Business New Haven August 2015

www.ConnTact.com

AUGUST 2015

CBIA survey Reveals Ct Biz

Exports Up Annual Survey of State’s Exporters Released The vast majority (89%) of Connecticut businesses engaged in international trade are small and midsize enterprises employing fewer than 500 workers.

Transportation equipment, industrial machinery, and computer and electronic equipment top that list of state exporters. Recently, the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) surveyed businesses with export potential, reaching 140 companies that participated.

With a significant concentration of service exportrelated business excluded from the survey, results revealed that Connecticut achieved record export levels in 2013, with trade in commodities reaching $16.5 billion and contributing to an all-time high of $2.3 trillion in U.S. exports. Mirroring the national trend, Connecticut companies with export potential engaged in international trade have seen a surge in export numbers from 35% reporting export activity in 2007 to 79% currently reporting export activity.

Most of those surveyed report increased sales and profits to be their primary motivation in entering foreign markets—with some respondents attributing almost a quarter of revenue to export activity.

Continued on page 9

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On the RECORD

Individuals are always tying to optimize their own happiness

A New Economic Model UNH Dean Wants Students To See Business Through An Economic Lens

people in the U.S. and six billion in the world, does it make sense that we’re the consumer of the six billion instead of us being a production-driven economy?

Brian Kench is the new dean of the University of New Haven School of Business. A Massachusetts native, Kench has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Connecticut. UNH has grown from 1,700 students to 4,600 undergraduate and 1,800 graduate students in the past decade. Kench was previously chair of the economics department at the University of Tampa in Florida. He comes to UNH as the business school has recently been accredited by the AACSB [Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business] Editor and Publisher Mitchell Young interviewed Kench for On The Record

Here’s the good news. It’s sixty-eight, sixty-nine now [laughs], it’s going in your direction. What we do know is, if the consumer slows down that the economy will slow. It is no surprise that every politician would like to see the growth rate rise so we want to incentivize the consumer to spend more.

How much does this really help the economy if all that happens is we get something cheap that was made in China from a big box store?

We hear a lot about small businesses creating jobs. How do you see that sector going forward?

Small business owners do create jobs, but the percentage of new businesses that are small businesses is declining. Larger businesses are expanding and in terms of innovation, we think it probably does come from larger businesses. Entrepreneurship is an important piece of the American economy and we ought to be able to incentivize folks to start [businesses].

We had this great recession that is a big part of it, folks are struggling, the demand side is yet to come back, so economic growth is not great. If you look at what the potential GDP would be if we were using our resources fully versus where we are, there is an enormous gap that still persists.

Do economists think this is a function of the global nature of our economy or is this something structurally wrong with what we’re doing in the U.S.?

There is a global demand issue. If you look at China and what they’ve done with their currency; they are facing a challenge in their country. The demand isn’t there for jobs meanwhile inventories are increasing. That’s a big deal because the growth rate was [previously] around 10-11% for China and now around 7%, which is a huge August 2015

drop for them. It’s not only a drop for them, it’s a drop for all the other countries around the world where [China] is buying their products and using their services. When China’s economy slows, the rest of the world feels it.

It is a potential to further slow down U.S. economic growth.

On the supply side it is education. If you are going to compete globally, you have to have a well-educated work force.

That’s what we think about what we’re doing here: providing the kids with skills they need to compete, that’s my mantra. We will provide the kids that come through the University of

New Haven College of Business with the skills they need to compete in the marketplace.

There is no question that if you have a good solid college education, you will be better prepared in the workforce and you will have a higher standard of living going forward. Those that have no high school [diploma] or just high school took the brunt of the unemployment crisis [during the recession].

That screams: if you get an education you’ll be better off in the long run.

The U.S. is said to have a 70% consumption-driven economy, there are three hundred million

Individuals are always tying to optimize their own happiness, whether they are buying their pants from China or New Haven, they’re making a rational decision to purchase something. When they have an opportunity to purchase it for a few dollars less, it frees up their budget to buy other things. It is a net plus, potentially you could buy things at a local farmer’s market that you wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise. The same story would go for lower gas prices, you’re still likely to buy the same amount of gasoline, but it frees up your budget to buy other things. So trade with China or India is a net plus to the local economy because the consumer has more money to spend.

Should we be trying to not be at sixty-nine or seventy percent [consumer], to be more of a production-driven economy like Germany?

This gets to the long run issue, maybe we have a savings issue. In the U.S., the savings rate actually went up in the recession. If you want to encourage savings, the trade-off is you are discouraging consumption. Then you will have a lower growth rate. But if you do encourage savings you are less Continued on page 6

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} GOVERNMENT

G.E. Courted By New York, Texas, Florida...

States Asked To Pitch In Subsidy Beauty Contest To Lure Company

Will GE remain an engine for Connecticut’s economy?

W

hen Connecticut lawmakers passed more than $1billion in tax hikes this year, General Electric’s CEO Jeff Immelt got vocal. Although legislators rolled back around $178 million and postponed other taxes, G.E. was concerned that the State was creating an unfriendly climate in which to do business. Immelt announced that GE would be exploring options for an out-of-state move.

GE has 5,700 employees in Connecticut, chiefly in the Norwalk offices of the GE Capital finance arm that the parent is shrinking to focus on manufacturing operations. About 800 workers are located at Fairfield headquarters in Fairfield.

Ripe for the plucking, New York governor Andrew Cuomo has come courting, inviting GE to move headquarters 30 miles away to Westchester County. Currently, GE is the largest property tax payer in the town of Fairfield, but property taxes in New York are higher than in the nutmeg state.

GE was incorporated in New York and since 1992, New York has given GE almost $27 million in subsidies, yet still had to weather numerous GE layoffs and environmental clean-ups that GE left unfinished in the state.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman, a Manhattan Democrat who signed a letter to the company, said in a statement, “I think this development is all the more reason why GE should want to do right by the people of New York—possibly its new home—and complete its cleanup of the Hudson River.”

August 2015

GE is also purported to be looking at Atlanta and Dallas as potential new homes. Governor Malloy made a recent presentation to the company, along with other states, including Georgia and Texas, all of whom were invited to “pitch” their locations and whatever benefits packages of tax cuts and subsidies they could cobble together to lure the manufacturing giant.

Word is still out on who won the beauty contest.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has come courting GE.

It’s not just the states vying to placate G.E.’s notorious tax-dodging strategy that remains an integral part of the company’s bottom line, regulatory filings show that during the recession between 2006-2011, G.E. accumulated $26 billion in American profits, and received a net tax benefit from the I.R.S. of $4.1 billion.

At a time when Connecticut is shedding manufacturing jobs, however, recent numbers reveal that G.E. was actually a “bright spot,” according to Manufacturers’ News Inc., an Illinois-based data company that compiles and publishes industrial directories and databases. with the opening of GE Industrial Solutions’ Advanced Manufacturing Lab in Plainville, CT.

Letter To the Editor

To Leave or Not To Leave, That is the.....

Very hard to know where to start ... As a lifelong resident, and of a family with many generations here, I have witnessed the erosion of this state as fiscal power house. I have seen manufacturing decline and along with it, good paying jobs . The family company I worked for - now closed - contributed to this Connecticut economy since 1874 , but now it is not producing machine parts or jobs .....

It is lost. And My company is hardly alone .... Bullard, Winchester, Geometric Tool, High Standard, Marlin, Mossberg, Avco, Bridgeport Brass, New Britain Machine, New Haven Trap Rock, not to mention the vendors that those companies supported .... New Haven Heat Treat, Bridgeport Gear and Worm, Hawley Hardware, Bamber Tool, Flagg Industrial Supply, Hamden Deep Hole Drill. And there are many more, as these examples are off the top of my head.

Manufacturing and business have been a convenient whipping boy for Connecticut government to use .... Need money?

Well lets burden business rather than regular taxpayers... A familiar refrain for many years.

Many great companies have fled the state as a result. Pratt and Whitney

recently accepted a $400 million dollar bribe from the state to stick around for a few more years, merely postponing the inevitable.

Sikorsky, recently sold by United Technologies , and how long do you think it will take for them to leave for a more advantageous situation in another state?

Too big to move out ? Ask North Haven what happened to its tax base when Pratt and Whitney abandoned its 1,000,000 square foot factory several years ago. And now, since the recent proposed tax increase on business, Governor Cuomo is trying to get General Electric to move to New York with tax rates lower than Connecticut’s.

Connecticut’s situation is not good ..... The so called recovery has been slowest to come here, unemployment is among the worst to recover in the country, people continue to flee the state, heading south and west for places with lower cost of living, our children leave for college and don’t return after graduation if they are lucky enough to find a job, the state continues to issue debt as a desperate measure to cover its spending levels; “lets put tolls on the highway, lets permit more casinos lets increase gas taxes.” The effort is more about increasing revenue, rather than trimming costs. Politicians

with their coiffed hair and tailored suits want more programs, investigations, and establish comissions “to get to the bottom of this situation”. They make compelling arguments.....

But I think we need more restraint. I think the pendulum needs to swing the other way.

No one in the state wants to eliminate a hand up for people in need .... It’s not our way. But proper responsible management, and common sense should prevail ... Business must respond to competition and markets, government does not. Business pays taxes, and will continue to do so, but they also pay dividends, much of which contributes to pension funds and 401 Ks, provides jobs to employees, buys support services such as venders, suppliers, lawyers, and accountants, all of whom pay taxes.

