Business New Haven December 2014

DECEMBER 2014

www.ConnTact.com

$1.50 HEALTHCARE

T

he collapse of a major hospital merger bid has health executives worried and highlighted the role of the state regulators who are being blamed for scuttling the deal.

Tenet Heathcare Corp., a Texas-based, forprofit hospital chain, withdrew its bid on December 11 to buy Waterbury Hospital, Saint Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury, Bristol Hospital and the Eastern Connecticut Health Network, consisting of Vernon’s Rockville General Hospital and Manchester Memorial Hospital.

In a written statement, Tenet blamed

Connecticut’s “regulatory oversight,” specifi Continued on page 10

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Texas firm withdraws bit to buy four hospitals, blames regulators

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New Statehouse Leadership: Region’s Legislators At Top

Hospital Merger Bid Fails

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Looking for a new vision of healthcare insurance

Enter Your Events on www.ctcalendar.com

health insuance innovator glick seeks ways to navigate the challenges of obamacare.

WHO’S WHAT, WHERE

Steve Glick is the CEO of the Chamber insurance Trust. Two decades ago Glick organized Connecticut’s Chamber of Commence as a marketing channel for the state’s chambers to provide insurance primarily to small business in the state. Business New Haven has recognized Steve and his wife Sally Glick with it’s Innovation award as well as recognizing them as Healthcare Heroes. Glick has participated on numerous state healthcare groups and panels and hosted then President George Bush to a state healthcare forum event to help lobby Connecticut to allow Health Savings Accounts. Mitchell Young publisher of Business New Haven interviewed Glick on the impact of the Affordable Care Act on, his industry, healthcare and businesses in the state.

That sounds worse, who knows what the charge for an X-ray or any procedure before you get it?

You can ask for a summary of benefits, for a small business you have to be provided that by the carrier.

Here is where the rub is, the people that created these programs, these were well educated people that have never really had any work experience. They think of health insurance like buying a hotel room or an airfare on a website. Their vision of healthcare is that it is a commodity that can be easily purchased. There’s a mandate and you can buy it online, the first thing they promote on the Connecticut exchange is not the product but the (potential) subsidy.

*** We’re now in year two of the Affordable Care Act, how has this effected your company and the chamber’s network for selling insurance?

Do insurance agents help people buy from the exchange?

The premise we worked on all these years is the value of a working in partnership with a carrier and a distribution channel being the chamber of commerce business members, now it includes individuals.

What we try to do is channel the person in the direction that is right for them, the exchange for some it might be a solution.

If you don’t qualify for the subsidy you are far better off buying in the private market, because you are going to eliminate narrow networks and limited prescription formularies. I had a couple that went n the exchange last year, they bought it like airline tickets. They wound up saying Steve, in addition to the premium on the Exchange, I spent $12,000 out of pocket.

We had the concept where everyone works together with a trusted advisor, meaning an agent. Agents have years of experience and know how to navigate people within the system to help them with price, develop the right plan for them, bring them current with the law.

We’ve spent a lot of time on multiple health care exchanges trying to evaluate health plans and have found great difficulty in really understanding what was essentially for sale?

I’m on a committee to build healthcare literacy in the state and here’s a figure talked about, less than 13% the of the public have an understanding of the basic terms of healthcare. I asked the new president of the (Ken Lalime) the Connecticut exchange how much money was in the budget on educating the public on the basic terminology and direction. He said, december 2014

went for an x-ray, would you rather pay 30% of that expense (coinsurance) or $75(co-pay).

Prior to the looking at the exchanges we never really heard the term about insurance as “Out of Pocket”, now that seems to a defining characteristic?

zero they were planning on looking at this in 2016.

(wrongly) it is when people are tied together in a health plan.

What’s an example, you mean people don’t know what an HMO is?

I saw the term coinsurance on most of the plans on the website, I didn’t really know what it meant either, is a copayment and coinsurance the same thing?

I gave a talk at the Wooster Street Association, we had graduates with Yale masters degrees. I put together a little questionnaire, for example what is coinsurance? One very educated person said

No, but they have to each be evaluated to make a proper choice. Let’s says you

The history of healthcare in America has been primarily a limited deductible and simple co-payments. If you go back ten years ago you had people buying plans that had a $5 co-pay to see a primary care doctor. Maybe if you had a $1000 out of pocket exposure that was it.

Continued on page 8

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www.CONTACT.com

Editorial We’re Just Simple Folks We admit to being confused about the relative success of Connecticut’s health insurance exchange and the overall impact of the Affordable Care Act. First, we need to remind our readers that two years before Barack Obama began his candidacy we proposed Connecticut adopt an insurance mandate and support for those who couldn’t afford insurance.

We believed then and now that small businesses were paying too much of the state’s healthcare costs.

We are two years into Obamacare, and while the facts remain opaque as to who is signing up for no-cost Medicaid and for subsidized insurance in Connecticut and nationally, the numbers remain a fraction of the uninsured and supposedly uninsured.

We have to wonder if upending the nation’s healthcare system was needed or if a far simpler program would have been more effective and in keeping with the needs of Connecticut and the nation as a whole.

As discussed in our On the Record column (see page 3) we have also found that even the smartest folks can’t really figure out what the plans on the state’s health Insurance Exchange are or what’s in them.

