax breaks to a Federal Aviation Administration bill failed this summer. But GOP leaders promised to take up those incentives later in the year.

“It’s an alternative source of energy and it’s clean energy,” Blumenthal said.

“Despite all the opposition from the special interests representing the fossil fuel industry, [fuel cells] are a clean alternative for our future.”

Fuel cells take hydrogen – usually from natural gas – and combine it with oxygen from the air. The reaction creates electricity and the only emissions are water.

The goal was to end the expiration of certain tax breaks at the end of every year or every couple of years. These tax breaks were usually extended by Congress, but the process created uncertainty for businesses and utilities that want to use renewable power.

The biggest fuel cell company in Connecticut is Danbury-based FuelCell Energy, which was founded in the late 1960s.

Several lower-profile energy tax provisions were excluded from last year’s deal, however, including investment tax credits for geothermal heat pumps, fuel cells and combined heat and power systems.

Also left out was a proposal to extend renewable fuel infrastructure credits to benefit advanced forms of ethanol and other alternatives to gasoline.

The technology will allow Pfizer to provide electricity and steam-powered heating to its 160-acre research and development facility in Groton.

Pfizer Laboratories will soon unveil a new 5.6 megawatt fuel cell power generation system, made by FuelCell Energy.

There’s also a 14.9 megawatt fuel cell facility in Bridgeport, helping provide power to the city; and hopes for a large, stationary fueling center in Beacon Falls.

Rinebold says there are as many as 600 companies in the supply chain as well.

Americans for Prosperity and some of the groups that oppose the extension of the fuel cell tax break also opposed the extension of the solar and wind tax breaks.

Their lobbying efforts failed.

Efforts to make the fuel cell tax break more permanent have also failed in this Congress.

Last year, Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, introduced a bill that would extend the tax break through 2021. He says the incentive is needed to make it easier to develop and use fuel cell and hydrogen technology “and provide the certainty that such investments remain affordable and accessible for all.”

Edited & Reprinted with permission from ctmirror.org

Worker Costs Dropping In Connecticut Third Consecutive Annual Drop in Workman’s Comp Connecticut is known for its excellent quality of life and its high cost of doing business, but for the third year in a row, the worker’s compensation insurance rates in the state have declined. Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade recently announced that the state’s worker’s compensation rate would go down by 10.9%. According to Wade, the driver of the decrease is a clear decline in the number of workplace injuries and claims filed. Previous decreases were all under 5% annually, making this year’s decrease the largest to date.

Wade’s department approved a rate filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI), an agency that engages in reviews of national data on worker’s comp and makes suggestions to state agencies.

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Vol XX,III No.13 October/November 2016

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High-Tech Hasn’t Taken the Place of High Touch For These New Haven County Bankers Page 20

Editor & Publisher Mitchell Young Editorial Manager Rachel Bergman Design Consultant Terry Wells Graphics Manager Matt Ford Publisher’s Representative Robin Kroopnick Contributors Rachel Bergman Emili Lanno Taylor Richards Derek Torrellas

Claudia Ward-de León Photography Steve Blazo Steve Cooper Derek Torrellas Lesley Roy Clytie Sadler

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} GOVERNMENT

GOP Closes Gap in House From Top Down, Republicans Make Gains Coverage Numbers Increase, Big Penalties Come Into Play

R

By Mark Pazniokas

epublicans made stunning gains in state legislative races on election day to force a likely 18-18 tie in the Senate and to leave Democrats with their smallest House majority in three decades, overcoming a Democratic tide at the top of the ticket that carried Hillary Clinton, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and all five U.S. House incumbents to victory in Connecticut.

Reagan landslide and the party lever delivered a solidly Republican legislature in 1984.

With a gain of three seats in the state Senate, the GOP transformed a 21-15 Democratic majority into an evenly divided chamber where ties can be broken by the presiding officer, Democratic Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman.

“Not since the removal of the party lever vote have we seen such a turnout in a presidential year for Republicans,” said House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby. “House Republicans ran on our record of fiscal sanity and our commitment to our common-sense approach to governing what has become an out-of-control State of Connecticut. This should come as a wake-up call: Connecticut taxpayers and voters are fed up.”

With possible recounts in two races, Republicans made a net gain of eight seats in the House of Representatives, leaving Democrats with a probable 79-72 majority when the new General Assembly convenes in January. It is the biggest shift of power in the legislature since the combination of a Ronald

The night was celebrated by a blue-state GOP as a vindication of a campaign message that two decades of domination by a Democratic legislature, the last six years with a Democratic governor, have left Connecticut in a state of chronic fiscal crisis, with more trouble over the horizon in the form of an unfunded pension liability.

“Clearly I think it sends a message to the Democrats” in the Senate and the House, said Len Fasano of North Haven, the Senate

Republican leader. “You guys are on the wrong track. The people are upset.”

Now, the Republicans will have to show if they can shift from the role of critic in the minority to a force for changing government.

By winning over one senator and four House members, the GOP could set the next budget – if it chooses.

At least two Democratic senators, Paul Doyle of Wethersfield and Joan Hartley of Waterbury, have held out in the past in favor of spending cuts and in opposition to tax increases.

All in all, legislators are probably facing a power structure for which there is no obvious playbook.

Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, D-New Haven, issued a terse statement at 11 p.m.

“While tonight’s results weren’t what we hoped overall, we will continue to pursue an aggressive agenda to grow jobs, strengthen our economy and help middle class families get ahead,” Looney said.

House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, the choice of Democrats to take over as speaker in January, blamed the heavy spending by Super PACS for the losses and offered no sign of how or whether he will reach out to the strengthened GOP. “We always knew this would be a tough campaign, and that people are sick and tired of the partisan divide that has engulfed our country from Washington on down. As with every election, we won some seats and lost some others, and clearly the out-of-state independent money that blanketed Connecticut played a significant role,” he said.

Independent expenditure groups spent more than $1.3 million on targeted races, with business groups outspending unions by a 2-1 margin. The two biggest spenders were the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and Grow Connecticut, a Super PAC indirectly funded by corporations such as Koch Industries and Walmart.

Republicans needed to beat three of four vulnerable Democrats and win an open Democratic seat to win a majority in the Senate. They nearly succeeded.

Heather Somers of Groton won the open seat held by the retiring Sen. Andrew Maynard, D-Stonington. Len Suzio of Meriden defeated Sen. Dante Bartolomeo, D-Meriden, and George Logan of Hamden unseated Sen. Joe Crisco of Woodbridge. Bartolomeo had unseated Suzio in 2012 and defeated him again in 2014.

The Associated Press reported Sen. Steve Cassano, D-Manchester, won re-election over Lorraine Marchetti by a comfortable margin.

Incomplete returns on the secretary of the state’s web site had Marchetti in the lead.

Democrats failed to capture an open Senate seat in western Connecticut, where Rep. Craig Miner, R-Litchfield, defeated David Lawson of New Milford for the seat held by the retiring Republican Clark Chapin.

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In the House, Republicans appeared to unseat six incumbents and capture several open Democratic seats. Those gains were offset by the defeat of two Republican freshmen, both from Groton: Aundre Bumgardner and John Scott. Democrats also appeared to pick up at least two open seats.

Bumgardner won wide recognition two years ago, winning as a 19-year-old and becoming the fi rst black Republican in the House in decades.

CBIA and Grow Connecticut ran ads supporting Bumgardner, while the Working Families Party and its independent expenditure group, Action for Working Families, supported his opponent, Joe de la Cruz, and Scott’s opponent, Christine Conley.

The fi rst Republican victory was notched

by Dr. William A. Petit Jr., whose campaign was roiled in the fi nal weeks by a union attack ad against Petit, the victim of a horrific home invasion in 2007. He defeated Rep. Betty Boukus, D-Plainville, the co-chair of the legislature’s bonding subcommittee.

But over the next 90 minutes, Democratic and Republican leaders of the General Assembly rode a see-saw: The early numbers put the GOP up, while a second wave of returns showed some offsetting Democratic wins of Republican seats.

“My stomach is in a knot,” Fasano said as results trickled in. “My phone’s going crazy.”

Republicans won two Democratic House seats in Enfield, one an open seat and the other held by Rep. David Alexander, whose second drunken-driving arrest was the dominant issue.

The House minority leader’s sister, Nicole Klarides-Ditria, unseated Rep. Theresa Conroy, D-Seymour, in one of the races where CBIA and Grow Connecticut opposed a Democratic incumbent and supported a Republican challenger.

In addition to Boukus, Alexander and Conroy, the other House Democratic incumbents to lose were Phil Miller of Essex, David Zoni of Southington, and Christine Randall of Killingly.

the Democratic nomination, said his party most probably will have to take a broader look in its post-mortem.

Recounts were possible in several races.

Rep. Sam Belsito, R-Tolland, and Rep. James Albis, D-East Haven, appeared to win by close margins.

One irony of the last budget, Sharkey said, was that it hewed closer to the line drawn by CBIA than it did to the Working Families Party and other labor groups, who demanded higher taxes on the wealthy as an alternative to layoffs and reductions in services.

The Working Families Party, a labor offshoot allied with Democrats, now has no clear path to forward its agenda, primarily passage of a $15 minimum wage. Like the House Democratic leader, the group blamed outside spending, not the majority party’s record.