I worked for over 40 years at my family’s business, a proud manufacturer since 1874, and now I am faced with a decision... Leave the state to be more able to afford my retirement, or stay and find another job in a state that does not provide the atmosphere that would foster more jobs....

David Holbrook The Herrick and Cowell Co.

}SMALL BUSINESS

CPA Firm Merges Bigger Hamden Firm Merges With Regional Player The 30-person Hamden firm Weinstein & Anastasio, P.C., operating since 1927, is set to merge with Whittlesey & Hadley, P.C., a regional accounting firm with offices in both Connecticut and Massachusetts, in September.

Weinstein & Anastasio, P.C. provides a broad range of accounting, audit, tax and business consulting services to closely held businesses in a variety of industries, as well as to high net worth individuals

throughout New England and New York.

Founded in 1961, Whittlesey & Hadley, P.C. provides accounting, audit, tax, technology and business consulting services to clients primarily throughout the northeast, with access to a worldwide network of resources through PKF North America. The firm has served closely held businesses, including manufacturing, construction, distribution, real estate, financial institutions, healthcare, government and technology industries, as well as the nonprofit sector, the firm’s largest niche focus.

5

} PUBLISher

Continued from page 3

reliant on foreign funds to supply the investment [in the U.S.], whether it is business investment or general investment. If you’re the politician that is going to decrease consumption in the current period you are less likely to be re-elected.

could be perfectly equal, you could be perfectly efficient or you can be somewhat in the middle.

How could we best encourage savings?

There is a distribution [of ideas], there are folks that come in with stories they’ve heard through high school.

What we try to do, through the introduction to economics, is provide a lens through which they can see the world that perhaps is different than the way they’ve seen the world before.

403D plans [retirement plans for certain organizations] are vehicles, 457 Plans [plans for government employees], you could expand IRAs and avoid the tax consequences and that would encourage people to save more and discourage them from consuming more. I would suggest the political group wouldn’t want to do that because there is a short-term cost to getting the long-term benefit.

The big economics question today and one probably thought about by your students is income inequality. Is there an economic belief that addresses this that is not political?

I would say the lack of education drives the whole damn thing. Is there a nonpolitical answer? There’s a tradeoff of efficiency and equity and that’s a value judgment. You have to start with a belief that it should either be fair or it should be efficient. It’s a trade off- we

Is there a cultural change that you’ve seen among the students in terms of which direction they see things going in terms of equity or efficiency?

The main model for that is the effi ciency model, which is if we can get the pie to be as big as possible, then it is question of how you divide the pie up to meet some of the inequities.

We do talk about the failure of markets and the potential solutions that can correct those failures, but it is based on a view that is toward efficiency.

You said your job is to prepare students for career success?

To equip them with the skills they need to compete.

Economists don’t do that, that would be like your hospitality school, or marketing, etc. [interrupts] I would totally disagree, an Economics training allows you to

see the world in a framework that is different from every other discipline.

I don’t care what you do—you will come at the problem with an economic viewpoint. If you go into Hospitality, or Management, Marketing or English, you will be able to analyze problems in a much different way.

We have some evidence [from our program at the University of Tampa].

It has a history that is very similar to the University of New Haven. Tampa was almost bankrupt twenty years ago, it had 1,800 students, and it now has 8,000. We [economics department] started with five faculty members and twenty students and I left [the department] with fourteen faculty members and 200 students.

Here it was a ten-year window, [UNH President] Steve Kaplan came in ten years ago with 1,800 students, he grew it over ten years to seven thousand students. And we’re here to see the college of business fulfi ll his drive.

Are there certain careers now that are more attractive?

A student should come into [college] with an open mind to see the kinds of things that spark them and allow them to explore. You can go to payscale.com and see the list of the top hundred jobs.

I am happy to tell you economics training gets you toward the top of the list.

Petroleum engineering is at the top of the list but I would suggest that won’t stay at the top as we’re having a global glut in petroleum. But Engineering,

there’s a tradeoff of efficiency and equity and that’s a value judgment. You have to start with a belief that it should either be fair or it should be efficient. these guys over here [pointing to the Tagliatela School of Engineering], we are going to try and blend with Engineering.

We hear this buzzword of interdisciplinary learning, how much of that is really going on?

Economics is an interdisciplinary science. I am looking at some of the undergraduate engineering students.

We have a lot of very highly skilled productive engineering [students]. We’re beginning next fall an MS Finance Program, and I know that engineering students make great masters of fi nance students. And we have the folks down here in Southern Connecticut that are known worldwide for that type of skill and we have Wall Street right here.

This is a natural interdisciplinary approach, but it is two separate programs.

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We have a “trading floor,” that is a classroom that has the [trading] technologies, and it is a gorgeous facility.

For a while fiancé careers were among the hottest, the recession changed that, but what is the state of those jobs today?

We are seeing a rebound, but the recession was devastating to the finance sector. The evidence is that some of those jobs are coming back. We’ll have a MS Finance program that will train the students to be able to pass the level one of the CFA [Chartered Financial Analyst] exam and also have them Bloomberg certified, and that, for a resumé in the fiancé field, is something you have to have to get through the door.

Through your academic career as both a student, and professor, what do you see in terms of what motivates students most to do well, beyond “I have to go to college”?

The heart of the enterprise is faculty.

You don’t get through the gate unless you are an excellent teacher, that helps provide the spark. Then you are selling experiences, so you have to build the experiences. [At Tampa] we had the Adam Smith Society, and we subsidized ten to fourteen students to go to Washington to see what economists do other than teach.

We had them go to the Treasury Department, the Congressional Budget Office, eventually we did it for enough

years that the kids were so inspired they moved there and started working there. When I left, we had UT trained economists with no additional Master’s program working at the Federal Reserve, at the Congressional Budget Office, at the Treasury Department, the Environmental Protection Agency.

Excellent faculty and then we have to provide the experiences. We have a lot of experiences here that are very good for students.

We saw that the UNH Business School received an AACSB [Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business] accreditation this past spring what does that mean?

There are nearly seven thousand business schools around the world, fewer than five percent are A ACSB accredited. For recruiting there will be a bump because we have it, but we have to sell experiences and opportunities and show educational excellence. We have to make the link to an eighteen year old student in high school, if you come here you’re going to get an economics degree [for example] and the kids that have done this have done x, y and z.

What are the other majors?

Sports management, hospitality and tourism management, management, marketing, finance, economics, and accounting.

Sports management was a pretty hot idea for students for a while, is that still the case?

and move to more consumption taxes, whether carbon taxes or just consumption in general?

Sports management is a robust major.

Of course, we have ESPN in the state and we have a lot of folks that have majored here and have gone on to become very high profile folks at sports organizations, sport attorneys. There is a market out there for it and real opportunities for internships.

Yes, would be the short answer. But if you tax consumption you’re going to get less of it and that does lead to slower growth. You get wrapped up in the political debate about consumption being regressive, but you could institute gaps – the first thousand [of spending] etc.

How do you see things differently in the Florida and Connecticut economies?

There was a proposal in 2004 at the Federal level that you could effectively get a consumption tax within the existing tax code by simply lifting the cap off of the traditional IRA. What you’re doing is if you don’t put money in your IRA it will all be taxed in a progressive way. Money you want to save you [put in the IRA] so it’s not going to be taxed.

All of your labor will not be taxed if you choose to save it. Simple nice little oneline code, but nobody liked it.

The housing bust was absolutely devastating [in Florida], the Case Shiller Home Price Index showed a fifty percent drop, they lost hundreds of thousands of jobs. Particularly bad in the Tampa Bay economy and it wasn’t until this month that they recovered the jobs they had in 2007.

That economy is coming along a lot faster than the growth rates here.

I haven’t done an in-depth study in Connecticut, but I’ve looked at some of the numbers and it’s just not great.

It hasn’t had the bounce back Florida had, there are people still moving to Florida, no income taxes, but there are property taxes, higher sales taxes.

Because who are the people who have money to save?

Your point is right; with a tax on consumption you’ll get less of it and it will lead to more savings. The one thing that leads to economic growth going forward is higher savings because it leads to investment. BNH

There will be a lot of discussion in the national election about taxes, but the question we continue with is if we should be moving away from taxing work and productivity [income taxes]

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} CBIA Trade

Continued from page 1

Companies surveyed looked to Asia for the future of their export markets, citing current free trade agreements like NAFTA to have been helpful, and support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T TIP) with the European Union is high.

When asked how relationships were forged and deals brokered with overseas partners, surveyed companies reported a variety of resources used including web inquiries and cold calls (62%), trade shows and meetings (57%), agents/trade representatives (49%), and recommendations from business colleagues (34%).

what sort of local environment or support system would be most useful for dealing with foreign markets. Barriers cited included loss of intellectual property, payment delays and trade and regulatory restrictions with the largest barrier cited to be a lack of knowledge of foreign markets. Respondents, when asked what help they’d like to see in strengthening their export activity, reported wanting help making connections with customers, access to better market research, finding foreign representatives, and assistance with export documentation.

Auditors: UConn ‘Burdened’ CT With $77M In ‘Unnecessary Interest Costs’

By Keith M. Phaneuf The University of Connecticut burdened the state with an estimated $77 million in “unnecessary interest costs” when it secured financing 19 months ago for a new ambulatory services center in Farmington, the state auditors of public accounts reported recently.

The legislature enacted, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed, a measure in 2011 that directed UConn to develop a new ambulatory center in partnership with private developers.

Instead it used financing authority granted by the legislature in 1987 to help the university health center finance capital projects with greater efficiency, securing a $203 million loan – with an annual interest rate of 4.81 percent – from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIA A-CREF).