Where does that leave the rest of us simple folk? In the hands of insurance company marketers.

Op-Ed

Enter Your Events on www.ctcalendar.com

Restarting Our Engines, Business New Haven 2.0

A

fter 21 years, Business New Haven Editor Michael Bingham has resigned from the company to pursue other interests. It is only fair to say Michael’s decision followed a difficult period between us relating to the management and future of the company and our publication efforts.

and we will look for technology to enhance that further.

Our eventual changes however, create a new opportunity for Business New Haven and our sister publication New Haven magazine to take a new look at our mission and our publications and how we serve our readers, the community and our customers.

WHO’S WHAT, WHERE

What the Frack?

The soon-to-be-socialist state of Vermont announced that the 42-year-old Vermont Yankee Nuclear power plant will be retired. State government officials there are hoping the energy and taxes will be replaced by natural gas power plants. Much of that gas and the prices that make it a cost-effective choice for Vermonters will come from natural gas wells in nearby Pennsylvania that use modern drilling technologies often called fracking.

Ironically and clearly hypocritically, Vermont has banned fracking in the state.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has just announced a ban on using new gas drilling technology throughout his state as well.

For us, like most small businesses, navigating Connecticut’s current economy creates its own unique challenges. The fact that many people believe print’s future is in doubt makes our challenges perhaps appear even greater.

What I see today are readers and advertisers that have joined us in creating unique, high-quality communities within our publications.

Our reader audiences and customers are among the most dynamic and creative in Connecticut.

Indeed, we see a growing community connection to our pubications, Mitchell Young is publisher of Business New Haven and New Haven magazine.

In the past two decades we’ve watched as New Haven and the region have zigzagged into a growing and vibrant community. Two decades ago, before we started up the first time, I heard from many in the business community that we shouldn’t use the words “New Haven” in our name if we wanted to succeed.

As we look out toward the next few years, it’s clear the path to progress for the city and the region will continue. We’re confident that the social media-inspired moniker “New Haven – the Greatest Small City in America” will take on more vitality and supporters as New Haven realizes its destiny.

As our company finds our new paths, one thing is certain: We’ll be seeking first to always better serve and help build greater New Haven. Above all, we won’t

Governor Cuomo has put his desire to build street cred with the far-left for a potential presidential run in 2016 or 2020 above clean air, water and a stronger economy for New York, the Northeast and the U.S. It is clear the positive impact new drilling gas and oil techniques are having on the U.S. economy, including rebuilding the once moribund manufacturing sector.

For the past several years, many environmentalists obsessed with carbon pollution have whispered support for nuclear energy. The disaster at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, has shut down those whispers.

Today, the only real option for America over the next 20 years to reduce pollution and carbon is to continue substituting natural gas for coal in power production and diesel fuels in transportation and heating.

More production will bring stable prices and supply, along with energy efficient co-generation. Expanded Natural Gas production will result in cleaner air and water, less carbon pollution and, as importantly, a healthier population.

Governor Cuomo and those that support the misguided anti-fracking ideology will have to address the alternative for the environment and the economy. If Cuomo keeps denying reality, he won’t find himself on that higher perch he is seeking. BNH

4

forgo my long-standing commitment to promoting education and economic development as the principal sources of the solutions we need in greater New Haven and Connecticut.

We also hope to be an even better critic when needed and a sometimes booster when appropriate.

While many in our industry have placed technology and new media trends as the first order of business, we will remain committed to the more basic values of service, independence and quality in all of our products no matter how we deliver them. We will continue to put New Haven first and your business first.

Growing and serving in these times requires your support as readers, contributors and customers as well. As our company and I start a new chapter, I reach out to all of you to continue – indeed to increase – your support for Business New Haven and New Haven magazine. Together we will continue to build a first-class forum to report, critique and support all our region’s businesses and community efforts.

Vol XX,I No.12 DECEMBER 2014

How to send a letter to the editor Publisher

Contributors

Mitchell Young

Mimi Friedman Jessica Giannone Felicia Hunter Melissa Nicefaro Priscilla Searles Karen Singer

Managing Editor Liese Klein

Graphics Manager Matthew Ford

Publisher’s Representative Gina Gazvoda Robin Ungaro

Photography Steve Blazo Priscilla Searles Assitant to the Publisher Amy Kulikowski

Business New Haven is a publication of Second Wind Media, Ltd., with offices at 20 Grand Avenue, New Haven, CT 06513. Telephone (203) 781-3480. Fax (203) 7813482. Subscriptions: $32 annually. Send name, address and ZIP code with payment.

Second Wind Media, Ltd., d/b/a Business New Haven, shall not be liable for failure to publish an ad or for typographical errors or errors in publication.

email: news@ conntact.com

Business New Haven welcomes letters to the editor pertaining to subjects covered in these pages.

Please e-mail to news@conntact.com, mail to letters, Business New Haven, 20 Grand Avenue, New Haven, CT 06513, or fax to 203-781-3482.

How to get your calendar event listed Mail to: calendar, Business New Haven, 20 Grand Avenue., New Haven 06513, fax to 203-781-3482 attention news@conntact.com. Deadline three weeks prior to the issue in which the listing is to appear.

Include: name of event, brief description, name of speaker, date, location including street address, time and cost (if any) and telephone number for further information.