“I think Democrats have to do a better job of communicating that they understand the changes that need to take place, the structural changes that need to take place in state government and, frankly, in local government,” Sharkey said. “Earlier this year we passed a budget that by any measure is precisely what the public expects in terms of no tax increases and reductions in spending.”

“Tonight’s results show corporate money can win elections. Republicans may not have won a majority tonight, but corporate politicians did. Republican-friendly PAC money by Koch brothers, Walmart, the CBIA, and big tobacco saturated our elections, spreading the doom and gloom about our economy which has frightened voters,” said Lindsay Farrell, the WFP’s state director. “Tonight’s results spell disaster for working families across Connecticut.”

Arielle Levin Becker contributed to this report.

House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, who announced he would not seek re-election after a Working Families candidate, Josh Elliott, challenged him for

Edited and reprinted with permission from ctmirror.org

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Fairfield U Professor Receives Research Grant Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Fairfield University, Sriharsha Srinivas Sundarram is the recipient of a grant from The Earl E. and Hildagunda A. Brinkman Private Charitable Foundation. This grant will allow Sundarram to continue his innovative work with his fellow Fairfield students.

Sundarram’s current research involves the attempt at creation of an artificial human tissue that would be sufficiently analogous to human flesh, making it useful for pharmaceutical testing.

The School of Engineering at the university has been supported by The Brinkman Foundation many times in the past. In August 2016, the foundation donated $78,000— $70,000 to support the School of Engineering and $8,000 for Shannon Harding, a PhD candidate in the College of Arts and Sciences for her research.

Sundarram’s continuous incorporation of students into his work, pioneering research and his efforts to foster relationships with different regional manufacturers were the many reasons for the $18,000 research grant.

In his research involving students, Sundarram also works with undergraduate and graduate students to focus on making nickel foams to create tiny and efficient batteries in addition to his work on the artificial human tissue.

CT Businesses Are Going To ‘Wait And See’ The 2016 CBIA/Farmington Bank 2nd Quarter Economic and Credit Availability Survey reveals that about half (49 percent) of Connecticut business leaders predicted unchanged, stable conditions in the short term.

One-third of business responders felt their conditions would improve, increasing slightly from the first quarter, 17 percent also expect their company’s outlook 14

Distracted workers get particularly distracted by holiday shopping—during work hours. to worsen, down from 19 percent and 32 percent stated their workforce will increase, while in the first quarter, that number was 29 percent.

CBIA economist Pete Gioia said businesses are starting to adopt a more optimistic outlook, but most of those surveyed are still sticking with this “waitand-see attitude” for their future.

This second quarter survey was emailed out to 1,800 Connecticut business leaders in September and a total of 117 responded.

of ensuring seniors made their individual “Student Success Plan” goals.

In 2015, the campaign resulted in about 2,600 college applications submitted across New Haven’s high schools. This year, all nine high schools in the New Haven area will be participating in the campaign to increase the number of student applications to colleges, universities and training programs.

New Haven Promise and New Haven Public Schools Unite

CTNext, an agency engaged in entrepreneurial support, recently announced 12 communities being awarded planning grants for the Innovation Places program—with New Haven making the list.

This grant incentivizes communities to produce a strategic planning process to better understand the current conditions, risks and opportunities they face, the capability to access community needs and a plan to go forth with those capabilities.

The communities selected for the planning grant awards range in value from $24,000 to $50,000. Besides New Haven, these communities include: Bridgeport, Danbury, Hartford/ East Hartford, Meriden, Middletown, Northeast Connecticut (Tolland, Killingly, Putnam, Mansfield, Windham, Storrs, and Willimantic), New Britain (Farmington and Berlin), Norwalk,

New Haven Public Schools kicked off the American College Application Campaign, a national effort to increase the numbers of first-generation and low-income students who want to pursue a college degree or any form of higher education.

The campaign aims to serve high school seniors who need assistance navigating the college admissions process and to make sure they apply to more than one post-secondary institution.

The campaign started on Oct. 19 and will continue until Dec. 15 with various events and workshops at New Haven High Schools.

As part of the program’s promotion, the District teamed up with New Haven Promise, which served the dual purpose

CTNext Paves Way For New Haven Community

Slackers Gonna Slack According to staffing firm Robert Half Technology, distracted workers get particularly distracted by holiday shopping—during work hours. The firm conducted a survey of employees and chief information officers about online shopping habits during the work day. According to CIOs surveyed, a whopping 65% of businesses allow some form of online shopping during the work day and 49% of employees fessed up to online shopping from work on Cyber Monday (but potentially every Monday). Why, you ask? 43% of survey respondents said they shopped out of boredom. Then again, at least 33% of surveyed CIOs said they blocked shopping sites on office computers and 17% of employees say they shop on their smartphones.

Stamford, Thames River (New London and Groton), and Waterbury.

Some of New Haven’s partners that are included in the grant applications are: Yale School of Management, Gateway Community College, the Economic Development Corporation, the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce and certain individual local businesses.

The Competitive Implementation grant application will be the next step of the Innovation Places program. This begins in Nov. 2016 and the final awardees will be announced in June of 2017. These implementation grants will give the communities awarded a portion of the funding allowing them to execute a plan they deem necessary for their community.

Bijou Theatre Closes Its Doors Forever—Not President of the nonprofit that operated Bridgeport’s Bijou Theatre, Christine Brown, announced in July of this year that the doors to the theatre would officially close on Aug. 7. Financial problems were the primary issue according to Brown in a statement.

Prior to recent updates saying the theatre is not closing after all, people assumed it was, with the original site, thebijoutheatre.com posting a farewell message to its longtime goers stating, “The Bijou Theatre thanks the people of Bridgeport, the local theater community and all of its past patrons for the privilege of serving them.”

However, Phil Kuchma, developer and owner of the building, issued a statement that the theatre is just under another tenant and he never made any plans to close the theatre for good.

New showings are scheduled to take place this upcoming month and showtimes are available on their new website at bijoutheatre.org as well as their Bijou Theatre Bridgeport Facebook page.

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Banking Is A Numbers Game Or Is It? Banking On New Haven First in a Two Part Series On The Personal Side of Banking In Greater New Haven COMING NEXT: Local Banks and Community Service

By Mitchell Young

F

rom Connecticut’s small businesses to its corporate titans, no business grows without a strong financial base. Whether our market is across the globe or around the corner, those that have the right financial partners have a leg up on the rest of us.

New online finance solutions and credit algorithms are getting a lot of buzz, but according to some bankers, at least, shoe leather and a handshakes still rule the day.

We talked to eight New Haven County bankers and asked them to participate in our little “baseball card” round up so readers could see the people behind New Haven’s “high-touch” banking.

Connecticut bankers and market experts have told us for years that Connecticut is “overbanked.” Ask a business manager and they will likely “appreciate” the options.

With many long standing banking institutions, New Haven County’s most successful bankers are of and tied to Connecticut companies and their local communities.

Our snap shots and the comments below will provide some the opportunity to start the conversations or to build the relationships that these bankers said is the way they do business.

“We’re quite busy, as a local community mutual bank we’re finding a lot of opportunity. Myself as a professional and as a person, I like the role of community banker. The industry is consolidating and there is a difference in how you experience a community bank and a very large bank,” explains Milford Bank’s Paul Portnoy adding, “I enjoy getting up in the morning.”

Getting up happy isn’t always on the table, however.

Several of our bankers told us that Connecticut’s challenged economy is making it harder for many of their customers and Connecticut companies in general.

16

Local banker and community icon Jeff Klaus of Webster Bank notes times have changed, but perspective helps.

don’t have two conversations with clients or prospects where the fiscal state of the state isn’t discussed.”

“My first banking job [then New Haven Savings Bank], I worked at the Fairhaven branch. One of my main jobs was to break up fights in the parking lot.” He adds, “it’s a quieter branch now.” And today’s economy is a challenge, but Klaus has seen worse. Early in his career, in the recession of the late ‘80s and early ’90, banks dropped like flies throughout New England.

While the macro is gloomy, Klaus explains there are companies navigating somewhat better than others, “if you sell a technology-based product or service internationally or domestically, but outside of Connecticut, you may be doing very well, we do have clients like that.”

“I was at CBT in Hartford, one quarter we made $50 million and the next quarter, lost a billion.”

Klaus, who is the regional president and runs the Connecticut Middle Market group, says the economy is not fully recovered from the most recent recession.

I believe Connecticut technically is in recession, we have weak fundamentals. There is not a day that goes by that I

People’s United Bank’s James MacDonald also serves a larger company market [to $50 million in sales] and he echoed concerns from Klaus, saying of his clients, “many are doing remarkably well given the general business climate [in the state], those customers that have diversified throughout the country and in many cases, overseas.”

MacDonald says government approach to business rankles business people and undermines the state’s economy, explaining, “I would say it is a universal concern that my customers voice. Connecticut cuts deals for the “Pratts” of the world only when they’re faced with a significant number of employees leaving. But the business that’s doing $25 million with 120 employees, they generally think those companies have no where to go and view them as captive.”