In response to the auditors, UConn wrote that “whether state bonds should be issued to refinance the university’s loan is not a university decision to make. The university respectfully offers that the auditors of public accounts should provide its recommendations to the legislature and executive branch offices.”

August 2015

July Figures Show Lower Unemployment, Recovery Progress Department of Labor statistics released for the month of July show positive growth for Connecticut with the addition of 4,100 jobs, 3,000 of those in the private sector. This puts the State’s private sector at a recovery rate of 97% (108,000 of 111,600) jobs lost during the recession. The private sector now needs just an additional 3,400 positions to reach full, pre-recession recovery.

Unemployment also dropped three points to 5.4%, the lowest it’s been since May 2008. The national unemployment rate is currently 5.3%, a tenth of a percentage point below Connecticut.

Six of the state’s 10 major industry sectors added jobs, led by the business and professional services sector, with 2,700. Others gaining included: Education and health services (1,600 jobs); Financial activities (1,100); Government (1,000); Manufacturing (600); Other services (100). Concurrently, some sectors saw declines, like construction and mining, information, leisure and hospitality, and trade, transportation and utilities.

Companies were also prompted to look at barriers to international trade and

Claim UConn Ignored Legislative Directive On Financing

CT Job Numbers Better and Not So Better

Citing an opinion from the attorney general’s office, the auditors added that the borrowing approach UConn took for the ambulatory center project “exposes the state to the same level of risk as would a standard bond issuance, but at far higher costs.”

State Office of Policy and Management Secretary Benjamin Barnes, Malloy’s budget chief, said the university’s decision “was proper.”

Barnes added that “the borrowing done by the Health Center was done for its physician practices and was backed by revenue from those practices. It was a private action by the health center as a hospital with physician practices, not as a function of the university’s (or state’s) academic or research charges.”

This borrowing “may fall within the broad powers granted the University of Connecticut Health Center Finance Corporation,” the auditors added, “however, in addition to the excessive interest costs involved, the propriety of issuing this promissory note without obtaining specific legislative approval seems questionable, given the existing legislative directive to proceed” with a public-private partnership.

Edited and reprinted with permission from ctmirror.org

Company

Location

# of workers

Date(s) of Layoffs

Closing Yes/No

Atlantic and Pacific(A&P)

Ten CT locations

444

11/12 11/26

Yes

RBS

Stamford

50

10/5

No

Higher One,

New Haven

29

AxisPoint Health

Wallingford

45

Community Dev. Institute Head Start

Waterbury, Naugatuck

Quest Diagnostics

Closing Date

Union Yes/No

Union Address

Yes

UFCW Local 371

No

No

9/30

Yes

9/30/15

No

56

8/31

No

Not Indicated

Wallingford

80

8/31 9/12

No

Not Indicated

KLX, Inc.

Stratford

32

9/410/31

Yes

Not Indicated

No

RBS Securities

Stamford

2

7/24

Yes(ABP Group)

Not Indicated

No

RBS

Stamford

21

7/24

No

No

RBS

Stamford

1

7/17

Yes(ABP Group)

Not Indicated

No

RBS

Stamford

16

7/17

No

No

First Student

Bethlehem

36

6/30

Yes

6/30/15

Not Indicated

RBS

Stamford

2

6/19

Yes (ABP Group)

Not Indicated

No

RBS

Stamford

32

6/19

No

No

454 Life Sciences

Branford

28

5/31

Yes

End of 2015

No

RBS

Stamford

12

5/18

Yes (ABP Group)

Not Indicated

No

RBS

Stamford

30

5/18

No

No

United Airlines, Inc.

Windsor Locks

69

5/17

No

Yes

Machinists & Aerospace

SSC Disability Services, LLC

Shelton

47

4/3

No

Not Indicated

RBS

Stamford

5

4/6

Yes (ABP Group)

Not indicated

no

Acuity Lighting

Wallingford

93

4/5

Yes

4/5/15

Not Provided

454 Life Sciences

Branford

50

3/31 - 6/30

Yes

End of 2015

No

RBS

Stamford

14

3/16

Yes ABP (group)

Not indicated

No

9

} reGULATIoN – JoBS

Vol XX,I No.12 August 2015

www.ConnTact.com

JUNE JULY 2015

White House Hopes to Boost CT Aerospace, Shipbuilding

Fed Adds State To Special Manufacturing Communities List

By Ana Radelat Connecticut The Obama administration has given federal special status when it comes to seeking and shipbuildgrants that would help the aerospace

Research Group Funded By Coke Under Fire

$1.50

The Creative

Imperative

ing sectors.

all eight The White House on Wednesday said Connecticut counties are now a “Connecticut Region,” led Advanced Manufacturing Communities Community by the Department of Economic and Development. said the designaIn a statement, Gov. Dannel Malloy and enhance tion will allow the state to “accelerate worker skills, our initiatives to boost innovation, investment supply-chain capabilities, infrastructure and job creation.”

Obama Since assuming office in 2009, President sector has singled out the nation’s manufacturing The designaas a driver of economic development.

Continued on page 11

Blumenthal Urges Universities To Disclose Any Coca-Cola Grants

By Alban Murtishi

Once the province of designers and the hipsters creativity is now the action plan for every business Page 18

“I am asking them to assure that the research done on their campuses will be unbiased and unbought, impartial and objective,”

Paid Norwood, MA Permit #7 PRST STD US Postage

The Times published an article Aug. 9 saying that Coca-Cola provided $1.5 million to the GEBN, its website is registered in Coca-Cola’s name, and since 2008 Coca-Cola funded $4 million in research by two professors who founded GEBN in 2014. GEBN’s research stressed the importance of exercise over reduced sugar and calorie consumption in combatting obesity.

Editor & Publisher Mitchell Young Editorial Assistant Rachel Bergman Design Consultant Terry Wells Graphics Manager Matt Ford Publisher’s Assistant Amy Kulikowski

“Energy balance is not yet fully understood,” the GEBN website says, “but there is strong evidence that it is easier to sustain at a moderate to high level of physical activity (maintaining an active lifestyle and eating more calories).

Not many people can sustain energy balance at a low level of physical activity (maintaining a sedentary lifestyle and eating fewer calories), as attempts to restrict calorie intake over the long term are likely to be ineffective.”

Publisher’s Representative Robin Kroopnick Robin Ungaro Contributors Rachel Bergman Jessica Giannone Amy Kulikowski Emili Lanno Derek Torrellas

Photography Steve Blazo Derek Torrellas Lesley Roy Business New Haven is a publication of Second Wind Media, Ltd., with offices at 458 Grand Avenue, New Haven, CT 06513.

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Order your subscription at: Conntact.com email: news@conntact.com

COMING BUSINESS & CIVIC AWARDS HEALTHCARE HEROES BOOKF OF LISTS CT GREEN BUSINESS AWARDS

10

U

.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., wrote recently to three university presidents, urging them to make public any grant arrangements between their schools and The Coca-Cola Company.

The move comes after multiple health officials wrote letters published in The New York Times condemning what they described as misleading research performed by professors at those schools (West Virginia University, the University of South Carolina and the University of Colorado) for the Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN), a health research group funded by Coca-Cola.

“I am asking them to assure that the research done on their campuses will be unbiased and un-bought, impartial and objective,” Blumenthal said.

“Research is a good thing,” Blumenthal said Tuesday.

“Unfortunately the history of research funded by companies that make sugary soft drinks is that they are five times more likely to fi nd no connection between sugary soft drinks and weight gain, when abundant science, and common sense, indicate that there is a connection between consumer sugar and weight gain.”

Edited and reprinted with permission from ctmirror.org

Amazon Comes To Wallingford Type A Job-Seekers Brush Off Your Resumés Amazon.com is known for making employees cry at their desks, according to a recent report by the New York Times, in which employees describe a corporate culture of high pressure, low tolerance management styles. Why not try it out for yourself?

The company is adding a second facility to its Connecticut operations.

A 173,000-square-foot facility at 29 Research Parkway in Wallingford is slated to open in the coming months.

The fi rst facility is in Windsor and will remain open.

The distribution center “will ultimately employ hundreds and hundreds of people,” according to Amazon.com Spokesman Aaron Toso. When asked whether the Wallingford facility would utilize drones, Toso had no comment.

Best to watch the skies, anyway.

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AlMAnAC safety training school Opens In Beacon Falls MedEd Academy has opened its doors in the South Main Street Industrial Park in Beacon Falls located at 141 South Main Street.

The company provides on-site fi rst aid, CPR, and other safety training to businesses and agencies throughout Connecticut.

Additionally, MedEd offers classes and programs in its “state of the art training facility” in Beacon Falls. For fi rst response professionals, the company offers EMT, CEVO Emergency Vehicle Driving, as well as OSHA compliance programs. Also offered by MedEd is NRA pistol safety programs, which is a prerequisite for Connecticut pistol permitting.

the Old Man Prefers to stay At sea Crewtoo, an online social network for seafarers and a part of KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq:KVHI), has published the results of its second Crewtoo Seafarers Happiness Index report.

This second quarterly report shows a seafarer satisfaction level of 6.44 on a scale of 1 to 10, up 0.02 from the in-

The projects are expected to generate enough electricity “to power 13,000 homes for a year.” augural survey published in May this year.

One surprising issue detailed in the second report is that seafarers sometimes dread port calls because of the increase in workload caused by the many audits and inspections when a ship is in dock. This increase in workload at port also caused a drop in satisfaction levels towards shore leave, as the amount of work often eats into the time available for relaxation.

traffic A sign Of Recovery?