Publisher reserves the right to refuse any advertising for any reason and to alter advertising copy or graphics deemed unacceptable for publication.

The entire contents of Business New Haven are copyright © 2014 by Second Wind Media, Ltd. No portion may be reproduced without written permission. of the publisher.

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MANUFACTURING UTILITIES

New Funds for Small Firms Governor announces $3.5 million program to pay for expertise and training

HARTFORD — Small manufacturing fi rms that could use help to hire experts, buy equipment or train employees can tap into a new matching grant voucher program under the Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Fund.

Gov. Malloy announced the $3.5 million pool on December 8 as part of efforts to boost fi rms in the aerospace, medical device, composite materials and digital manufacturing areas.

“Over the next few years, Connecticut’s small manufacturers are going to be asked to increase their production to meet the needs of larger companies,” Malloy said.

“The state is here to assist these companies in any way we can to ensure they are competitive and ready to meet the future demands.”

Funds can be used for accessing technical experts in universities, experts in strategic and tactical planning, tooling and/or modernization of manufacturing equipment, assistance with compliance and monitoring activities and education and training.

Manufacturers can apply for the grants online at the website of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, ctmvp.ccat.us.

DEEP Sees Electric Shocks Bills expected to rise over the next decade as capacity issues continues HARTFORD —Energy customers will see their electric bills rise steadily over the next decade as capacity issues worsen and nuclear plants shut down, according to a new report from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Connecticut electric utility bills are forecast to increase by 63 percent in the next 10 years, to 16 cents per kilowatt hour in 2024 from 9.8 cents per kilowatt hour now.

The report, released on December 11, predicted that higher demand and delivery limitations will continue to push natural gas prices higher. “This infrastructure challenge is expected to worsen as thousands of megawatts of non-gas power plants retire and are replaced with new gas generation,” the report stated.

On the positive side, energy efficiency efforts will nearly eliminate growth in electric consumption over the next decade. “This is significant progress compared to the 2012 [report], which projected an increase in consumption at approximately 1 percent per year and slightly higher growth rates for the annual peak load,” the report stated.

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ENTREPRENEURS UTILITIES

Residents Blast Power Plant Plan Oxford proposal derided for potential noise and pollution impact on neighboring towns OXFORD — Residents picketed a meeting of the Connecticut Siting Commission in New Britain on December 11 to protest a proposal to build a new power plant near the Oxford-Middlebury town line. The council set the hearing date of January 15 for the next step of the project.

Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) has proposed an 805-megawatt, natural gas-fi red power facility on 20 acres sin the Woodruff Hill industrial park. Oxford officials including the economic development director have spoken out in support of the plant. Oxford stands to gain $53 million dollars in tax revenue over 18 years if the project goes forward.

Plans for a power plant on the site have been under discussion for more than a decade, but a new effort to get the project going was unveiled in August. The state had already approved construction of a 500-megawatt facility, but CPV must get permission for increasing output and design changes.

Opponents of the plant have also collected 1,300 signatures at thepetitionsite.com as part of an effort to pressure public officials. Middlebury residents especially will be impacted by vibration, noise and air pollution during to the plant’s construction and operation, according to the opponents.

Student App Scores in Contest Fairfield entrepreneurs help Bollywood fans follow favorite films HAMDEN — A student team that created a mobile app to help Bollywood movie fans keep track of screenings and gossip won the Entrepreneurship Foundation’s 18th annual Connecticut Business Plan Competition on December 5. The Fairfield University team won $1,500 and $2,500 in free legal services.

Second place went to students from Quinnipiac University and University of Bridgeport students came in third.

A total of 12 student teams competed in the contest by preparing a business plan and defending their work in front of a panel of entrepreneurs and investors.

Judges question the students on their knowledge of their product, the market, competition, capital required to launch the venture and other issues.

Quinnipiac University hosted the competition, which is run by the Entrepreneurship Foundation Inc. and the Connecticut Consortium of Entrepreneurship Educators.

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TRANSPORTATION

All Aboard for Rail Improvements Expanded train service up the I-91 Corridor to Springfield getting ready to roll

By Liese Klein Travelers looking for alternatives to Interstate 91 for trips north will benefit from improved Amtrak train service planned on the New Haven-HartfordSpringfield line.

Railroad and city VIPs gathered on December 9 at New Haven’s Union Station to announce more than $365 million worth of work that will increase the number of trains from New Haven to Springfield to 16 trains a day, up from the current six.

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts and U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of New Haven worked together to secure the federal funding for improvements on the 62-mile line. The pair and a cluster of local leaders traveled between the two cities by rail as part of a tour showing off ongoing improvements along the route.

Work on tracks, bridges and culverts is expected to be completed by late 2016.

More than $73 million in federal stimulus funds have been spent since 2009 to improve the regional rail line, which runs parallel to Interstate 91. Connecticut

DECEMBER 2014

towns including Enfield, Wallingford and Meriden are renovating their stations and improving nearby areas to attract business.

Even as plans moved forward for track improvements, an ambitious effort overhaul New Haven’s Union Station transit hub has been called into question due to financial concerns. A 2013 plan for the station urged the building of larger retail bays and more passenger seating/ waiting areas. But state Transportation Commissioner James Redeker told reporters in December that the proposal was too expensive.