He adds, however, that analysis is no longer accurate in his market, and its why jobs leak out of Connecticut, not just up and leave. “What some of the politicians don’t understand is that there are many companies that are privately owned that have opened satellite manufacturing in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and elsewhere.

They made a decision to go there going back sometimes twenty years. They, we, all have the natural inclination to survive. I’m born and raised in Connecticut, I want them here.”

Liberty Bank’s Dan Quesnel was himself a small business owner for several years and views his job through that lens in his part of the banking market.

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“Things are improving, especially coming out of ‘09 and 2010. Banks are lending again, I know Liberty is.”

With his background, he’s also an advocate for his sector, saying, “there is more emphasis on the small business, not just because that is where the growth is, but we have a responsibility to foster small business, that’s where the innovation is going to come from.”

His assignment in New Haven County may be part of the reason for his optimism, he joined several of his colleagues in explaining that the New Haven region is a bright spot for the state.

“I see New Haven as a very strong area for Liberty Bank and the state in general.

When you include the suburbs, there is a tremendous amount of growth and not just in service industries. There is a lot of light manufacturing, a lot of hard core businesses.”

Klaus joined that rosier view of greater New Haven, “New Haven has a blue bubble over it, it is a fairly healthy submarket.

[Greater] New Haven’s economy among large cities [in Connecticut] is the best right now.”

Start Bank’s Tom Whitbread is a small business banker, Start being a 6-year-old bank that climbed to $100 million in assets in that short time and focusing on small and somewhat larger companies.

Whitbread says the market is mixed.

“The market’s still tepid, it’s growing, opportunities are there, but it’s still soft.

I think everybody will agree with that.”

Adding, however, about the city itself, “I think you see things associated with the university, the hospitals, that are buoyant, you see neighborhoods like East Rock that are doing well.”

gives us a great ability to navigate across the market.”

Villecco supports some comments about the competitive nature of the market, “it is very competitive, in that $5-50 million range, banks are looking for credit quality more than ever. For those established companies that are well-managed and profitable, all the banks are talking to them. It is a different story for start-ups or those that have had a bad year or two.”

Villecco joins the chorus on the overall strength of the economy, “its been in neutral, I’ve seen some companies that have grown well since 2009 and others saying they haven’t been able to invest because

things are tightening up, expenses creeping up, there are some bright spots, but the general feeling – neutral.”

Ion Bank’s name is a symbol of the bank’s desire to grow in the region [formerly named Naugatuck Savings Bank]. Lee Fernandez was recruited to help make that happen.

Fernandez brought up the banks SBA lending, noting, “we focus on commercial real estate, investment property, SBA lending.

We’re an SBA preferred lender, so we’ve been doing a lot of SBA. We’ve ramped up our SBA production and we’re hoping to double it in the next couple of years. We do the 504 and 7A loans.”

As an experienced but young banker, Fernandez says he was attracted by the opportunity that Ion presented, competition be dammed. He says, “I saw it as a very active environment, I’ve had experience [12 years] at other banks and the culture is very different. It’s a mutual bank, we focus on serving the needs of the community.

Our employees live in New Haven County, our customers live in New Haven County and we’re just focused on New Haven County, that’s just a different mindset than what I had coming from a bigger bank.

Which is great.”

And great is good.

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Mike Sulkis of Bankwell also weighed in on the city of New Haven saying, “the market post-recession remains relatively healthy. New Haven is interesting, because it is supported by health and education - by Yale, to a lesser degree Quinnipiac, UNH and Albertus, there is a different dynamic [than the rest of the state].”

Sulkis added, “New Haven typically lags the rest of the country in terms of job growth, but the city itself seems to be a great incubation area. We still saw activity throughout the down period, and we continued to lend, we got involved in projects around the county. We still see decent activity and remain cautiously optimistic.

Our phones haven’t stopped ringing for commercial real estate lending. We’re competing with other banks, we’re not getting every deal.”

Steve Villecco of United Bank is another seasoned banker and he is happy with his move to Rockville Bank [which then merged with United Bank] five years ago.

Like MacDonald and Klaus, Villecco is after the bigger fish, he says , “I chose United Bank because of its size, at six billion [in assets] we can compete with the big banks and the community banks. It

OCTOBER NOVEMBER 2016

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STEPHEN VILLECCO United Bank DANIEL QUESNEL Liberty Bank Age: 51 Where you grew up: West Haven Education/Military Service: Southern Connecticut State University, 1987 Mother and/or Father‘s Occupation: My Father was a warehouse manager at the old Armstrong Rubber Company in West Haven and is still working at F.W Webb in New Haven. My mother worked at the Bilco Company in West Haven.

Age: 56 Where you grew up: I spent my early childhood on Pearl Street in New Haven and then moved to southern Hamden.

JEFF KLAUS Webster Bank

Education/Military Service: Hamden High, 1978, Providence College, 1982

Age: 55

Mother and/or Father‘s Occupation: my Mother was a Regional Bank Branch Manager and my Father worked for the U.S. Postal Service.

Education/Military Service: Rutgers College, B.A., History; UCONN MBA, Finance

First Ever Job: Busboy at Laurel View Country Club, Hamden First Full Time Job: SNET – sales of yellow page advertising

Where you grew up: New Haven

Mother and/or Father’s Occupation: Mother retired as the Director Of Admissions at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Science; Father retired as a physician and researcher.

First Ever Job: Summer lifeguard at Camp Farnam

First Ever Job: Sales Professional at Systems, Inc., a photocopier dealer located on James St. in New Haven

Years in Banking: 33 years

First Full Time Job: Sales Professional at Systems, Inc., a photocopier dealer located on James St. in New Haven

Current Position: SVP Regional Commercial Banking Manager

Years in Banking: Since 1984 [32]

Favorite New Haven Region store or restaurant: Modern Pizza

Current Position: Webster’s Regional President for Connecticut

“On my day off .....“ Priceless times to play golf with my two boys (now in their late 20’s) and my daughter (19). Best 4-some and my wife doesn’t mind since she doesn’t play.

Favorite New Haven Region store or restaurant: 116 Crown

Years in Banking: 8 Years at Current Bank: 1 Current Position: Vice President / Business Banking Officer Favorite New Haven Region store or restaurant: Donovan’s Reef Restaurant in Branford for “Family Time”, The Owl Shop for “Me Time” “On my day off .....“ I spend time with my wife, Jackie and my son, Christian Most satisfying banking deal in my career: We have been able to assist a very worthy non-profit organization, who does wonderful work in the community, secure a commercial mortgage to purchase a larger building. In keeping with Liberty Bank’s great tradition of community service, any time that you can help those that help others, it is very satisfying.

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Years at Current Bank: 5

Most satisfying banking deal in my career: Having grown up in southern Hamden, it was quite satisfying to partially finance the rebuild of a manufacturing company in the Putnam Avenue area of Hamden in the aftermath of the 1989 tornado. I used to walk by the company on my way to middle school for 3 years and frequently rode my bike through the area to visit friends or play basketball at a nearby park.

Any community service board membership etc.: Currently Board member of New Haven Chamber of Commerce. Former Board memberships on the Clifford Beers Foundation and Boys and Girls Village in Milford.

First Full Time Job: Management Trainee at New Haven Savings Bank Years at Current Bank: 9

“On my day off .....“ Cooking and spending lots of family time with as many of the 5 kids as we can gather together Most satisfying banking deal in my career: Bringing to life the Elm City Market with an initial mortgage loan Community service board membership etc.: Many, including founding board member of Amistad Academy/Achievement First; NH Chamber Board member; and Mayor Harp’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Literacy

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PAUL PORTNOY Milford Bank Age: 62 Where you grew up: I grew up in Fairfield Education/Military Service: I graduated from the University of Connecticut (Storrs) with a B.A. in Economics Mother and/or Father’s Occupation: My mother was an art teacher and my father was an accountant First Ever Job: My first job was handling a newspaper route, delivering the Bridgeport Post to homes in my neighborhood.

First Full Time Job: My first full time job was as a Connecticut State Bank Examiner.

Years in Banking: I have been in the banking industry for 40 years Years at Current Bank: I have been at The Milford Bank for 11 years.

Current Position: My current position is as a Commercial Lender. I split my time between a dedicated

commercial loan production office in New Haven and the main office in Milford Favorite New Haven Region store or restaurant: My favorite store is the Guitar Center in Orange. As the sales people can probably attest to, I spend countless hours window shopping.

“On my day off .....” I like to spend time outdoors walking and biking. Connecticut is a beautiful state.

Most satisfying banking deal in my career: Over my career I have done many loans. My most satisfying are relationship-driven where I work with the client over a number of years to help achieve their goal. One in particular was a business which did a series of acquisitions over a number of years that I financed. In addition to being able to help him achieve his long-term vision of building a regional company, he was able to sell the business at an opportune time which allowed him to pursue other interests. We continue to talk to each other periodically.

Community service: I am a board member of the New Haven Boys & Girls Club, Jewish Community Center, and the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce.