According to a report by Texas A&M Transportation Institute and the traffic monitoring fi rm INRIX, traffic congestion around Connecticut’s metropolitan areas is among some of the worst in the nation, with the Bridgeport/Stamford region ranking 2nd worst, just behind Honolulu for urban areas of its size.

The Urban Mobility Scorecard says congestion was down during the recession, but now almost all regions have higher traffic congestion than before the 2008 crash.

In addition, a number of seafarers noted that getting ashore costs them at least $100USD, which presents a major barrier to taking shore leave.

Answers to the survey are received from across all ranks and nationalities including seafarers from the Philippines, U.K., Poland, Croatia, Germany, U.S., Canada, India, and Turkey, as well as a number of African nations.

Ct Biz Makes Fast Growth list Inc. Magazine reOne of leased its annual Connecticut’s “Fast Growth List,” a fastest ranking of the fastest growing firms, growing companies in measured by the U.S., which listed Inc. Magazine. three nutmeg businesses in the top 500 and fi fty in the top 5,000. The list measures revenue growth from 2011-2014,

State Wants To “Step Up” Support for Businesses

Employers from all sectors (and of all sizes) interested in learning about hiring incentives, tax credits, job creation programs, and low interest financing opportunities are invited to attend a free “Step Up” conference being presented by the Connecticut Department of Labor.

Conferences are held from 8 to 10:30 a.m. with registration and continental breakfast beginning at 7 a.m.

Presentations, which begin at 8 a.m., will inform attendees about Subsidized Training and Employment Program wage incentives, the Small Business Express Program, finding and recruiting qualified employees, guidelines for becoming a State of Connecticut vendor, help when filing taxes, training grants for an employer’s existing workforce, apprenticeship programs, available tax credits, energy saving incentives and other avenues for savings and support from the State.

12

Glastonbury schools Mulls iPad Plan After 18 months of research ended in early 2013 Glastonbury’s Director of Educational Technology Brian Czapla said “we came to the conclusion that to really provide the best learning environment for our students today and tomorrow was through a 1-to-1 tablet initiative and we settled on iPad.” More than two years later, his latest summer plan for technology in Glastonbury’s elementary schools has a large focus on Apple’s tablet device.

According to the surveys teachers and staff of the elementary schools, opinions were mixed. 33% supported a plan for a full set of iPads for students to use during school hours, around 19% found only a partial amount of 10 per classroom would be better; and 14% preferred a full set of laptops instead.

Partial classroom iPads would cost around $820,000 with full classroom laptops coming in around $1.9 million.

Together the projects are expected to generate 85 Giga watts of electricity, enough “to power 13,000 homes for a year.”

Conferences Held To Educate Business Leaders About Available Perks The CT Department of Labor, in collaboration with eleven other State agencies, is sponsoring a series of September Employer Step Up Conferences throughout Connecticut.

Locally, there will be one in Middletown (September 10th at Middlesex Community College), New Haven (September 15th at Gateway Community College), and Bridgeport (September 24th at Housatonic Community College).

and did not include subsidiaries of foreign corporations. The list included companies like Branford-based PeriShip, New Haven-based Continuity, Hamden-based Votto Vines, Madison-based Clarity Software Solutions, Shelton-based KeeClean Management, and New Haven-based Square 9.

This new fi nancing is the sixth round for Greenskies by First Niagra in the past four years.

$165 Million Powers Up Projects For Connecticut Solar Energy Company Middletown: First Niagara has lit up Renewable Energy with $16 5milion to fi nance 127 solar panel projects in ten different states, from Maine to California.

“First Niagara is pleased to continue developing its relationship with Greenskies, a solar industry leader both in Connecticut and across the region,” Peter J. Thomas, vice president and senior relationship manager at the bank said, . “this particular fi nancing vehicle allows the company to leverage additional capital and accelerate the distribution of green renewable energy throughout not only New England, but the entire nation.”

Greenskies is a seven-year-old company that designs, builds and maintains photovoltaic solar systems for corporate clients,

municipalities and government agencies, educational institutions and utilities throughout the United States.

Robert Landino CEO of Centerplan Companies and the 2014 Buisness New Haven Businessperson of the Year is Chairman of the Board of Greenskies. Centerplan has developed Landmark Square a retail and office development in Middletown, an apartment complex on College and Crown Streets, in downtown New Haven, the new offices for Continuum of Care on Rte 34 in New Haven and the DoNo retail, commercial and residential development that includes a stadium for the minor league baseball team the Yardgoats [formerly the New Britain Rock Cats] in Downtown Hartford.

Art Linars SR [father of State senator Art Linares] is vice Chairman of the Board, and Senator Linares is a board member of Greenskies as well.

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Turning Connecticut Green Can cities in the Blue state go green?

By Jason Bogdan and Mitchell Young

W

Well, that’s the goal of the Clean Energy Communities Program.

The Program works with the collaboration of Energize Connecticut, a partnership of the state’s Energy Efficiency Fund [CEEF], Connecticut’s Clean Energy and Investment Authority [CEIFA], The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection [DEEP], and Connecticut utilities Eversource and United Illuminating along with their natural gas subsidiaries; Connecticut Natural Gas and the Southern Connecticut Gas Company.

One hundred and forty seven Connecticut cities and towns have signed onto the “pledge,” a fi rst step in the program. Seventeen of the municpalities are in UI’s service area.

Senior Business Development Professional of The United Illuminating Company Sheri L. Borelli offered, “enthusiasm is impressive by all who participate in the Pledge.”

In signing the Pledge, the community commits to a plan to reduce municipal building energy consumption 20% by 2018. The second step is to fulfi ll the Pledge by adhering to a Municipal Action Plan (MAP) that outlines plans 14

The Park City Moves Its Green Agenda AERIAL VIEW OF BLACK ROCK HARBOR Forward

step; Energy Points. Points are accrued towards “Bright Idea Grants.” The City of Milford earned a $15,000 Bright Idea Only Milford and Wilton have comGrant last year towards energy-saving pleted this second step and four other projects. Easton earned two Bright communities are half way there, includIdea Grants and earned an energy LOCATION ing Bethany and Fairfield. audit.

After getting to second base, the eligible community is ready for the third on energy use solutions on a year-toyear basis.

FUEL CELL GENERATION and UI FACILITIES

EXISTING ACCESS ROAD

SOLAR GENERATION FACILITIES

Placement of the solar panel near Bridgeport Seaside Park did meet some local opposition.

Across Connecticut Bridgeport, the state’s largest city, is seen as a failed crime-ridden city with violent crime at three times the state average, and unemployment at 8.5%, almost twice as high as the rest of Connecticut.

But that is not the full story. This old line manufacturing city is trying to re-envision itself with a commitment to “green energy” that until now is unmatched in Connecticut, and in some cases anywhere in the U.S. In November, the city will reach an initial goal of clean energy generation to power 19,000 homes when its most recent clean energy effort powers on.

The United Illuminating Company is installing 9,000 solar panels that will generate 2.2 MW [Megawatts] of energy and a 2.8 MW fuel cell.

The solar array will be the largest in the state and take up an eleven acre site at the top of the landfi ll that runs alongside the city’s Seaside Park, sitting on a 2.5 acre city owned site near the landfi ll.

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Bridgeport had already earned leadership in green energy generation as the home to a 14.9 mw Fuel Cell facility in downtown Bridgeport along Interstate 95.

The fuel cell will be built and managed

by Fuel Cell Energy with headquarters in Danbury and manufacturing operations in Torrington.

Brett Broesder, Bridgeport’s spokesman, said the 2.8 MW fuel cell and 9,000 solar panels are on schedule to begin running sometime around late November to early December.

Mayor Bill Finch added, “This project is creating 21st century jobs, bringing millions of dollars in revenue for Bridgeport, and ensuring our kids and grandkids breathe cleaner air.”

The United Illuminating Company will pay $7 million in tax revenue to the city over its 20-year lease.

Bridgeport had already earned leadership in green energy generation as the home to a 14.9 mw Fuel Cell facility in downtown Bridgeport along Interstate 95. Fuel cells powered by natural gas are considered to have zero emissions of Carbon or other pollutants.

Owned by Dominion Energy and also built by Fuel Cell Energy, the facility began operations in December of 2013.

When built, it was the largest fuel cell plant in the world and remains the largest in the U.S. Fuel Cell Energy’s South Korean partner and its largest shareholder, the $2.2 billion POSCO Energy, put a 59 megawatt Fuel Cell facility on line in December 2014, making it the largest in the world.

Fuel Cell Energy Inc. operates and maintains the facility under a service contract with Dominion. FCE supplied five direct Fuel Cell stationary fuel cell power plants and an organic rankine turbine that converts waste heat from the fuel cells into additional electricity.

Dominion sells the output of the fuel cell power station to Connecticut Light & Power under fi xed power purchase agreements.

In February, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency honored Mayor Finch with its Individual Leadership Award for his “demonstrated leadership in responding to climate change and through engaging with his community and other officials. Mayor Finch’s priorities have included promoting energy initiatives, enhancing sustainability efforts and making Bridgeport one of the greenest cities in America.

In spite of the accolades, the solar project was not without controversy.

Freshman Bridgeport Councilman Rick Torres opposed the plan and was one of the most vocal opponents. A contingent of city residents agreed with Torres and didn’t want the solar panels near Seaside Park and wanted the landfi ll to be converted to parkland. At a public forum discussing the project, Torres cited a Norwalk landfi ll that had been converted to parkland.