A lack of parking remains a concern at the station, which sees an average of 11,000 passengers a day, many on their way to New York. The on-site garages often fill up completely by 8:30 a.m.

Construction is under way at Hartford’s rail station on an approach area from Spruce Street and a new indoor waiting area for bus riders. Other upgrades include improved heating, lighting and security along with a bus layover area and bike parking areas. The Hartford station’s 80,000 square feet of retail and

office space is 100 percent occupied by tenants including Peter Pan Bus Lines, Capital Workforce Partners and Subway.

In Springfield, the city council in December approved $3.2 million toward a nearly $80 million rehab for that city’s Union Station. The project will improve

the facility and add 122 more parking spaces and office space for lease.

Springfield’s funds come as part of a deal with MGM Resorts International, slated to open an $800 million casino in the city in 2017.

7

Insurance Continued from page 3

So why have things moved to this kind of out of pocket, people weren’t typically choosing to be out $12,000 of expense and pay premiums?

The state of Connecticut had mandated very low deductibles in the last ten years.

When we asked President Bush to come here it was so we could lobby for higher deductibles so we could have HSA plans (Health Savings Accounts).

Now they have created many of these new plans with very high out of pocket expenses, we never had $6500 (per person max in 2015).

Without professional assistance aren’t people just going to pick their insurance by brand?

Anthem last year on the Exchange had 75% or so, I would say they bought the brand.

Ten years or so ago Connecticut ten or twelve health insurance providers in the past few years it seemed whittled down to less than half, now we seee some new entrants, Harvard Pilgrim, Healthy CT, Health New England?

Health New England is only in the Medicare market. Harvard Pilgrim considers themselves a New England company, the president and vice president, knew Connecticut and had some executives that had been working here. Harvard Pilgrim

8

is not in the exchange though, they may not want to go in the exchange.

At first the carriers were against the Affordable Care Act, now they are for it.

We just talked about high deductible plans.

The government is paying fifty percent of the cost and the insurance companies exposure is further minimized by the higher deductibles. People are paying lower premiums but they are also getting plans with higher out of pocket exposures.

How are agents effected by all the changes?

The dabblers are out, it is too complicated.

You have to take the time to educate yourself on multiple levels. Those are the ones that will prosper, they are good fact finders and are working a consultative basis and can analyze the proper objective of the clients. It’s not just the exchange or the private market, in some solution they’ll (recommend) use both solutions.

Can a company buy on the exchange still on a tax deductible basis for some of their employees?

Many small companies are looking at switching to individual coverage. It is expected more and smaller company employees will buy individual coverage. The employee can’t buy it and have you pay for it (pre-tax), then it would misconstrued as group insurance and there are certain laws like Erisa requirements that would be in effect if their was an audit etc.

You can do it, but this is the twist you have to follow a certain procedure There is a process (allowing a pre-tax payments to

the employees for their non-group coverage), but most employers are not doing it the right way.

When we work with this, we work with their accountants, who mostly don’t understand this yet how to execute it. If they go to their legal counsel many don’t understand yet either.

But the outcome is that it allows some employees that qualify to also get subsidy from the government?

There is a lot of stuff going out that an employer can’t (pay for this). It goes back to the issue of education, advisory people have to understand the law. You also need some kind of digital type of service to make it a simple process.

Here’s what got us to call for the interview in the first place, we had a very rich benefit plan in place, relatively low deductibles etc. But that plan was called non-compliant with the ACA? The proposal for the insurance company to replace it was with much higher out of pockets and lower premiums. Why wouldn’t a solid a plan like ours be compliant?

There are some companies that had a position to transition to these crazy plans where you would have three visits with a co-payment and you would have a high deductible, it is a way of cleaning out the unhealthy and to get people looked at the

(premium) price rather than, the potential total cost..

The plans have to have what are called essential benefits, you had maternity in your plan. Now you had to add several benefits for children under the age of nineteen, dental wellness coverage for free, eye exams for children under nineteen for free, they had to enhance the mental illness substance abuse.

We always hear that the ACA was modeled after Massachusetts, but isn’t true Massachusetts didn’t have these benefit packages required?

No they turned that upside down. The Massachusetts (approach) was for a minimum size business it was only really focusing on the uninsured.

So are there problems with the numbers we have heard with the sign-ups?

The statistics are online, but the percentage they lost (from last year’s sign-ups) twenty percent for non-payment, or people didn’t disclose their proper income, ore were not really citizens, now they are trying to clean house.

CBIA (Connecticut Business and Industry Association) has their own private exchange where an a company’s employee can go and choose from more than one plan?

Www.Conntact.com

Yes, they have been a private exchange since their inception, it was a brilliant move on their part. They have to be respected for their insight, they were one of the few in the country.

Private exchanges will enhance themselves, but, there are no subsidies, if you want the subsidy you have to go through the federal government exchange.

The average business person is in a state of confusion, he wants to spend his time running his business not learning about healthcare reform. There are so many changes and interpretations, you can say certain things on Wednesday and on Friday the government changes it to something else. There are no fi nal decisions we’re evolving, in healthcare today.

But a private exchange can offer their employees plans from (multiple) carriers and design plans, from any of the carriers, if you want a better plan you can pay the difference. For large businesses especially they believe the choice is a good thing.

A private business owner says, I want the best plan at the least possible cost other than that I just want to run my business, but now we have all these other factors.