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TOM WHITBREAD Start Bank Where you grew up: Syracuse, New York Education/Military Service: Undergraduate – foreign languages/international studies, Graduate – MBA in Finance; CFA Mother and or Father‘s Occupation: DND First Ever Job: Delivering newspapers in my neighborhood First Full Time Job: International Treasury (cash management/foreign exchange management) at Mannesmann Capital Corporation, New York, NY Years in Banking: 25 Years at Current Bank: 6 Favorite New Haven Region store or restaurant: Portofino

MICHAEL SULKIS BankWell

“On my day off .....” I enjoy Woodworking

Age: 48

Most satisfying banking deal in my career: Business acquisition financing for a young New Haven resident and business; watching both mature and succeed

Where you grew up: I was born and raised in New Haven where I attended New Haven public schools

Current Position: Senior Lender

LEE FERNANDEZ Ion Bank Age: 35 Where you grew up – Prospect CT

Education/Military Service: B.A. and MSM from Albertus Magnus College Mother and/or Father’s Occupation: My mother was a stay-at-home mom who had her hands full keeping up with me and my brothers. My father was an elementary school teacher in New Haven for 38 years.

He was also the first male kindergarten teacher in the State of Connecticut.

First Ever Job: Stocking groceries at the former Crown Kosher Supermarket on Whalley Avenue in New Haven.

Education/ Miltiary service – Post University, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

First Full Time Job: I worked for the Credit Card Division of People’s Bank.

Mother and or Father’s Occupation- My mother was seamstress for a necktie factory in Waterbury. My father was a small business owner.

Years in Banking: 26

First Ever Job- Holiday Hill in Cheshire CT

Current Position: First Vice President of Commercial Lending

First Full Time Job: CitiFinanical as a Loan officer Years in Banking: 12 Years Years at Current Bank: 1 year Current Position: Vice President, Commercial Lending Favorite New Haven Region store or restaurant: Adrianna’s “On my day off .....” Spend time with my wife Jillian and my two children Jackson and Isabella.

Most satisfying banking deal in my career - I worked with a manufacturing company that had become over leveraged. The high payments were affecting the company’s ability to grow. We were able to restructure their debt and lower their payments. Since then, their sales have doubled and they are continuing to grow.

Years at Current Bank: 5

Favorite New Haven Region store or restaurant: The original Frank Pepe’s of course!

“On my day off .....” I enjoy spending time with my wife and kids. This includes listening to my daughter and son as they study their musical instruments as well as watching them participate in martial arts.

We also enjoy day trips throughout Connecticut.

This time of year we enjoy apple picking at Bishop’s Orchards in Guilford, museums / galleries in Greater New Haven, and the amazing shoreline and beaches before it gets too cold.

Most satisfying banking deal in my career: Very early in my commercial real estate lending career, I was able to provide commercial mortgage financing for a father and son who together owned a wellrespected local contracting company. As a result, they were able to purchase their first light industrial property in East Haven from which they were able to grow their family business.

Community service: I am a past board member of the former Domestic Violence Services of Greater New Haven and I am currently an adjunct lecturer at Albertus Magnus College.

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JAMES MACDONALD Peoples United Bank Where you grew up: Thomaston, CT Education/Military Service: I attended American University, in Washington, DC and later received my MBA from the University of New Haven.

Mother and or Father’s Occupation: My father was the General Manager of Waterbury Buckle Co (now owned by ITW) where I spent summers working for the then minimum wage of $1.95/hr. My mother was a school and then VNA nurse.

Current Position: First Vice President/Market Manager Favorite New Haven Region store or restaurant: It is difficult to identify a single New Haven restaurant as my favorite, but the bar was set very high early on when I was introduced to the old 500 Blake St Café in Westville.

In the intervening years, there are just too many restaurants too good to single out any one spot.

“On my day off …..” you’ll fi nd me playing golf and when the weather doesn’t cooperate, I am playing my piano in my living room as I took up the piano 4 years ago.

First Full Time Job: My fi rst job was with the former Berlin Savings Bank(now part of Webster) in 1979 where I began as a teller and eventually moved up to branch manager.

Most satisfying banking deal in my career: I was involved in banking the leading sports apparel manufacturer headquartered in New Haven; I also was fortunate to assist in a management buyout of an underwater construction company.

Years in Banking: I have had the privilege of working in the commercial New Haven market continuously since 1985, beginning with Connecticut National Bank at 1 Church St, then Webster Bank, and today at Peoples United Bank at 265 Church St (commencing in 2002).

Community service: I was a board member of the New Haven Boys and Girls Club for many years. I was a 20+ year board member of Leeway, Inc. a non-profit nursing home for people with AIDS.

Years at Current Bank: 14

We Hope You Won’t Say Goodbye We’re Changing Our Circulation Strategy If You Want Business New Haven You Have To Pay To Subscribe Beginning with our next issue, we are changing our publishing approach and ONLY PAID SUBSCRIBERS WILL BE GUARANTEED to be included in our circulation. If you’re not currently a paid subscriber, we hope you’ll decide to support Business New Haven and decide to purchase a subscription so you may continue receiving it.

Going forward we will have two main classes of circulation, Paid Subscribers and Promotional Copies. There will be a limited number of special complimentary subscribers based on a proprietary algorithim for the support of our advertisers. If you choose not to subscribe, you will likely receive a few promotional issues during the course of the year as we try to build our paid subscriber base.

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TECHNOLOGY

Eleven finalists from eight countries were awarded with investments, mentoring, introductions, grants and services ment to marketing software, audio visual to digital communication and much more.

Connecticut Is Not Enough

Luddites Lose, Labor Dept. Gets Tech Upgrade

ROCKY HILL: Connecticut Innovations (CI) announced the winners of VentureClash, a $5 million global investment challenge for early-stage digital health and fi nancial technology (fi ntech) companies.

There were eleven fi nalists from eight countries, and six companies were awarded with investments, mentoring, customer introductions, grants and services to help them grow and succeed. To receive any aid, the winners are required to establish a presence in Connecticut.

Dream Payments, a Canada-based fi ntech, won the highest investment award, $1.5 million.

Dream payments partners with fi nancial institutions to “empower” payment solutions. Brent Ho-Young is the CEO of Dream Payments.

UK company Hubbub will receive a $1 million investment. Hubbub provides digital fundraising solutions for the education and nonprofit sectors.

Jonathan May is the CEO of Hubbub.

Four companies received a $500,000 investment award. They included: AMP Credit Technologies, a Hong Kong–based fi ntech company helps provide small businesses with fi nancing across global markets. BondIT, an Israel-based company provides “data-driven, personalized, optimal investment recommendations” to client companies. Belgium based LindaCare is a “digital health company” offering software solutions for healthcare providers to facilitate patient remote monitoring.

Streamdata.io, a France-based company develops software and infrastructures that “help developers turn content into streams that easily integrate into front-end and back-end systems.”

Matt McCooe, CEO of Connecticut Innovations said, “this competition showcased an incredible display of talent from companies around the world.” McCooe explained that there was more to do to have the “winners” locate in Connecticut.

“We have now completed the fi rst step in the process with the awards. The next and more vital piece of this challenge will be getting the deals completed, and setting up a soft landing for the companies in the challenge who decide to open operations in Connecticut.”

A panel of judges at the Yale School of Management included subject matter and investor experts from athenahealth, Canaan Partners, Oak HC/FT, Kepha Partners, Magellan Health, and Point72 Ventures.

The top two investment awards also receive up to $100,000 each in grants for assistance with relocation and other expenses, and each runner-up investment award includes a $50,000 grant. All six winners will also receive $120,000 worth of IBM Cloud Credits, sponsored by IBM. For information www.ventureclash.com.

Derby Day Not A Winner Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative ifficials are on the grid for a trip to the Kentucky Derby for employees at a cost of more than $340,000. Officials in Bozrah and the city of Groton have been demanding information about the annual trip and expense. The corporate “retreat” hosted forty four employees and guests.

OCTOBER NOVEMBER 2016

Coop management said the costs for the trip are paid from revenues generated by services to the Mohegan tribe, management of hydro systems for Hartford Metropolitan District Commission, and some towns in Massachusetts. The cooperative is owned by six municipally owned utilities including Groton, Norwich and Jewett City.

Center to Stimulate Manufacturers STORS: The University of Connecticut, working with the United States Economic Development Administration and Connecticut Innovations is creating a center to “share computer modeling facilities and related expertise with small and mediumsized Connecticut manufacturers, to help these companies create products faster and more efficiently.”

The Connecticut Manufacturing Simulation Center [CMSC], will be funded with a $2.1 million combined investment over five years.

The center is being designed to serve small and medium-sized companies with access to resources for computational design, modeling, and simulation, as well as high-performance computing hardware. The center hopes to use computer models to test and modify new product designs and manufacturing processes “virtually” before making a physical prototype, with the goal of lowering the design and manufacturing costs.

Kazem Kazerounian, dean of the UConn School of Engineering, said “the Connecticut Manufacturing Simulation Center will allow UConn to share our advanced modeling capabilities with industry throughout the state.”

CMSC will work on a “subscription” model providing access to modeling technology for a “fraction of the cost of installing a similar high-performance computing system.” The CMSC will be housed within UConn’s new Tech Park, with the first building scheduled for completion next year.

Xerox Adds Another Copy WEST SPRINGFIELD, MA: Connecticut Business Systems (CBS), a Xerox company headquartered in Wethersfield, opened a new facility, its tenth in Connecticut and Massachusetts, that it calls a state-of-the-art technology center in West Springfield.