Torres and opponents argued they were for renewable energy, but were against the site. The Sierra Club supported the project and in the end Bridgeport’s Councils voted for the plan.

Going WorldSize Big In Beacon Falls The largest Fuel Cell Power Plant in the world will soon sit on eight acres of a twenty-five acre former sand mine in Beacon Falls. The 63.3 Megawatts generated by the plant could take as many as 300 acres for solar panels according to William Corvo, president of CT Energy & Technology, the developers of the plant.

O&G Construction, owner of the sandpit, will build the plant powered by fuel cells from Fuel Cell Energy of Danbury, which will also manage the plant. Its Torrington manufacturing facility will build the fuel cells.

Currently, Fuel Cell Energy has 500 employees in Connecticut.

Corvo has said he expects that over the life of the plant, state and local government will receive $90 million in taxes.

The company will be seeking a tax agreement from Beacon Falls to help facilitate long-term power purchase agreements.

Business New Haven first reported on the plant in May. On July 7 th, the companies submitted detailed plans to the town of Beacon Falls and the

At 66 MW the Fuel Cell Power Plant in Beacon Falls willl be a time be the larest int he world.

august 2015

15

Connecticut Siting Council is now reviewing those plans. Unlike many power plant proposals, including a natural gas power plant in nearby Oxford, the Beacon Falls proposal has received minimal opposition from the community. The small footprint, the zero emissions and relative safety of fuel cells is likely to lead to a quick approval from the Siting Council.

Connecticut is one of twelve states permitting energy created by fuel cells to meet the standards for “renewable energy.” The designation as renewable energy is driven by what is considered the zero emissions of fuel cells, which only emit water and heat as part of the energy creation process. The fuel cell park will use that heat to produce electricity, as well.

Connecticut utilities are required to purchase 27% of all electricity under the state’s renewable energy standard by 2020.

Fuel Cell Energy’s largest shareholder and customer is Posco, a South Korean power producer and steel company.

The 59 Megawatt project in Pohang, South Korea that Fuel Cell and Posco built is still a fraction of the 3000 megawatts Posco produces in South Korea.

The fuel cells for the Pohang plant were manufactured at Fuel Cell’s Torrington manufacturing facility.

Fuel cells fueled by market rate natural gas typically create energy at a cost of between 9 and 12 cents per kilowatt.

Coal burning plants produce at 12 cents per kilowatt and new natural gas plants produce at around 6 cents per kw.

Posco is building a highly automated manufacturing facility in South Korea under license from Fuel Cell Energy with the hope of driving down the costs of fuel cells. Fuel Cell Energy’s CEO Arthur Bottone Jr. has said that Posco will “share” some of their advanced manufacturing technology with the company.

“Born as Free as the Wind Blows” Many environmentalists and alternative energy developers have presented wind power as the perfect alternative energy source; a fuel and carbon free technology.

Connecticut’s Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) says of wind energy that it is “smart, clean, and relatively cheap.”

Europeans and mid-western farms have been using wind power for centuries, giant offshore wind farms have been constructed off Britain and Norway and wind turbines have been popping 16

Six Wind Turbines have been approved by the Connecticut Siting Council for Colebrook.

up throughout America in recent years as well.

In a normal wind year the wind power capacity installed in Europe would produce enough to supply 8% of the EU’s electricity consumption.

For Connecticut, however, DEEP also notes the “drawbacks,” that “it can take an awful lot of wind turbines to generate enough electricity to meet our needs.”

In New Haven, the printing company Phoenix Press installed Connecticut’s first industrial wind turbine in 2010, 121 foot tall at the hub, [each blade is 35 feet long]. The wind turbine is named Gus(t) [by a local student] and designed to produce 100,000 kilowatts annually, enough energy to power 30% of the printing company’s needs. The turbine sited near the printing company, visible from the Quinnipiac Bridge, received no challenges to its placement from the nearby residential community.

That experience, however, is not typical for the placement of wind turbines in densely populated parts of New England.

Perhaps the most controversial wind turbine installation in the country has been Cape Wind, a $2.6 billion dollar proposed development in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod. The offshore wind farm is rated at potentially 454 megawatts sourced from 130 turbines each standing at 258 feet tall [at the hub] and with the top height of the blade tips to 440 feet above the water.

First proposed in 2004, the plan faced stiff opposition throughout the Cape Cod region including from then Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry and governor Mitt Romney. Eventually, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Siting Council approved the project in 2005 and it received federal approval in 2010 as well.

Massachusetts under former Democratic Governor Deval Patrick ordered Northeast Utilities and National Grid, the utilities serving the public, to buy more than half of the potential output at just under 20 cents per kilowatt, double the market rate at the time.

Today’s electricity rates fueled by the expansion of Natural Gas supplies are much lower and the political environment with a new Republican Governor in Massachusetts has changed, as well.

Eversource and National Grid have backed out of their purchase agreement, putting the project in doubt of going forward.

In the beautiful, historic and very quiet

In New Haven, the printing company Phoenix Press installed Connecticut’s first industrial wind turbine in 2010 town of Colebrook in Northwestern Connecticut, a storm of controversy has just settled down after several years over a very small wind farm on a mountaintop cleared for the wind turbines.

After several years of court fights reaching the Connecticut Supreme Court, two wind turbines are said to be going up on Rock Hall Road in Colebrook. The Connecticut Siting Council approved six turbines for two sites in Colebrook, although the Army Corp of Engineers is yet to approve the second site. BNE Energy of West Hartford is the developer of what is authorized to be three 1.6 MW GE Wind Turbines at the site. According to the Waterbury Republican newspaper, one turbine’s construction is held up by the lack of a power purchase agreement for its energy.

Another proposal for turbines by BNE in Prospect was denied by the Siting Council.

BNE obtained fifteen million dollars in financing from Webster Bank last spring that will allow them to go forward with the installation of the two 322 foot towers and turbines.

FairWind Connecticut, a Colebrook region citizen’s group, mounted what some see as a ferocious attack on wind power. However, the group says, “we are concerned about the serious social, health and economic impact that the unregulated installation of wind turbines may have near busy roads and in or near residential neighborhoods in our communities,” adding that “regulations should be put into place before any wind farms or wind turbines are approved for installation in the State of Connecticut.”

It is a fight, however valiant, that was both won and lost by the group. In April 2014, the group’s legislative lobbying was eventually joined by then Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, with efforts resulting in regulations to control the placement of wind turbines.

The regulations included set backs designed to keep “industrial” turbines away from residential areas. The setback the group won was that a turbine had to be 1.5 times the distance of its height from a residential area, although the group sought 2.5 times the distance. The setback requirements do not apply to the Colebrook project retroactively, however, those turbines are expected to be 1800 feet from a residential area.

Joyce Hemingson, President of FairWind Connecticut, said at the time “the conversation with legislators will continue. The regulations passed are not perfect, but do give protections that were not there when we started.”

In its lobbying efforts, the group cited the decision by a Massachusetts judge that two 397-feet-tall industrial wind turbines in Falmouth be shut off from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Monday through Saturday and shut off all day on Sundays and three major holidays — Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. Executive director of the Siting Council, Melanie Bachman, was surprised by the “ferocity [FairWindCT] brought upon us.” The council eventually approved the Colebrook project and Connecticut’s Supreme Court upheld their decision.

BNE executives Paul Corey and Gregory Zupkus have posted on Facebook “we are available to talk to you and answer any questions you may have” however neither returned numerous calls from Business New Haven and appear similarly unavailable to local media, as well.

However, Colebrook’s First Selectman Thomas McKeon confirmed, “construction of the turbine on Flagg Hill Road is currently ongoing with a working crane and materials on site.”

Www.Conntact.com

real estate Mike Richetelli’s Colonial Realty Acquires Nutmeg Proper Realty.

Colonial Properties, Inc. has acquired Nutmeg Property Realty. Nutmeg was founded and run by Al Melotto in 2005 and had been located in Milford, focusing primarily on residential real estate services.

Melotto and residential agents Carole Annicelli, John Vigliotti and Aileen Magda have all joined Colonial’s staff

People Paula Feeney, Vice President and Director of Business Development for Pearce and Pearce Plus, its subsidiary for relocation and senior services, has been honored as a Connecticut 2015 Women of FIRE (Finance, Insurance and Real Estate) by The Commercial Record and its publisher The Warren Group.

Feeney is responsible for marketing to and servicing

The Tenant is a woodworker who specializes in custom kitchen cabinetry.

all corporate, community and business accounts both company-wide and for the subsidiary.

Sold A three building industrial complex at 152 Old Gate Lane in Milford recently sold for $1,925,000. Steven Inglese, principal of the New Haven Group, a commercial real estate brokerage firm, represented the seller, Smith Construction in the sale. He procured the buyer, a New York based private investor.

GOGO Worldwide Vacations has signed a longterm lease at Hamden Center II.

John M. Cuozzo, Jr. of Press/Cuozzo Realtors recently sold 1633 Whitney Avenue, a 1,707 square foot auto repair facility set on .34 acres. Cuozzo was the sole broker representing the Seller, Sunny Rae Corporation, and the Buyer, Prashant and Varsha Mehta.

Joel Galvin, GRI, CCS and Senior Commercial Associate in the North Haven office of Pearce Real Estate, has sold a 19,000SQ FT office building in Wallingford for $875,000.