You will see in 2015 and beyond more private exchanges.

In theory the those designing the ACA say they wanted to take power away

from the insurance companies, but it seems they have more power now?

whether you were with a company of ten or fewer (employees).

Initially they (the insurance industry) were opposed, now they are allies, now they can make more money and get a free ride on payments (subsidies). Initially they were thinking of the best interest of the business community, now they’re thinking of their own best interest.

Basically the groups now are fi fty and under with the same rating structure and it will be eventually 100 and under. But what they did to add cost is that before you had single, or two person or a family rate.

The family rate gad tge same price if you had two kids or five.

Before the reform Connecticut law was had that any group with two or more employers couldn’t be denied coverage, was that a standard around the country?

The family rate is much higher that than it was in the past. I was just working with a Jewish private school where (where there are many families with many kids) the rate for the school went up 45% from last year because of the (number of )kid’s issue.

Now some of the families are going to the Exchange and getting free coverage.

That’s true for Connecticut but you paid more money per unit cost depending on

We’ve always thought that the problems in Healthcare was that we as a society was simply too unhealthy. Is there anything that is happening now to change that?

That’s the intent, the system of reimbursement is being changed as we speak. The technology advancement has helped add some control of health care costs but also to better manage your health by keeping an (electronic) record of your health.

We’re seeing a lot of consolidation with hospitals buying medical practices is that going to drive down costs or will fewer players have more pricing power?

We’re creating these oligopolies, the bottom line is we’re eliminating competition.

There are some that think that rather than getting these big networks we should have more private enterprise consolidation, that have more entrepreneurial direction and have more of them.

Is this consolidation a function of government or the marketplace, did we see this in what’s considered the prototype of Romneycare?

The direction of this was created by the Affordable Care Act. The progressive élites have created (with ACA) a lot of visions and thoughts and experimentation out there.

Romneycare is nothing to do with what we have, here, he never had taxing medical equipment, they never thought about medical homes (tracking within a doctor’s office of patient care electronically), never expanded the whole digital marketplace.

For the first time on our bills a is tax listed for the Affordable Care Act, and it is a good bit of money, but we’re not in the exchange, what is the source of that?

Part of he ACA is that the private (for profit) insurance carriers have to pay for the Affordable Care Act, they are passing it on to you. The non-profit insurers are not mandated to pay the tax, HealthyCT for example or Harvard Pilgrim don’t pay the tax.

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What is happening in the private insurance market?

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HOSPITAL MERGER

They They Help, They Care, Heal, They Help, They Care, They Save Lives...

They Heal, They Save They Lives...

They Help, Care, It’s Time It’sSave TimeLives...

They To Say Thanks!

To Say It’sThanks!

Time hey Heal,

Continued from page 1

cally the multiple conditions on the fi rm’s fi rst bid, to buy Waterbury Hospital.

Attorney General George Jepsen approved Tenet’s deal with 21 conditions, but approval by the Office of Health Care Access (OHCA) hinged on 47 conditions relating to staffi ng and services.

To Say Thanks!

Presented By:

“The extensive list of proposed conditions to be imposed on the Waterbury Hospital transaction, which is only the fi rst of four transactions for which we’ve made applications, has led us to conclude that the approach to regulatory oversight in Connecticut would not enable Tenet to operate the hospitals successfully for the benefit of all stakeholders,” the company said.

Tenet and its predecessor company and worked for two years to put together a bid for the hospitals. But state conditions, including a proposed five-year ban on cuts to staff and services, made the deal untenable, representatives said.

Help, They Care, Save Lives...

Nominate Healthcare It’s Time Say Thanks!

Awards Categories Presented By:

Presented By:

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Tenet had planned to run both Waterbury hospitals as part of one system and had Nominate Your For more information and to nominate indicated some duplicative staff and serHealthcare vices would have to be trimmed.

Publication Hero visit www.conntact.com/hcheroe.htm For more information and to nominate January 2014 Healthcare employee unions, groups like visit www.conntact.com/hcheroe.htm

Awards Categories

Universal Health Care Foundation and state Democratic leaders had spoken For Event more information Corporate Achievement Volunteers of the Year Awards Categories Education Award Advancements in Healthcare up in support of the state’s conditions as Corporate Achievement Volunteers of the Year February visit www.conntact.com/hcheroe.htm –2014 Corporate Community Service Education Award Advancements in Healthcare necessary to preserve jobs and patient – Corporate Advancements – Corporate in Healthcare services.

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Super nurse Ingrid — on the job and Crocco makes Nurse off the world of the Year Ingrid Crocco a better place Yale

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In 2005, these famili time — Crocco was amon to be part es allowed us and 300 recipi g a Night ents to receiv moment of a life-altering e ingale Awar for them.

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“If the Office of Health Care Access and the Attorney General decide to approve this sale, it should be with protections ensuring the preservation of good jobs, commitment to hiring locally and community access to essential services,” Padilla said.

Waterbury Hospital President and CEO Darlene Stromstad told the Hartford Courant that in the wake of the failed merger, the hospital would restrict spending and capital expenses and consider cutting outpatient hours. Layoffs may come early next year.

Waterbury Hospital alone predicts that it will lose $10 million next year and has estimated it needs at least $50 million in capital improvements to compete.