The facility has an on-site demo room “providing the opportunity for clients to come in and experience the most advanced office technology in the industry.“ When most people hear the word “Xerox,” they immediately assume copiers. In reality, this local technology company offers an entire suite of solutions ranging from scanners to folding machines, document manage-

WETHERSFIELD: The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday awarded the Connecticut Department of Labor $924,509 to improve technology for existing workforce services and programs.

The award under the National Dislocated Worker Grant will help unemployed residents, jobseekers and employers “better connect” to workforce services through upgrades to a variety of systems, including development of a mobile-friendly platform for accessing the agency’s website.

Governor Dannel P. Malloy said “this award will help the Department of Labor in its continuing efforts to develop a thoroughly integrated workforce system that can provide real-time data to better meet the needs of today’s jobseekers and employers.”

Valley Voc-Tech Takes Off ANSONIA: Even as some bean counters in the Connecticut Department of Education were presenting the Governor with plans to shutter two vocational tech schools, Ansonia Emmett O’Brien was opening the doors to its “$94 million makeover.”

Emmett O’Brien serves 574 students in grades 9-12. The renovations added 48,000 square feet, bringing the school to 220,000 square feet. The project was first approved in 2003 but construction didn’t start until 2014 with design by South Windsor based architects Drummey Rosane Anderson and the Fusco Corporation of New Haven as construction manager.

The renovations include a cafeteria with a “state-of-the-art kitchen” for the school’s culinary arts programs as well as its own “Café 141,” a restaurant run by students.

The new exterior puts a modern high tech face on the vocational tech system. Critics of the renvovation claimed that construction of a new school of the same size would have been only $45 million. A middle school renovation in North Haven, however, is projected to cost $69 million.

23

REAL ESTATE

The building is on .76 acres and will be transformed into Wag Central, a cage and leash free facility for pups.

sented the buyer and O,R&L, who represented the seller, has also donated $1,000 to the

SOLD Marcus & Millichap participated in the sale of a 39-unit apartment property for $4,000,000 located at 91-99 Howe St., New Haven. New Haven-based agents Gary Witten and Victor Nolletti represented the seller, Valanzuolo Equities LLC. The building, originally constructed in 1920, is a mix consisting of 32 studio apartments, one one-bedroom unit, three three-bedroom units, three four-bedroom units, an onsite office and a 29-space parking lot.

South Main Apartments, a 19-unit apartment property located at 142 Main St., Middletown sold for $1,265,000. Garry Witten, Victor Nolletti, and Steven Witten in the New Haven office of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, AMDS Management LLC. This apartment building was constructed in 1967 with a unit mix including 19 one-bedroom units.

O,R&L participated in the $255,000 sale of 33 Fair St. in Wallingford, a 3,350 SF commercial/mixed use building. The seller, Dr. Lawrence Singer, was represented by Frank Hird, SIOR and Phil Marshall of O,R&L and the buyer, Amy Stephanowski represented herself. The property includes medical office space on the first floor and residential apartments on the second and third floors.

Frank Hird, SIOR and Tim McMahon of O,R&L Commercial completed the $900,000 sale of the former Connecticut Food Bank building at 150 Bradley St., East Haven. The 28,712 SF industrial and office space stands on 3.78 acres. The buyer, Mario Luciani, will use this property as headquarters for his ServPro franchises. Natuzza Dimasi of William Raveis Real Estate repre-

Connecticut Food Bank to support their mission.

David Cervero, Associate Vice President and Ralph Michel, Senior Vice President in HK Group’s Westport office, represented the buyer, Gary’s Realty Co., LLC in the $1,250,000 sale of a property at 2439 Black Rock Turnpike, Fairfield. The 4,106 SF building on the property is on a .31 acre lot and currently houses Swanson’s Fish Market, Chili Bombs Burgers & Macs and Whoopie, a Thai restaurant. Richard Rhatijan, Senior Vice President, from Atherton Associates in Shelton, represented the buyer, 2439 BRT, LLC. Jon Angel, president of Angel Commercial, L.L.C. in their Southport office represented the buyer, Angela Pantalone in the 15,020 SF industrial property sale located at 70 & 80 Hathaway Dr., Stratford. Angel also represented the seller in this transaction.

This building is on .76 acres and will be transformed into Wag Central, a cage and leash free facility for all pups. Set to open in 2017, the facility will include an indoor bark park, daycare, overnight sleep space, selfwash, grooming salon, training, swimming pool, cafe, dog bakery, vet clinic and retail boutique.

Bill Weirsman of Colonial Properties, Inc. in Orange represented the seller in the $285,000 sale of 2033 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport. Bill Malone, buyer, was represented by Joel Hausman of Colonial Realty’s Fairfield office. This 1,125 SF building is on .28 acres and was once used for automotive repair.

A new Italian restaurant Olive Oils is opening at 124 Temple Street in downtown New Haven.

Bill Weirsman of Colonial Properties, Inc in Orange represented the seller, Pete Bonaventure in the $117,000 sale of 354 Woodmont Rd. Unit 13, Milford. The buyer was represented by Wayne Chmura from Keller Williams Realty Partners. This commercial condominium at 2,000 SF will be the future offices of Duct Diagnostics, LLC.

repair building and a 3-family house. The purchaser was 62 Center LLC, a recently formed local entity with ties to the Boston area. This new owner plans to demolish the existing structure, constructing a multi-level mixeduse building that will house a restaurant on the ground floor, 39 apartments above and underground parking.

Alan M. Fischer, CCIM, SIOR, of Fischer Commercial Real Estate Inc. represented the seller in the $410,000 commercial property sale at the corner of Center Street and Coram Avenue in Shelton. The property was sold by the two family trusts that owned it which houses Jeff’s Appliances, Gary’s East Coast Service, Chantel’s Beauty Salon, an auto

LEASED

Murtha Cullina Promotes Three Attorneys to Counsel

Patricia L. Boye-Willams pboyewilliams@murthalaw.com Hartford – 860.240.6168

Jodie L. Driscoll jdriscoll@murthalaw.com New Haven – 203.772.7748

Kelly A. Trahan ktrahan@murthalaw.com Stamford – 203.653.5417

Patti Boye-Williams practices in the firm’s Environmental and Renewable Energy Practice Groups.

Jodie Driscoll practices in the areas of Commercial Real Estate, Banking, Affordable Housing, and Municipal Law.

Kelly Trahan represents clients in all aspects of Commercial Real Estate and Asset Based Transactions.

Contact: Jennifer M. DelMonico Managing Partner jdelmonico@murthalaw.com 203.772.7735 B O S T O N + H A R T F O R D + N E W H AV E N + S TA M F O R D + W H I T E P L A I N S + W O B U R N

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CULLINA M U R T H A L A W. C O M

Colonial Properties, Inc. negotiated the lease at 70 Turnpike SQ., a 13,500 SF property in Milford. Fred A. Messore, Senior Vice President at Colonial Properties, represented the landlord, Milford Associates, in negotiating the long term lease with Golden Corral.

Lisa Whitney and Jennifer Yang of Pinpoint Real Estate represented Golden Corral.

This will be Golden Corral’s first location in Connecticut.

Michael Richetelli of Colonial Properties, Inc. in Orange represented the LandLord, Frontier Trust in the negotiated three-year lease for 1,300 SF of retail space to Artisan Tile at Whitefield Design, LLC, Mulberry Plaza located at 1200 Boston Post Road, Guilford. Mark Lynskey of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services represented the Tenant.

A 1,280 SF unit in a multi-tenanted facility located at 375 Morgan Ln., West Haven has been leased. Bill Clark, Senior Vice President at The Geenty Group was the sole representative of the tenant, Michael LeBlanc of MTL Heating & Cooling, LLC. LeBlanc will be using the unit for general office space and storage for heating and cooling supplies.

Ricardo Cordido, Assistant Vice President at HK Group, represented the landlord in the leasing of the Center for Vein Restoration’s eighth location at the Spring Glen Medical Center located at 220 Whitney Ave., Hamden. Richard Guralnick from O,R&L represented the tenant.

© 2016 Murtha Cullina LLP

24

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Carl Russell, Senior Broker and Frank Gerco, Commercial Associate of Pearce Real Estate’s Milford office negotiated a 1,160 SF lease located at 265 Bic Dr., Milford, making this building now fully occupied.

Russell and Greco represented the owner, General Electric Employees and Scott Zakos, Broker and Owner of Vtal/Wetterstein, LLC represented the tenant, Coca-Cola North American. Coca-Cola will use this space to accommodate their current relationship with Subway, with those headquarters not far from this building.

The Geenty Group, Realtors negotiated the lease of a 7,500 SF property located at 55 John Murphy Dr., New Haven. Kevin Geenty, SIOR represented the tenant, Fresh Bev, LLC. This company manufactures high quality juice drinks, some included as top mixers in alcoholic beverages. This warehouse building is relatively new and free standing with a fenced yard.

The Geenty Group, Realtors negotiated the lease of a 225 SF property at 2 Linsley St., North Haven. Barry Stratton represented the LandLord, LBCD Holdings LLC and Kathy Rocklin of Calcagni Real Estate represented the tenant, Shelia Ann Owen, LCSW. Owen is a therapist providing individual, group and family counseling and will be opening an office in this space.