Galvin represented the seller, RCR Enterprises, LLC. The buyer, John Hall, is considering converting this medical/ professional building, located at 50 South Main Street, to a mixed use complex.

Stephen Press, SIOR of Press/Cuozzo Commercial Services brokered the sale of 20 Peck Street, North Haven. The two buildings, totaling 3,830 S/F, a former day care facility, are set on .61 acre. Stephen Press, SIOR, represented the Seller, K & J

Stephen Press, SIOR, principal of Press/Cuozzo Commercial Services, leasing broker for Hamden Center II, recently completed a lease to FC USA Inc., the parent company of GOGO Worldwide Vacations, at Hamden Center II, 2321 Whitney Avenue. The longterm lease is for 2,664 sf.

Steve Inglese, SIOR, represented the tenant on this transaction.

Whalley Avenue, New Haven CVS building is for sale, and is being handled by Levey Miller Maretz of Woodbridge.

Holding, LLC and Lou Proto of The Proto Group represented the Buyer, Lauren Grogan who will renovate the structures for day care use.

O,R&L Commercial sold the Northeast Technology Center located at 15 & 35 Northeast Industrial Rd. in Southern CT’s bioscience corridor. The properties consist of three interconnected R&D/ Flex buildings on two separate tax lots together measuring 97,000+ SF on 5.63 acres located just off I-95 in Branford.

The buyer was SH NETC Branford, LLC. who paid $10,500,000.

For sale

BIC is leasing 51,529 square feet for manufacturing and warehouse needs.

August 2015

Bic Consumer Products Manufacturing Co., Inc. (BIC), provider of stationary, lighters and shavers, at 500 Bic Drive, Milford. The facility will be used to service its warehouse/manufacturing needs. The 624,000 SF property is represented by Joe Coci; owned and managed by MDC Milford Associates, LLC (MDC). Bic formally owned the complex, sold and relocated in 2008 and is now relocating back into 51,579 SF as a result of continued growth. The facility will be used to service its warehouse/ manufacturing needs.

The building and property at 1168 Whalley Ave. are for sale, with Levey Miller Maretz acting as the exclusive agents hired to market the site.

The property, which currently houses a CVS Pharmacy, includes a 9,850-square-foot building and adjacent parking

lot with 40 spaces on 0.7 acres.

CVS’ existing lease expires at the end of 2017.The site, which is owned by Super Crown Realty, is listed for $3 million.

The highly visible property sits along one of the busiest streets in New Haven, near Whalley Avenue’s intersection with Dayton Street.

Leased In a deal brokered by Levey Miller Maretz. Woodbridge Jewelry Exchange has leased the 800-square-foot building at 1663 Litchfield Tpke. The business is owned by Shawn Palmer and Christopher Frazao. Steve Miller, principal at Levey Miller Maretz, represented the tenants as well as the landlord, KFP Family Limited Partnership. It previously was home to Connelly Gold & Diamond Exchange.

Chris O’Hara, Senior Vice President of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT completed a Lease Representing

The Geenty Group, Realtors, leased 1,000 SF unit in a multi-tenanted flex building at 2344 Foxon Road, North Branford. The Landlord is Cooper Partners, LLC, and the Tenant is Jessica AlvarezHawke dba REZ-TEK, LLC. Jeffrey Hawke is the Vice President. The Tenant is a woodworker who specializes in custom kitchen cabinetry.

Kevin Geenty SIOR was the agent for the Tenant, while Bill Clark, also of The Geenty Group, was the agent for the Landlord.

Stephen Press, SIOR, coprincipal of Press/Cuozzo Commercial Services, and Joel Nesson, senior commercial advisor at Press/Cuozzo, have leased two floors at 3208 Whitney Avenue. Hamden.

Press, the listing broker, represented 3208 Whitney Avenue, LLC, and Nesson represented the tenants, Richard A. Chernes, LLC, and Boyhen Associates, LLC, and Tomanelli Counseling on these long-term leases.

17

manufacturing Axel Plastics To Build New Facility in Monroe

Adam Equipment Constructing New Building in Oxford

NY-Based Speciality Chemical Producer Expands to CT From NYC

Scale Maker Tips to Favor Oxford Over Danbury

A

ccording to the Bridgeport Regional Business Council (BRBC), a “facility to house Axel Plastics Research Laboratories, a U.S. based manufacturer of mold releases and additives for plastics, rubbers, and urethanes” is currently in motion.

BRBC adds that the location is set to be established at 50 Cambridge Drive in Monroe and will have a capital investment of $7 million for a 40,000 square foot facility.

Monroe’s First Selectman, Steve Vavrek, has said that the town’s location in Fairfield County, close to New Haven with access to highway routes I-84 and 95 was appealing to Axel, which is a privately owned company headquartered in Woodside, New York.

“It’s still affordable, and we’ve got a great school system and park system,” he added.

As for when Axel will be fully settled in its new branch, “We’re hopefully going to see a groundbreaking by the fall, if not early spring,” Vavrek said, although the company has owned the Monroe property for two years.

Axel is a manufacturer of proprietary mold releases and process aid additives for plastics, rubbers, and urethanes producing brand names like XTEND, MoldWiz, PasteWiz and CleanWiz. The Connecticut location will be a manufacturing facility.

called the Animotus. The top half of the cube twists to direct users toward their next destination and extends forward to indicate the distance to reach it. Rather than look at the device, as with a smartphone, users know where to go by feeling the changing shapes.

Yale Engineer Creates ShapeShifting GPS Yale University engineer Adam Spiers, a postdoctoral associate in the robotics lab of associate professor Aaron Dollar, worked on a Londonbased interactive production of “Flatland.” Based on Edwin A. Abbott’s 1884 story of a two-dimensional world, the production took place

in an old church in London.

The sighted and visually impaired audience members were kept in complete darkness most of the time as they wandered through the space four at a time while a spoken narrative and sound effects told the story.

Guiding them through the darkness were handheld, shape-shifting cubes that Spiers designed and created with 3-D printing technology,

“The simple idea is that when you’ve arrived at your target destination, it becomes a little cube again,” said Spiers, who specializes in the field of haptics, the sense of touch.

Spiers thinks the Animotus has potential to guide pedestrians and hikers while allowing them to fully appreciate their surroundings.

“I’d like to try this out for the outdoors — hook it up to Google Maps and see what happens,” he said.

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The location that Bilco vacated on Water Street will be sold to developers of the mall in West Haven.

U.K.-based global manufacturer of scales and balances, Adam Equipment, has recently announced their planned move for their U.S. headquarters from Danbury to Oxford. On July 15th, both company officials and Oxford’s town leaders gathered in a groundbreaking ceremony held at the new site in Fox Hollow Industrial Park.

“We are delighted to welcome this company to its new home in our beautiful town,” Oxford First Selectman George Temple said.

President of Adam Equipment, Tom Storey, finds that the new location in Naugatuck Valley is beautiful, and meets all budgetary and logistical needs. In its close proximity to I-84, he says it’ll allow his company to streamline the shipping and receiving process.

The 21 employees are preparing for the move, which is currently slated for completion by the end

Adam Equipment, Oxford’s newest manufacturer makes a more than a dozen different types of scales from health to pallet scales.

of 2015. In the purchased 5.7acre plot of land at the corner of Fox Hollow and Jacks Hill roads, the new 29,300-square-foot preengineered structure will contain Adam Equipment’s office and warehouse.

Adam established its U.S. headquarters in New Milford in 1998, before moving its five employees in 2002 to the Danbury location, a 4,744-square-foot building on Commerce Drive, which was renovated and expanded in 2007, tripling the size of Adam’s building space to 11,000 square feet.

Adam Equipment designs and manufactures precision balances and scales for worldwide distribution in the laboratory, medical, education, industrial, food, animal/veterinary and jewelry markets.

Bilco Company’s New Headquarters Opens In New Haven Long-Planned Move To Vacate West Haven Waterfront Property Completed

The Marketplace

In earuly August, The Bilco Company, manufacturer of specialty access products, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to signify its official move from West Haven to New Haven where it was originally founded.

Complete Coverage in New Haven & Upper Fairfield Counties Once known for it’s

basement bulk heads, today Bilco manufactures The company now resides in the former There are approximately 22,000 companies and specialized access ways Starter Corporation headquarters at 370 customer’s around the organizations (including and government) James Street, a 42,240-sq. ft. four-story of- for non-profits world. fice complex building.

BilcoHaven leased County.

12,000- Approximately 9,000 New Have in New sq. ft. of office space. Bilco’s manufacturing County Companies have more than four employees and facilities are located in Zanesville, Ohio, and Trumann, Ark.

are the primary target of Business New Haven.

The location that Bilco vacated on Water Street will be sold to developers of the proposed outlet mall in West Haven. State and West Haven Additional Targeted Readers city officials worked with Bilco to find a location in West Haven, but to small companies with significant sales. were unsuccessful •inCirculation that search.

• Selective circulation to companies in Fairfield & Middlesex countie According to Senior Account Executive of Catalyst Marketing • Additional circulation to selected executives fromcomlarger companies Communications, Krysten D’Amato, its new location “suits the pany’s needs for the near future. There are 65 employees in New Haven, and at present time they are fully staffed to meet current needs.”

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s U l el T o d T t go Dea r o s F a e n nt W o e i m r o P S 19

HEALTH

Wade’s father is considered close to Malloy and the Post calls him a major Democratic fundraiser.