Meanwhile, new data released by the OHCA shows that Connecticut hospitals are suffering declines in revenue from operations even as investment gains bolster their balance sheets.

Statewide, seven health systems had negative total margins in Fiscal Year 2013 (the most recent data available), up from only four systems in the red in FY 2012.

“A robust fi nancial picture should rely more on patient and other operating revenues and not on a less than reliable income source, such as investment performance,” the OHCA report stated.

For-profit hospital takeovers offer few benefits for state health consumers, Universal Health Care Foundation

– Corporate

Community Service – Individual Physician of the Year

Nurse of the Year Nominate Your Researcher of the Year Healthcare Hero

For more information and to nominate mryoung@conntact.com NY DECAR

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s a charg e nurse Haven Hospital at Yale-New M. Crocc (YNHH), says. “My rooms, o overs Ingrid “orchestrat ees 20 veterinarianfirst passion operating staffing” was to .” and assuriing scheduling be a for befor and She chang and weeke e, durin ng patients are g and after cared sophomoreed her mind durin On her child and nd shifts, Crocc surgery. “vacations, g her continued o had shepherd year, when far-flung 2005, when ” Crocc a Germ injured as a part-t another corne o travel an her pet she was teams perfo rs of the imer until opening “I could s to poodle. chose planet for an n’t rming to victims operating n to fill an nurse. what was imagine how and childr surgery on burnassist I room charg palates she recall wrong with an could figure out “She e and other en with cleft s. It was injured was just She has facial defor lips, cleft caring animal,” Ena then she a natur visited for al candi Willia mities.

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For more information or to nominate. email Publisher Mitchell Young at mryoung@conntact.com

Conditions imposed by Attorney General Jepsen and Connecticut’s Office of Healthcare Access put the kibosh on Tenet Healthcare’s purchase in partnership with Yale New Haven Hospital of Waterbury Hospital and four other hospitals in northern Connecticut.

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Raise a Glass to Westville New Haven’s Westville business community, recently dealt blows by a bank closing and the catastrophic fire that destroyed Delaney’s Taproom, got some good news from the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals in December.

The restored Lyric Hall performance space at 827 Whalley Avenue was given the goahead to seek a tavern license that would allow serving of wine and beer. The 60-seat theater hopes to serve booze three to four times a week during its events, which include musical revues, book signings and film screenings.

Owner John Cavaliere sought the board’s OK in an effort to build his business in the face of higher taxes and ongoing expenses from a 2011 flash flood.

The approval was a welcome bit of good news for the neighborhood, which is slated to see its branch of First Niagara Bank close on January 31. Anchor business Delaney’s was demolished after a major fire on August 25, leaving an empty, vacant lot at the center of the commercial district.

City leaders have promised to fight the bank closing and keep Westville’s post office open in the face of closure threats.

Historic Ship Docks in Mystic

The Mayflower replica Mayflower II has set sail from Plymouth, Mass., to Mystic Seaport for renovation, a project expected to take six months.

The 106-foot-long, 57-year-old ship, owned by the Plimouth Plantation living museum, is being pulled by a tugboat. If the repairs go as scheduled, the Mayflower II will be back in Plymouth by May for the summer tourist season.

FuelCell’s first commercial installation was in 2003; now it has customers in nine states.

Direct FuelCell power plants are generating power at more than 50 locations worldwide.

The company’s power plants use a variety of fuels including clean natural gas as well as renewable biogas from wastewater treatment and food processing plants.

Docs Plan Joint Future Hamden-based Connecticut Orthopaedic Specialists, PC (COS) with nine locations and more than 30 physicians, and New Haven-based The Orthopaedic Group (TOG), with eight physicians and four locations, have announced a merger.

“What we have done here is develop a unique model for the delivery of orthopedic care in this region,” said Glenn Elia, the CEO of COS. “With more than 40 musculoskeletal specialists, 17 neighborhood locations and multiple walk-in care centers, we can deliver a higher level of patient care and convenience than ever before.”

COS will be opening a new flagship office at 9 Washington Avenue in Hamden.

In addition to its main facilities, the merged practice will now staff 12 in-house physical therapy facilities, three OrthoNOW orthopedic walk-in centers, bone density testing, two MRI centers providing in-house diagnostic testing and its own surgical center.

Patients will also have access to a new electronic medical records system and a tabletbased check-in system.

The merger reflects how some orthopedic practices are adapting to a changing health care landscape. Among other shifts in the marketplace, Yale-New Haven Hospital plans to open a new musculoskeletal center at its Hospital of Saint Raphael campus.

Slated to open by 2017, Yale’s facility is being planned as a destination center on the model of Smilow Cancer Hospital.

Seaport officials have said it could return to Mystic for additional work over the next two winters to get it in shape to sail in 2020, the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ arrival.

Engineering More Success for UNH

The square-rigged vessel sports four masts with a total of six sails and had a supporting role in the Emmy-nominated PBS series Colonial House and the film The New World.

An anonymous donor has given $2 million to the University of New Haven to establish an endowed scholarship fund for graduate students pursuing degrees in engineering.

3 Billion Kilowatts Served

Danbury-based FuelCell Energy Inc. (Nasdaq:FCEL) announced that it has reached a milestone by generating 3 billion kilowatt-hours of fuel cell power.