O,R&L Commercial negotiated a long term lease of a 2,767 RSF at 64 Wall St., Madison.

The tenant, Zero Gravity Marketing, LLC, is expanding the business operations into this recently constructed three story new facil-

ity. Richard Guralnick, CCIM, represented the tenant and Tyler Della Valle of Dow Della Valle Realty represented the owners Overshore Associates, LLC. Levey Miller Maretz negotiated a lease of a 3,550 SF space at 124 Temple St., New Haven.

Fork Hospitality 2 LLC leased the property and the tenant plans to open Olive & Oil’s, an Italian eatery specializing in small-plate menu items, comfort food and personalized pizzas. Shawn Reilly of Levey Miller Maretz represented both the tenant and the landlords, 124 Temple Street Associates LLC and Greenwich Bank & Trust. This building was built in 1909 for offices of the United Illuminating Co. The Geenty Group negotiated the lease of a 800 SF property located at 181 Research Dr., Milford. The tenant is MELT Chocolatier, LLC, the principal is Meredith E. Lindsay, and the landlord is D’Amato Investments, LLC. They plan to use the space for the manufacture of chocolates and confections for wholesale.

Bill Clark, senior vice president at The Geenty Group, was the sole agent in the transaction.

The Geenty Group negotiated the lease of a 2,000 SF property in a multi-tenanted “flex” building located at 5 Enterprise Dr., North Branford. The space includes warehouse and office space with a truck dock. The tenant, Rug Doctor, distributes cleaning materials for carpeting and plans to use this space as their warehouse and distribution point. The landlord is K. Russo

Find your [ Done Deals ] place.

$410,000 commercial property sold at the corner of Center Street and Coram Avenue in Shelton.

Manager experience and also previous experience in the construction and engineering fields.

Construction Inc. Kevin Geenty, SIOR represented the tenant and Bill Clark from the Geenty Group was the agent.

PEOPLE Wiechert Realtors welcomed Christopher Giuliano to the team as a Commercial & Residential Specialist. As a newly licensed realtor, Giuliano has been active in buying, remodeling and selling properties for about 20 years with construction knowledge. He has previously worked for the City of West Haven Department of Police Services for over 29 years. Giuliano received his Associate’s Degree in law enforcement administration from The University of New Haven.

O,R&L Construction officially welcomed Robert Lewis to the team. As a carpenter, Lewis will be assisting the superintendents in the field. Lewis has over 14 years of Facility

CONSTRUCTION Capital One has recently provided a $32.5 million fixed-rate loan under Fannie Mae’s near-stabilization program to Cooper Church LLC. They will be using these funds to refinance The Union, a 137-unit apartment building in New Haven. The transaction was originated by Paul Kesicki, Senior Vice President in Capital One’s Commercial Real Estate Group. This 10-year fixed-rate loan includes three years of interest-only payments, then amortization on a 30-year schedule and 9.5 years of yield maintenance. This property was originally built in 1928 and designed by the architectural firm Cross and Cross.

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25

MARKETING

Adding Valet Parking to our current parking options downtown was just the right thing to do

Park New Haven Launches Valet Parking NEW HAVEN: The City of New Haven’s Park Haven manages more than 8,000 public parking spots and 7 garages and a variety of surface facilities in Downtown New Haven. To facilitate an easier parking experience Park New Haven is adding valet parking.

The new service will be located on College Street near the Crown Street Garage and Shubert Theater, in the heart of the Downtown entertainment and restaurant district. Operating Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights from 5:30 PM to Midnight, the new valet stand will make a perfect addition to your next trip into New Haven’s vibrate downtown for dining, shopping, or just a night out on the town.

“Adding Valet Parking to our current parking options downtown was just the right thing to do,” said Doug Hausladen, Acting Executive Director, Park New Haven. “Visitor’s expectation of cities has changed, and now Valet Parking is something folks have come to expect.”

Tison To Swim With Aquarium NORWALK: The Maritime Aquarium appointed Tina Tison Director of Marketing. Tison joins The Maritime Aquarium from Media Storm of Norwalk, where she served as a Managing Director for 10 years. Tison served as the senior executive on top brands including FX, Food Network and ABC Family and led integrated consumer marketing.

The Maritime Aquarium is Connecticut’s second-largest family attraction; an aquarium rated by TripAdvisor.com reviewers as one of the Top 20 aquariums in the U.S. and No. 1 in New England. Previously, Tison held VP titles at both Grey Worldwide and Young & Rubicam in New York.

She worked with top CPG brands, including P&G, Kraft, Campbell’s Soup and ConAgra Foods.

Mohegan Teams Get New Chief MOHEGAN: Amber Cox was named the vice president of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun and the National Lacrosse League’s New England Black Wolves. Cox will manage operation of both teams.

Cox comes over from the Houston Dynamo (MLS), where she had been the chief marketing officer since Jan. 2015.

She previously worked as the associate commissioner of women’s basketball for the Big East, and spent nine seasons in the Phoenix Mercury’s front office.

Marketing Group Commits To Vets SUFFIELD: Windsor Marketing Group (WMG) has announced the goal of hiring at least 12 military veterans in the upcoming year.

In announcing the program, CEO Kevin Armata said “Veterans sacrifice some of the best years of their lives in service to our country and

protecting our freedoms, yet it is no secret that many have had trouble finding employment as they make the transition back to the civilian workforce.”

WMG has 185 employees and recently added 250,000 square feet to its facilities.

SALUTE

26

Connecticut Ad Exec To Rhode Island WESTERLY, RI: Kelley Tremaine, 48, former Advertising Director for the New Haven Register, Niche Products at the Hartford Courant, among other senior Connecticut media, has been appointed associate publisher of The Westerly Sun, the Mystic River Press and the South County Press.

Elliot White, president of the Sun Media Group, is also publisher of the Meriden Record Journal and appointed Tremaine, who will head the advertising operations and report to Shawn Palmer, senior vice president and chief revenue officer.

WTNH GM Heads South NEW HAVEN: After a seven year run Mark Higgins, the general manager of WTNH and WCTX-TV, will be heading south to Media General’s western Carolinas CBS affiliate, WSPA in GreenvilleSpartanburg, S.C.

Cyr joins Primacy after leading digital marketing initiatives at two universities.

He was previously Director of Digital Marketing at Clark University, where he led a comprehensive digital strategy implementation, including the launch of a new University-wide website, and Director of Digital Strategy at Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies. Cyr spent 17 years in healthcare, including 12 years in marketing and communications roles at Boston Children’s Hospital, and five years in organizational management roles at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Hard Hittin, Takin a Hit NEW BRITAIN: The website homesnacks.net, an ‘infotainment’ website named New Britain one of the “worst places to live in Connecticut.” The website claimed that there was a one in thirty three chance of being victimized by crime in a year’s residency. And added the city ranks in the bottom for income levels, people out of work and schools.

Recently ranked an All-America City designation, the Chamber is seeking a new slogan without the “blue collar,” Hard Hittin’ theme.

Media General purchased WTNH then corporate parent LIN Media in 2014.

WTNH/WCTX is the nation’s 30th largest market and WSPA/WCYW is the 37th largest market.

Joined in the bottom ten of places to live in Connecticut: Windham at No. 10, Derby 9, Meriden 8, New Britain. 7. New Haven 6 followed by Bridgeport, Hartford, New London, Waterbury and Willimantic.

Paul Spingola, director of marketing and digital media at WTNH/WCTX, said he will serve as interim general manager until a permanent one is named.

Perhaps not to form, New Haven is experiencing a housing boom with tens of millions of new investment to serve residents streaming into the city to ostensibly “live there.”

New Digital VP for Primacy BOSTON & FARMINGTON: The digital agency Primacy has hired Matt Cyr as VP, Strategic Practices and lead for the agency’s higher education practice. Cyr will help account teams “provide strategic consulting, grow and deepen relationships” with Primacy’s existing education client base, and work with the business development team on prospective client activities within the industry.

Food Exec Feted WEST HARTFORD: The Connecticut Food Association (CFA) named Leslie G. Sarasin, president and CEO of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), as the recipient of CFA’s Outstanding Industry Leader award at its 2016 Person of the Year banquet. Wayne Pesce, CFA president, said “Leslie is a tireless champion for the nation’s food retailers and wholesalers and we’re thrilled to recognize her efforts in advocating on behalf of the food retail industry.”

WWW.CONNTACT.COM

SEABURY-HILL REALTORS

Serving the real estate needs of Greater New Haven, Yale & Shoreline since 1926 seaburyhill.com • 203.562.1220 • seaburyhillrentals.com

23 Matthew Rd, Branford – Fantastic 3 BR, 3 BTH Branford home built in 2012. 1st fl has open living & dining area w/vaulted ceiling & updated KIT, 3 BRs with HW flrs & 2 full tile BTHs. 2nd fl has fully finished, carpeted basement w/full BTH & access to the 2 car garage, stone patio & fenced yard. $319,900. Call Jack Hill 203-675-3942.

29 North Lake Dr #29, Hamden - Renovated 2 BR condo w/great open layout. 1st floor has living/dining space, large galley KIT & ½ BTH. 2nd fl has 2 huge BRs and 1 full BTH. Bonus finished room in basement w/extra storage & W/D. Carport & guest parking. Complex has pool. $169,900. Call Jack Hill 203-675-3942.