Thousands Of Obamacare Customers At Risk Of Losing Coverage Or Subsidies Lack of Documentation Cited As Reason

By Arielle Levin Becker More than 7,000 customers of Connecticut’s health insurance exchange must provide additional documentation to maintain their coverage or the tax credits that subsidize their premiums – a process that has already led to confusion and, in some cases, lost coverage or subsidies, exchange CEO Jim Wadleigh said recently.

By law, health insurance exchanges created under Obamacare must verify certain information about their customers, including citizenship or immigration status and income. In Connecticut, a contractor, Xerox, handles the process, but if the company is unable to verify information, customers must provide additional documentation within 90 days. If that doesn’t happen, their coverage or subsidies could be terminated.

Among the issues: Some customers have lost coverage and have only learned about it after going to the doctor or trying to fill a prescription. Wadleigh said the exchange has been hearing about 50 to 75 cases like this per week, and said the customers were terminated because

they did not send in the required information.

Customers have complained that they have sent in the requested documents but still receive notices that they need to submit information.

A backlog in processing documents submitted for verification actually led some customers to remain enrolled or receive subsidies longer than they qualified for, according to the state Department of Social Services, which jointly administers the eligibility system with Access Health. DSS said verifications are now caught up for documents submitted since March, but Wadleigh said there are still about 16,000 cases pending at Xerox.

There are currently more than 7,000 customers who have not submitted any of the documents needed for them to maintain coverage, Wadleigh said.

A recent survey of customers found that many do not read the mail they get from Access Health, he said.

For most of 2014, state and federally run exchanges did not cut off customers’ coverage, even if they didn’t provide proof of citizenship or immigration status, income or other information.

swallowing while feeding and may even have breathing issues. It currently affects 1 in every 2,500 to 3,500 babies.

CT Children’s Medical Center and HART Team Up In an agreement with Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology Inc. (HART), Connecticut Children’s Medical Center has entered into a pre-clinical collaboration to develop a process for repairing or replacing the esophagus to treat life-threatening conditions.

Such conditions include esophageal atresia (EA), a birth defect in which the esophagus, or gullet, would end in a blind-ended pouch without connecting to the stomach. If a baby is born with EA, indicated with a portion of the tube-like organ missing, he or she will have trouble 20

Dr. Christine Finck, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery at Connecticut Children’s, and her research team aim to focus on using the patient’s cells to repair or replace the esophagus. Using HART’s principles of regenerative medicine, Dr. Finck says the procedure has “shown significant potential.”

Jim McGorry, President and CEO of HART, says, “We are proud to continue and expand our collaboration with Connecticut Children’s Medical Center to develop new treatment options for children.”

Connecticut Children’s has 1,100 medical staff members in over 30 specialties; also serving as the primary teaching hospital for the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.

Access Health initially planned to begin terminating coverage of those whose information could not be verified – and who hadn’t provided documentation – last December, but delayed it because of concerns about causing confusion during the ongoing sign-up period for 2015 coverage.

Access Health began cutting off coverage for those who had not submitted documentation in February.

If a customer submits a document, Access Health’s system receives a notice that effectively puts the case in a safe harbor that prevents the person from having coverage or subsidies cut off until the document is processed, Wadleigh said.

To address problems related to the verification process, Access Health is hiring 10 additional staff to handle calls about lost coverage and discontinued subsidies, and is requiring customer service staff to work overtime and weekends to address customer issues as quickly as possible. The exchange has been working to reinstate coverage for those who called after finding it was cut off, Wadleigh said.

Starting in September, customers will receive robo calls from the exchange if they are within three to four weeks of having their coverage terminated because documents have not been submitted.

Edited and reprinted with permission from ctmirror.org

Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology Inc. is a biotechnology company that develops bioengineered organs for life-threatening conditions. Their set technology is initially focused on restoring function to the airway or esophagus for patients.

Anthem/Cigna Deal Has “Blue” Hurdles To Meet The Indianapolis Business Journal based in Anthem’s hometown reports a potential snag in the $54 billion purchase of Cigna by Anthem Insurance.

Anthem is the second largest healthcare insurer in the country and the Blue Cross, Blue Shield brand and network is a big part of that success.

Anthem uses the Blue Cross Blue Shield brand in fourteen states and the association requires that 80% of the company’s revenue in those states and 66% nationally must come through the “Blue” plans. In several states, by

incorporating the Cigna busi-

ness, the company will fall significantly under that threshold, according to the a report

by CRT Capital Group, which estimates that the combined revenue will only meet a 64% level.

In Connecticut, where Anthem is the state’s largest health plan, the revenue is just at the 80% level.

Anthem execs told the newspaper that they expect to make modifications to meet the targets, including switching some Cigna business to Anthem.

Anthem CEO Joe Swedish told investors in a newspaper conference call that Anthem has about three years before it must be in compliance, adding, “we are a Blue organization, and we will abide by those rules.”

Call For Wade To Step Away From Anthem Deal Some Say Former Cigna Exec May Not Be Best Suited To Weigh In On Merger Does Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Katherine Wade have a conflict of interest in reviewing the $48 billion Anthem Cigna Merger?

Some state legislators believe she does, like State Sen. Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, ranking member of the General Assembly’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee, who told the CT Post, “we should try to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. I would hope that she would be able to figure that out on her own.”

Wade is a former senior executive at Cigna and was appointed in March to the $160,000 a year political appointment.

Wade’s father is considered close to Malloy and the Post calls him a major Democratic fundraiser.

Wade’s husband is currently chief counsel for Cigna, and according to the Post, her mother is on the CIGNA payroll as well.

Wade has refused calls to recuse herself and has not ben generally available to the media on the subject.

Attorney General George Jepsen’s wife is also an executive at CIGNA and Jepsen has said he will not be directly involved in decisions regarding the merger.

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WHO’S WHAT WHERE

Robinson Oona Robinson has been named senior vice president, deputy chief financial officer and head of financial planning and analysis at Webster Bank. Robinson comes to Webster from Citigroup where she most recently was treasurer of its OneMain Financial subsidiary, Citi’s 1,100-branch consumer lending network. Robinson earned her MBA from Columbia University.

Hoffmann Architects, an architecture and engineering firm specializing in the rehabilitation of building exteriors, has promoted Erin L. Kesegi, AIA to Project Architect. Kesegi is a former Project Manager with the firm. Her recent projects include exterior envelope rehabilitation at the Yale University Art + Architecture Building (Rudolph Hall); Fairfield, Connecticut public schools; Traveler’s Plaza in Hartford; and the University of Connecticut Avery Point Library. She lives in New Haven, Connecticut.

The Devon Rotary Club awarded the Oliver Andrus Award this year to Greyson Schwing, owner of Antelope Web, a local online marketing and web design company located in Milford. Schwing currently serves on Devon Rotary’s Board of Directors as the Club Service Director, handles the club’s press and media exposure, and oversees Devon Rotary’s monthly service at BethEl Shelter’s soup kitchen.

This annual award is presented to Schwing for being the club’s choice for “Rotarian of the Year” and is recognition for exceptional service.

Michael Szekeres joined Webster Bank as senior vice president, director of August 2015

infrastructure technology.

Szekeres is responsible for all elements of infrastructure across the bank, and shared infrastructure with HSA Bank. Previously, he worked for De Lage Landen, a Philadelphia financial leasing company, where he was director of infrastructure strategy and development. A graduate of Penn State University, Szekeres is based in New Britain.

Tisdale Preston C. Tisdale of Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder has been named to the board of directors of the Public Justice Foundation.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Public Justice is involved in civil rights cases, anti-bullying campaigns, food safety, health, and the environment, and consumers’ and workers’ rights.

Tisdale received his Juris Doctorate at the New York University School of Law and was admitted to the bar in 1980. Previously, he was on the board of the Center for Children’s Advocacy. He is a past Chair of Connecticut’s largest YMCA, the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA and a Past President of the Ralphola Taylor Community Center - YMCA. Secretary of the State, Denise Merrill named attorney and longtime Connecticut League of Women Voters leader Christine Horrigan of Litchfield as the new election monitor for Hartford.

This is a new position created by the General Assembly in June 2015.

Horrigan’s role will be to ensure that the election is properly managed in compliance with the law.

Horrigan has been an attorney in Connecticut for

more than 25 years, including nearly eight years as a volunteer election law and campaign finance specialist for the Connecticut League of Women Voters from 2004-2011. Horrigan is a certified election moderator.

The Kennedy Center elected new officers and six new board members.

The following officers are serving on the Board of Directors: Daniel Long of Cheshire, Chair, Senior Vice President and Chief Experience Officer of Newtown Savings Bank; Michele Macauda of Monroe, Vice Chair, recently retired from AT&T as the Senior Vice President for Business & Network Solutions IT; Michael Lynch of Stratford, Treasurer, who is a Senior Financial Planner at Barnum Wealth Management, an office of MetLife in Shelton; and Mary G. Brown of Bridgeport, Secretary, who is a retired Bridgeport Central High School mathematics teacher. Six area professionals starting new three-year terms include: Kwamie Dunbar, Ph.D., Assistant Dean and Professor of Finance in the Welch College of Business at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield; Peter Gavey of Fairfield, a general partner of Goodnow Investment Group; Robert Lesko of Shelton, managing partner at DiMatteo GroupInsurance, LLC; Herb Moorin, Esq. of Fairfield, a member of the law firm of Pullman & Comley; Ben Strong of Trumbull, the Director of Marketing for the Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System (Amver) international search and rescue program for the United States Coast Guard in New York City; and Diane Thompson of Sandy Hook,

Kern

the co-owner of Wolfman Productions, Inc. Cindy Kern of North Haven has been named visiting assistant professor of education and director of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Science Teaching and Learning at Quinnipiac University.