The company reports that the clean power generated by fuel cells has eliminated the production of more than 25,000 tons of pollutants and 1.9 million tons of carbon dioxide.

DECEMBER 2014

It is the largest scholarship gift in the university’s history.

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Competition Heats up in Grocery Game

By Liese Klein

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t could have been the scene at the launch of a new iPhone or “Hunger Games” movie: A dozen or so people clustered in front of a business excitedly discussing what they were about to get. But rather than the latest gadget, this crowd was energized for deals on chicken nuggets and paper plates, awaiting the grand opening of new Aldi supermarket in Derby on a recent snowy December morning.

“Happy shopping!” Derby Mayor Anita Dugatto said as the store’s ribbon was cut. The rush was on as the store gradually filled with curious customers.

Inside the new Aldi you could find bulk bags of beans, boxes of organic soup and unpacked crates of gluten-free crackers, the eclectic product mix and no-frills presentation that represent one vision of the future of food retailing, experts say.

“You’re going to see more Aldis come in to New England,” said Mike Berger, senior editor at The Griffin Report of Food Marketing, a regional grocery trade publication. “I think this is the first wave, They’ve done well in the regions they’ve been in… the discount [stores] like Aldi, Shoprite, PriceRite are finding some good popularity.”

Aldi, a discount grocery conglomerate headquartered in Germany, has opened 22 stores in Connecticut since 2007,

ACCELERATE YOUR STUDIES said Bruce Persohn, vice president of the regional division. The chain expects to open at least six to 10 more stores a year in New England as part of its U.S. expansion plans.

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The company’s regional headquarters and a 482,000-square-foot distribution center are located in South Windsor.

The Aldi experience combines elements of traditional grocers like Stop & Shop with the methods of warehouse stores and specialty markets like Trader Joe’s, also owned by Aldi’s German parent company. Products are crammed into narrow aisles in the compact stores, often displayed in their packing boxes.

Customers bring their own bags and pack them themselves. Selection is relatively limited and usually spans several price points. Store brands are everywhere and quirky offerings like German Christmas cookies are sprinkled into the mix.

You’ll find generic products at low prices, like a gallon of milk for $2.99 and a 24-ounce jar of pasta sauce for 99 cents. But you can also choose from an array of organic and gourmet products, like lobster tails, fair-trade coffee and organic grass-fed beef. Thrown in for good measure are products like car mats, slow cookers and power tools.

The chain also prominently displays its

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Customers appreciate the low prices and product range, Persohn said, as well as the consistent pricing. Sales are de-emphasized at the stores in favor of ongoing “special buys.” “It’s a very simplistic model,” he said. “People appreciate the high quality and that they don’t have to clip coupons.”

With the expanding range of choice for consumers, traditional grocery powerhouses like Stop & Shop are going to have to compete on price and quality, Berger said. “The big chains are going to be closing underperforming stores.

It’s going to come down to what they offer, their prices, how they differentiate themselves from competitors.”

Increased competition from discounters like Aldi is already threatening margins

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at traditional big grocers. Stop & Shop owner Royal Ahold forecast slow growth in a recent earnings statement, blaming competition on the East Coast and investment on online services.

One bright spot was Web-based sales, which Ahold predicted will jump 79 percent by 2017 as online delivery services like Stop & Shop’s Peapod grow into new regions and expand their product lines.

With gas prices down and the economy improving, more shoppers are making room in their carts for food from high-end grocers like Whole Foods, which saw a jump in its sales in the last fiscal year. The Texas-based chain posted record sales of $14.2 billion last FY, a 10 percent increase from the previous FY, while adding 38 new stores nationwide.

Rebounding after years of poor results, Whole Foods has announced plans for national ad campaigns, expanded grocery delivery and a customer reward program, along with more aggressive pricing. The chain currently has six stores in Southern Connecticut, although the nearest outlet “in development” is in New Jersey, according to the Whole Foods website.

At the more specialized end of the market, smaller stores like New Haven’s Elm City Market have struggled to hold on in urban centers.

The market, organized as a member cooperative, owed $3.6 million to Webster Bank and $500,000 to its landlord when it was auctioned off this fall to a company formed by a local philanthropist specifically to rescue it. The current store is no longer a cooperative, but managers say it will remain open at 360 State Street and retain most of its 70-plus employees in the city.

A new player on the Connecticut food retailing horizon might be Market Basket, a Massachusetts chain that has bounced back from an employee strike and management crisis and is in aggressive expansion mode, Berger said.

An employee strike at the chain brought on by a bitter fight between executives (who are also family members) crippled stores for months this summer.

CEO Arthur T. DeMoulas is back at the helm of the company and has opened three new stores in recent months in the Boston area.

Known for its low prices and dedicated employees, Market Basket currently operates 74 stores in three states: Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

“They’re going to be expanding,” Berger said. “If they come to Connecticut, that wouldn’t be surprising.”

But the biggest company poised to make a major play in the food retailing space is Amazon.com, which is planning to roll out grocery delivery in more cities this year. AmazonFresh already drops food off at customers’ homes in parts of Washington State and California and has recently moved into Philadelphia and Brooklyn.

AmazonFresh promises free, same-day delivery on orders over $35 and allows user to shop from the site or their phones. Basic groceries along with prepared food from restaurants and specialty foods are available with the service, which has traditional grocers worried, Berger said.