12 Academy St #2A, Wooster Sq, NH Gorgeous condo w/formal LR w/parquet wood flrs, remodeled EIK w/ granite, MBR suite w/ marble BTH & ornate FP, additional BR & BTH, private storage & laundry in basement & 2 parking spaces. $329,900. Call Jack Hill 203-675-3942.

466 Carrington Rd, Bethany - Unique home designed by Yale professor/architect King-Lui 329 Greene St #10, Wooster Sq, NH - Luxury Wu. Fabulous open layout includes huge LR leading out to XL deck w/ beautiful views, condo w/ LR/DR combo, 18 ft. high ceilings, original church details, oversized windows, gas custom designed KIT & MBR suite. Spiral stairs FP, remodeled gourmet KIT, lofted office space & lead to LL family room, 3 BRs, bonus office & MBR suite. Laundry, parking & A/C. Yale Home renovated BTH w/custom tile shower w/glass door. Home has newer roof, septic, windows & Buyer’s program. $475,000. Call Jack Hill A/C. $339,900. Call Jack Hill 203-675-3942.

203-675-3942.

576 Chapel St #5, Wooster Sq, NH - Enjoy on the park living in this luxurious 1 bedroom condo with fabulous views of the square.

Beautiful architectural details. Hardwood floors, W/D, off street parking. Offered at $319,900.

Call Cheryl Szczarba 203-996-8328.

143 Essex St, Deep River – Lovely 2.05 acre lot overlooking Pratt Cove w/stunning views of the marsh & tidal wetlands. Part of an approved 5 lot subdivision w/over 30 acres of non-buildable conservation land & access to the CT River. The perfect quiet, secluded setting to build your dream home and watch the egrets and ospreys fly to and from their nests. $235,000. Sara Schlachter 860-514-0147.

22 Hill St, Naugatuck - Story-book antique home! Great layout w/formal LR & DR, KIT, 2 mudrooms, three 2nd fl BRs, detached garage, attic & basement storage. Wraparound porch that leads to deck w/seasonal city views & sunset watching! $124,900. Call Jennifer D’Amato 203-605-7865.

329 Greene St #3, Wooster Sq, NH Beautiful 3 BR, 2.5 BTH condo steps from WSQ park. The home has 2 garage spaces, open floor plan, HW flrs, high ceilings, large windows, storage, private balcony & gas FP. MBR w/ WIC & private BTH. $624,900. Call Cheryl Szczarba 203-996-8328

38 Lincoln St, East Rock, NH - Exquisite home adjacent to Yale SOM & NH Lawn Club.

2 story addition added in 2015, KIT w/11 ft. vaulted & coffered ceilings, LR, DR & MBR all w/French antique FPs, MBR suite w/Venetian BTH & direct access to terrace & gardens. 3rd floor has large au pair suite. $2,200,000. Call Jennifer D’Amato 203-605-7865.

1428 Dixwell Ave, Hamden - Turn key salon w/2 rental apts that will cover your mortgage.

2nd fl w/2 BRs plus a sunroom off LR, formal DR & HW flrs. 3rd fl has been updated. Off street parking for at least 5 cars. $299,900.

Call Jennifer D’Amato 203-605-7865.

95 Audubon St #336 & 338, NH - Large 2594 sq. ft. 4 BR/4.5 BTH townhouse style condo in Audubon Court. 2 FPs, HW flrs, 2 garage spaces, 24 hour security. Lovely courtyard views and lots of great light. In the center of New Haven’s Arts District. Units can be purchased separately. $760,000. Call Cheryl Szczarba 203-996-8328.

492 Whitney Ave #4C, East Rock, NH – Spacious and sunny 2nd floor, 2 bedroom condo at Whitney Walk. Gleaming hardwood floors.

Large kitchen with ample closet space. Lovely dining room! Convenient to Yale, Albertus Magnus, downtown and more! On Yale bus route. $240,000. Call Cheryl Szczarba 203-996-8328.

25 Lyon St, Wooster Sq, NH - Charming 3 BR, 1332 sq. ft. home. Great condo alternative. HW flrs. New deck. Large yard. Wooster Square neighborhood. Yale Home Buyer’s program.

Many energy enhancements. $275,000.

Call Cheryl Szczarba 203-996-8328.

3D Hughes Place #H-5, Wooster Sq, NH - Sunny 1 BR condo. 750 sq. ft. Remodeled kitchen and bath.Hardwood floors. Full sized laundry. Parking. Bright, sunny unit overlooking Cherry Blossoms! Steps from Wooster Sq Park. $238,000. Call Cheryl Szczarba 203-996-8328.

208 Haverford St, Hamden - Spectacular storybook Spring Glen colonial! Home has custom KIT w/open floor plan & breakfast bar, all new windows, new gas heating system, central air and on demand water heater, 2 sun room spaces & LR w/FP that leads to deck, paver patio & large yard. $319,900.

Call Jennifer D’Amato 203-605-7865.

227 Saint John St, Wooster Sq, NH - Stately home listed among the best preserved Italianate homes in NH. 1st floor apt has 10 ft. ceilings & formal LR&DR. 2nd floor has 2 large BRs, beautiful natural woodwork, and access to walk up attic. Fenced in yard & parking for 2 cars. $449,900. Call Jennifer D’Amato 203-605-7865.

7 Townsend Ave, Morris Cove, NH - Mint condition 3 BR home w/formal LR & DR, remodeled EIK, 1.5 BTHs & newer gas furnace, siding & windows. Large basement w/laundry & storage. A/C & 2 off street parking spaces.

Huge backyard & patio. $199,900. Call Jack Hill 203-675-3942.

107 Roger Rd, Westville, NH - Beautiful Westville home w/vaulted ceilings, beautiful woodwork, cherry floors, oversized windows, recessed lighting, renovated KIT, crown molding, 2 2nd fl BRs & renovated LL w/ full BTH & slider out to private brick patio. $349,900. Call Jack Hill 203-675-3942.

100 York St, Downtown, NH - Studio, 1 BR & 2 BR units. The complex features private balconies w/views, 24 hour concierge, elevators, laundry, pool and on-site management. Parking available at extra cost.

No pets & no renting. $45,000 - $168,000.

Call Cheryl Szczarba 203-996-8328.

RESIDENTIAL SALES

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RESIDENTIAL SALESAgents For All Your RESIDENTIAL INVESTMENT PROPERTIES INVESTMENT PROPERTIES INVESTMENT PROPERTIES BARBARA HILL, BROKER 203-675-3216 JENNIFER D’AMATO 203-605-7865 SARAH BETH LUCE-DEL PRETE 203-887-2295 BUYER REPRESENTATION BUYER REPRESENTATION BUYER REPRESENTATION JACK HILL 203-675-3942 DAVID ROSSI 203-314-7905 ROSEANN IUVONE 203-710-3135 RENTALS CATHY HILL CONLIN 203-843-1561 JASON FREDRICKSEN 203-215-8735 RENTALS SARA SCHLACHTER 860-514-0147 RENTALS CHERYL SZCZARBA 203-996-8328

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MELANIE GUNN 203-430-2622

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An independent, family owned and operated real estate company serving the An independent, family owned and operated real estate company serving the The Shoreline since 1926 needs of Greater New Haven, Yale & An independent, family operated the Greaterand New Haven,real Yaleestate & Thecompany Shorelineserving since 1926 needs of owned 203.562.1220

Greater New Haven, Yale TheStreet Shoreline since 1926 203.562.1220 233& Wooster New Haven, CT 06511

233 Wooster Street needsNew of Haven, CT 06511

203.562.1220

233 Wooster Street New Haven, CT 06511

What will your Jewish legacy be?

I got involved because I was asked. It is an act of love. I grew up knowing my grandparents and they were always part of my life. I raised my kids with the same values. I made a legacy commitment for the Towers because it is the right thing to do. My investment now is an investment for my future. ~ Alan Siegal, Board Chair, Tower One/Tower East with his mother, Evelyn, Towers’ resident

Create a Jewish Legacy New Haven is a program of the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven and is funded in part by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation of Western Massachusetts.

For more information about Create A Jewish Legacy, contact Lisa Stanger, (203) 387-2424 x382, lstanger@jewishnewhaven.org.

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28

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WHO’S WHAT WHERE the American Society of Healthcare Engineering and the Massachusetts Certified Public Purchasing Official Program.

Dadzie

Ahn

Comcast named Adwoa Dadzie vice president of Human Resources for the company’s Western New England Region located in Berlin, CT. She has previous experience in Connecticut as Director of Human Resources in North Haven for the East Division of Nestle Waters North America. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Trinity College and her master’s degree in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology from New York University.

Vein Clinics of America announced the appointment of Jiyong Ahn to be the clinical team’s leader at its new North Haven clinic. This state-of-the-art clinic will be Vein Clinics of America’s first in the market and opened on Oct. 27. Dr. Ahn has extensive training in phlebology, the treatment and diagnosis of varicose vein disease and other related disorders, and in ultrasoundguided foam sclerotherapy and endovenous laser treatment. Dr. Ahn is a graduate of Downtown State Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY, and Cornell Medical Center in New York, NY. He was also Attending Chief of Interventional Radiology at White Plains Hospital.