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Center for Science Teaching and Learning is a network of scientists, engineers and educators collaborating to advance the art of science, technology, engineering and math education from kindergarten to the university level.

Kern earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary science education, a master’s degree in curriculum instruction in secondary science education, and a doctoral degree in science education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She taught science for 16 years, earning a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, while also serving as an adjunct science professor at UNLV.

Hoffnung Michele Hoffnung of Hamden, professor emeritus of psychology at Quinnipiac University, has been selected to receive the Heritage Award from the American Psychological Association’s Society for the Psychology of Women.

The award is presented annually to one person in recognition of a career of significant contributions to teaching, mentoring and scholarship on the psychology of women.

Hoffnung, who served as director of women’s studies for two decades, earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Rutgers University’s Douglass College and

a doctorate degree in psychology from the University of Michigan.

Farmington Bank appointed Larry Bye as Residential Loan Specialist for the greater New Haven region. Bye will originate residential mortgages and help individuals with all their home loan needs including purchases and refinances, first-time homebuyer and more.

Most recently he served as Senior Mortgage Officer at Fidelity Mortgage Services, Inc. where he was the top loan originator for the last seven years. Bye received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Essex Savings Bank hired David Zuckerbraun as a Vice President and Trust Officer. Zuckerbraun joins the Essex Savings Bank Trust Department after 21 years of service with The Washington Trust Company, most recently as Vice President, Senior Fiduciary Officer. He received his B.A. from Union College and his J.D. from the Syracuse University College of Law. Judge James L. Lawlor, chairman of Waterbury Housing Authority and retired probate court administrator for the State of Connecticut, is the recipient of the Waterbury Regional Chamber’s 2015 Malcolm Baldrige Community Award.

Donald C. McPartland, Esq., a partner with Secor, Cassidy & McPartland, is recipient of the Waterbury Regional Chamber’s 2015 Leadership Award, and Susan Burton, employment consultant with Connect-Ability-BRS, is recipient of the Waterbury Regional Chamber’s 2015 Volunteer of the Year Award.

The Waterbury Development Corporation added two new members in 2015, Michael L. O’Connor, a regional president and director with Webster Bank and Mark Holtz, M.S., FACHE of Greater Waterbury Health Network. The WDC is the City of Waterbury’s designated economic and community develop-

Bye ment agency. O’Connor is the Webster Bank Regional President for the Waterbury market and Director of Corporate Real Estate. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree at High Point College and a Juris Doctorate at Ohio Northern University.

Holtz, MS, FACHE, is currently senior vice president and chief operating officer of the Greater Waterbury Health Network in Waterbury.

Frank C. Meyer will retire from the Board of Directors of Fifth Street Asset Management Inc., (NASDAQ:FSAM) (“FSAM”). The Board of Directors appointed Mark J. Gordon to the Audit Committee and David J. Anderson to the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee to fill the vacancies created

by Mr. Meyer’s retirement.

Additionally, Leonard M. Tannenbaum has been named Chairman of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

Mr. David Krechevsky of Wallingford has been named Waterbury Regional Chamber’s new director of public policy and economic development. A graduate of the University of Connecticut in Storrs with a B.A. in English, Krechevsky worked for several newspapers across Connecticut for more than 13 years, including the Journal Inquirer and the Connecticut Post.

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teChnOlOGY

“The Marcum Tech Top 40 is a showcase for exceptional ingenuity and drive” Comparison site electricityMatch. com expands Platform to Connecticut

The List Is In!

Utility Consumers Have New Tool for Rate-Shopping

Fastest Growing CT Tech Companies Ranked The Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) and Marcum LLP announced the 2015 Marcum Tech Top 40 list of the fastest growing tech companies.

The companies are highlighted across six categories: Manufacturing, Energy/ Environmental, Life Sciences, New Media/Internet/Telecom, IT Services, and Software. Finalists are both private and public companies but must have at least $3 million in annual revenue and growth in each of the past four years.

All forty companies will be recognized and the fastest grower in each category will be revealed on September 24 at Oakdale Theater in Wallingford.

There are companies from each county but Fairfield and New Haven Counties had the largest number on the list this year with 14 fi nalist companies each, followed by Hartford County with nine. Litchfield, Middlesex and New London Counties each contained one fi nalist.

Anthony P. Scillia, Marcum’s New England Partner-in-Charge, commented on the honorees “The Marcum Tech Top 40 is a showcase for the exceptional ingenuity and drive of Connecticut’s fastest growing technology companies.”

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2015 Marcum tech top 40 list by Industry Grouping

VLink, Inc., IT Services, South Windsor

Amphenol Corporation, Advanced Manufacturing, Wallingford APS Technology, Advanced Manufacturing, Wallingford Barnes Group Inc., Advanced Manufacturing, Bristol Dymax Corporation, Advanced Manufacturing, Torrington Harman International Industries, Inc., Advanced Manufacturing, Stamford Hexcel Corporation, Advanced Manufacturing, Stamford Lydall, Inc., Advanced Manufacturing, Manchester RBC Bearings INC, Advanced Manufacturing, Oxford Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc., Advanced Manufacturing, Stamford FuelCell Energy, Inc., Energy / Environmental / Green Technology, Danbury Proton OnSite, Energy / Environmental / Green Technology, Wallingford F3 Technology Partners, IT Services, West Hartford Gartner, Inc., IT Services, Stamford MResult Corporation, IT Services, Mystic SAI Systems International, Inc., IT Services, Shelton Southridge Technology Grp, LLC, IT Services, Brookfield The Network Support Co., IT Services, Danbury

Protein Sciences Corporation, Life Sciences, Meriden

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Life Sciences, Cheshire

Metrum Research Group, Life Sciences, Tariffville Bio-Med Devices, Life Sciences, Guilford Chief Executive Group, LLC, New Media / Internet / Telecom, Greenwich HealthPlanOne, LLC, New Media / Internet / Telecom, Trumbull iSend, LLC, New Media / Internet / Telecom, Middlebury M2 Media Group, New Media / Internet / Telecom, Stamford Priceline Group Inc., New Media / Internet / Telecom, Norwalk Reality Interactive, New Media / Internet / Telecom, Middletown

Data Breach at uConn Originated in China

Malware Detected, Although No Data Was Retrieved When the University of Connecticut’s School of Engineering discovered a malware-based security breach in March, not only did the cyberattack originate in China –the University’s official statement in July, printed in UConn Today, said the system penetration apparently occurred way back in September of 2013.

Vice Provost and Chief Information Officer Michael Mundrane detailed how the investigation revealed that “although the University has no direct evidence that data was exfiltrated, it is proceeding by notifying individuals with information that could have been compromised.”

UConn notified roughly 200 research sponsors in government and private industry and is working to determine how many individuals would require notification about a leak of personal information.

Plainville Approves streetlight Project With Wi-Fi Plainville’s Town Council has officially approved a project to upgrade their streetlights. The conversion is estimated to save $75,000 in costs per year.

Town Manager Robert Lee says 1400 streetlights will be converted from High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lighting fixtures to Light Emitting Diode (LED) fixtures. Of the 1400, 123 will have “Wi-Fi antennas that will allow for free Wi-Fi service, primarily in the business districts.

For the investment costs of around $470,000, the “payback” is 4-6 years. ” Lee says that the conversion will begin in September, and the completion is planned by “early November.”

ElectricityMatch.com will expand their service to help Connecticut utility consumers find “great electricity rates for their homes.”

Connecticut residents who are in the Eversource and United Illuminating (UI) service territories are eligible for using the service to find better electricity rates, companies using renewable energy sources to a greater degree. Customers use ElectricityMatch, to choose from “a variety of competitive fixed rate plans” that will allow them to lock an electricity rate from terms ranging from “six months to three years,” respectively. Some plans offer a free smart thermostat.

Site Founder Charlie Hewitt says, “We are excited to expand our consumer choice platform to the Connecticut electricity market. Connecticut consumers are savvy shoppers and want to compare electric offers from leading providers. We use our extensive experience in the market to find and present the best electricity plans. Only suppliers with an exemplary track record of delivering what they sell are presented on our platform.”

TVEyes Inc., New Media / Internet / Telecom, Fairfield Clarity Software Solutions, Inc., Software, Madison Continuity, Software, New Haven Core Informatics, Software, Branford Datto, Software, Norwalk Evariant, Software, Farmington Higher One Holdings, Inc., Software, New Haven, Insurity, Software, Hartford, Shoptech Software Corporation, Software, Glastonbury Square 9 Softworks, Software, New Haven SS&C Technologies, Software, Windsor Tangoe, Inc., Software, Orange

Comcast Offers 11,000 More WiFi hotspots in Ct Comcast is adding 11,000 WiFi hotspots throughout Connecticut. “Popular locations” include high traffic areas such as Park Road in West Hartford, Whalley Avenue in New Haven, and Main Street in Old Saybrook.

Xfinity customers can select the “xfinitywifi” access point on their mobile and portable device and enter their Comcast user name and password to be connected with any of the hotspots provided across the country.

Comcast currently offers over 10 million WiFi hotspots for their Xfinity Internet customers nationwide. The company reports users logging in 3.6 billion times so far this year – a 500 percent increase compared to prior years.

Mary McLaughlin, Senior Vice President of the Western New England Region based in Berlin says their customers “want to be connected wherever they go” with the increase in mobile devices.”

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