Sullivan Webster Bank named Kevin Sullivan senior vice president, senior financial consultant. Sullivan previously worked as a Senior Financial Advisor and Certified Financial Manager at Merrill Lynch. He received his bachelor’s degree from Central Connecticut State University, a M.B.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and completed post-graduate studies at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

He also completed specialized studies at New York Institute of Finance and holds a professional designation of Certified Retirement Counselor.

OCTOBER NOVEMBER 2016

Porter Attorney Kristina Porter was recently announced as a firm Associate at The law office of Carroll, Curseaden & Moore LLC in Milford. She earned her B.A. from the University of Colorado, Denver and a J.D. from Quinnipiac University. Prior to law school, she was also a seventh grade science teacher for two years in Arkansas through Teach for America.

BankMobile named Warren Taylor president of Customer Engagement, chief of Staff and Head of Banking.

Taylor previously held the position of President of the BankMobile Division of Customers Bank, Director of Consumer Lending and EVP/ President of Community Bank at Customers Bank

Santalena Carmelo Cicero-Santalena was appointed director of Capital Projects at Sacred Heart University. His first projects will include managing the SHU campus expansion into the Jewish Home property, overseeing the new Center for Healthcare Education construction and also supervising the construction of the new WSHU and public safety building. Cicero-Santalena received his bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering and construction from the University of Hartford and his licenses and certifications from

and spent 20 years at Sovereign Bank as the Division President. Casey McGuane was named chief operating officer and head of Student Banking. Prior to BankMobile, McGuane worked at Higher One, Inc. as Chief Operating Officer.

Warren

McGuane

Columbia University and awarded his MPhil in molecular biology from Cambridge University. He earned his M.D. and M.D. PhD from the Icahn school of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Weiner Blake

Quinnipiac University appointed Petulia Blake as assistant teaching professor of management at the School of Business. Her research subject areas are corporate sustainability and social responsibility with a focus on management and leadership. Her article, “Management Behavior Toward the Integration of Sustainability” was published in the Summer 2016 issue of SAM— Advanced Management Journal. She earned her doctorate in Technology Management from Indiana State University, an M.S. in Industrial Management from Central Connecticut State University and a bachelor’s degree in American Cultural Studies and Spanish from Bates College.

Western Connecticut Health Network named John A. Martignetti as the network director of the Laboratory for Translational Research at the Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) Biomedical Research Institute encompassing Danbury Hospital, New Milford Hospital and Norwalk Hospital.

Martignetti is a physicianscientist and an expert in human genetics and genomic sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He earned his B.A. from Columbia College,

Jonathan Weiner became senior vice president, senior relationship manager, middle market banking covering New York City and Long Island with Webster Bank. Weiner was previously the senior vice president, relationship manager and credit office for Citigroup. He earned his bachelor’s degree from McGill University and his M.B.A. in Finance from UCLA.

Ballerini Jane Elaine Ballerini, an associate with the law firm Neubert, Pepe & Monteith, P.C. was selected by the Connecticut Law Tribune as one of 37 attorneys as “New Leaders in the Law” for 2016.

The title is granted to attorneys under the age of 40 that stand out in the legal community either for excellent service to clients, court room performance, legal organization assistance or pro bono work.

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CONNTACT.com 29

HEALTH

In early November, shares were halted in Alexion as the company announced an “internal” investigation

Alexion: Good News and Bad News Company Investigates Its Sales Practices

By Mitchell Young NEW HAVEN: Alexion Pharmaceuticals [Nasdaq: Alxn] moved into a new global corporate headquarters in downtown New Haven at the beginning of the year and that was big news for New Haven. The news for Alexion hasn’t stopped, however, and although much of it is very good, some recently not quite so much.

In early November, shares were halted in Alexion as the company announced an “internal” investigation into some sales practices to determine if they met the “policies and procedures and the related disclosure and other considerations raised by such practices.”

The company declined to release its 10Q report on time and said that the release would be delayed beyond a few days.

The allegations about the sales practices were raised by a former employee of the company involving the company’s fl agship Soliris product. Soliris, fi rst approved in 2007 for Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria [PNH], a rare blood disorder, had annual sales of more than $2.5 billion in 2015.

Soliris has been the basis of the company’s growth and fi nancial strength to date and is now also approved for another rare disease, Atypical Hemolytic-uremic Syndrome, a disease that primarily affects kidney function, causing abnormal blood clots in small blood vessels in the kidneys that may block blood flow.

Other uses for Soliris are in clinical trials. The “listed” price of the drug for an annual treatment is $480,000 per year, but the company offers a variety of methods to reduce that cost, including grants where necessary for patients.

With the announcement of the investigation, a host of law fi rms have announced “investigations” with the potential goal of shareholder lawsuits.

Alexion has said that its investigation continues, but has not found any information to date requiring the company to update its previously reported sales.

In spite of the investigation, many stock analysts remain positive on the company, perhaps because its what could best be described as a terrible year for the stock.

Goldman Sachs and seven other analysts have maintained “buy” recommendation for the stock. At the start of the year, Alexion shares were trading at more than $180 per share and along with many other bio-techs, it has seen a huge drop in share price, for Alexion, to the vicinity of $120 per share.

Boosting the company is the integration of its acquisition, for $8.4 billion in June 2015, of Synageva of Lexington, MA. The merger brought important new approved drugs to Alexion’s portfolio, an expansion of its own development efforts with several drugs in advanced clinical trials, and Synageva’s “proprietary” drug development platform. Synageva, like Alexion, focused on rare diseases, including the approved drug Kanuma. A previous acquisition in 2012 of Enobia in Montreal, Canada, for a $610 million up-front payment with the potential for royalties, brought the drug Strensiq.

Kanuma treats Lysosomal Acid Lipase Deficiency, [LAL Deficiency], a disease that prevents the body from adequately disposing of fatty acids, leading to problems in the liver, spleen, and blood vessels. Until the drug was approved in 2015, there were no treatments for the disease.

Stensiq was approved by the FDA in 2015 and treats Perinatal, Infantile and Juvenile-onset Hypophosphatasia (HPP). Hypophosphatasia is an inherited rare metabolic bone disease that disrupts bone mineralization. Symptoms include weakening and softening of the bones that cause skeletal abnormalities.

Hypophosphatasia affects an estimated 1 in 100,000 newborns.

The market for the two acquired drugs is estimated to have a potential of nearly $2 billion annually.

30

Allyx Schiavone Recognized NEW HAVEN: The Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence has recognized Allyx Schiavone, executive director of Friends Center for Children, with its Marvin Mauer Spotlight Award.

Schiavone was recognized in part for the Friends Center for Children, which has been partnering with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence to integrate its elements of emotional literacy into the Center’s early childhood education program for children ages 3 months to 5 years.

The Center is a non-sectarian organization whose values-based curriculum is guided and enhanced by its foundations in the Quaker principles of community, equality, peace, simplicity and truth. As a cooperative organization, parents and teachers at the Center work together to create a diverse and supportive community

President Yale New Haven Health Appointed NEW HAVEN: Richard D’Aquila has been named president of Yale New Haven Health Systems (YNHHS). D’Aguila remains in his current role as president of Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH).

D’Aquila is expected to expand his role to “collaborate with local healthcare providers and hospitals to enhance access to specialty medical care in local communities across Connecticut.”

Marna Borgstrom, CEO YNHHS and YNHH, explained his suitability for the task, saying “Rick has led the team of talented physicians and leaders who built these services and is uniquely qualified to oversee the expansion of these services going forward.”

Now OccNow HAMDEN: Connecticut Orthopaedic Specialists has opened an occupational medicine program, OccNow, to provide more immediate walk-in style “services to employers across multiple industries; providing services such as pre-employment exams, CDL testing, injury care management and many more.”

The facilities are currently located in the practice’s OrthoNOW suite located at

2416 Whitney Ave., Hamden, but is expected to expand to its OrthoNow locations in Branford and Orange.

The hours of operation for this program are 8am - 4pm, Monday-Friday. There continue to be extended hours for occupational injury care management with weeknight and weekend hours.

New Haven Biotech Sold HAMPTON, N.J., NEW HAVEN,Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLDX) has entered into a defi nitive agreement to acquire Kolltan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately owned clinical-stage company focused on the discovery and development focused primarily on drugs to treat Cancer.

Kolltan has previously reported clinical and preclinical data that its drug candidates “can help overcome tumor resistance mechanisms associated with current tyrosine kinase inhibitors and seen in patients who have failed other cancer therapies.”

Koltan Co-founder Dr. Joseph Schlessinger recently revealed a “breakthrough in underatanding the genetics of uterine and ovarian cancers.”

Kolltan co-founder Dr. Joseph Schlessinger, is the William H. Prusoff Professor of Pharmacology; Chair, Pharmacology; Co-Director, Cancer Biology Institute at Yale University School of Medicine..

Early this fall Schlesinger’s lab revealed a major breakthrough for ovarian and uterine cancers, defi ning the genetic landscape of rare, highly aggressive tumors called carcinosarcomas (CSs), pointing the way to possible new treatments.

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