“Amazon is a new factor in the industry,” Berger said.

“There are so many new venues for food, I don’t think there’s going to be room for everybody.”

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Fresh Leadership to Focus on Business in Hartford

By Liese Klein

T

he New Year brings new leadership to the state Legislature in Hartford, along with a new spotlight on the budget and business issues.

Lawmakers from New Haven County have taken the top two Republican leadership posts: Len Fasano of North Haven was elected State Senate minority leader and the new House Minority leader is Rep. Themis Klarides of Derby.

Fasano and Klarides united in December to call for a special session of the General Assembly to balance the budget in the teeth of a projected $99 million shortfall in the 2014 budget of $19 billion. The majority rejected the special session; Republicans don’t have enough votes to force the issue at present.

Gov. Malloy’s estimates of the deficit are suspect as well, the GOP leaders said. The governor’s numbers did not add in jumps in retiree and employee healthcare costs and the price tag for expanded autism care, among other costs.

“When you factor in all these expenses,” the potential deficit grows to $198.3 million, exceeding 1 percent of the budget. We cannot reach a solution and properly address the true severity of our current problem unless we sit down together and work across the aisle to change course,” Fasano and Klarides said in a statement.

Fasano has taken an active role in his first months in the leadership, conducting multiple media interviews and taking new State Senate committee posts.

He becomes ranking member of the Legislative Management Committee, along with seats on the Executive & Legislative Nominations, Internship and Planning & Development committees.

New Haven’s Martin Looney was chosen by Democrats as the next State Senate President Pro Tempore, with Sen. Bob Duff of Norwalk tapped as Democratic majority leader.

The new leadership will be working with some familiar faces: Gov. Malloy announced on December 18

Representative Themis Klarides of Derby is the new Republican Minority leader in Connecticut’s House Of Representatives..

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6 that Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Catherine Smith and Department of Revenue Services Commissioner Kevin B. Sullivan would serve again in his second term, along with budget director Benjamin Barnes.

Smith, who first took the helm on economic development in 2011, is tasked with helping to draw new companies to the state and retain and grow existing firms.

Republicans are hoping for heightened visibility in the wake of a close race for governor and the pickup of 11 seats in the State Assembly.

The GOP gained one State Senate seat in the November election, although hopes had been high for a five-seat gain. But in the House, Republicans picked up 10 seats in 2014 for their strongest bench in 20 years and a 27-seat gain over the three elections.

Outgoing CBIA president Rathgeber says “Connecticut is at an economic crossroads.”

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Legislators this year have a strong understanding of the concerns of voters about Connecticut’s economy, deficit and jobs, said John Rathgeber outgoing president of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA).

More than 100 state candidates toured

businesses as part of CBIA’s election efforts, he said.

“Many of those candidates understand that Connecticut is at an economic crossroads, and that we really have to improve our business climate to encourage the kinds of investments we need to have a successful state going forward,” Rathgeber said. “We were more active than in past years.”

A major focus of the CBIA’s work in 2014 was the CT20x17 campaign, an effort to make the state one of the top 20 in the nation for job creation and economic growth. The group made sure political candidates got the message through events, informational materials, banners and lawn signs.

“We see it as a race to the top, not to the bottom,” Rathgeber said. “We’re trying to ensure investment, not disinvestment. It’s time to make sure we keep the message up and we keep people accountable so they’re going to take action on pieces of legislation.”

The election of an aggressively pro-business governor in neighboring Rhode Island should be a wake-up call to legislators, Rathgeber added.

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“Part of our message is that other states aren’t standing still. The new governor in Rhode Island has said that her first priority is moving Rhode Island’s national reputation for business climate up… she’s going to look at every piece of legislation and ask, ‘does it create jobs.’ That’s next door.”

Issues for the 2015 legislative session that CBIA is taking an interest in:

The state budget: “We cannot continue to have these frequent budget deficits and threats of new tax increases,” Rathgeber said.

“We’ve got to start to lean government services; we’ve got to reduce the cost of delivering services. We’re not talking about rolling back support for public education but that support has to be done efficiently and targeted at things that actually improve performance.

It means making Connecticut more focused on outcomes.”

Mandates: Business advocates are keeping an eye on two legislative task forces in Hartford looking at potentially costly new mandates. One would require employers to help their employees participate in an IRA-style retirement plan or face potential state penalties. A second group is crafting a new program that would pay employees out on family and medical leave.

Worker preparedness: “We need to continue to nurture a first-class workforce,” Rathgeber said.

Shortages in key areas need to be address and the state needs to do a better job attracting young talent.

What can the business community do to push forward its agenda?

Talk to your friends and colleagues and approach your legislators in person, Rathgeber advises.

“These people are actually in your neighborhood, they’re in the stores next to you. You know them, so speak up and they’ll respond.”

Looking ahead to his retirement from CBIA at the end of January, Rathgeber said he’s optimistic about the state’s economic climate going forward.

“Meeting a lot of business leaders around the state and visiting a lot of companies, I know the innovation and the productivity that continues to drive this economy,” Rathgeber said . “It’s not like we have to reinvent an economy – we have a great foundation here. We just have to nurture it and get things right. If we do that we can unlock the willingness of these companies to invest here and to grow here.

Republican Senator Len Fasano of North Haven was elected Minority Leader for Connecticut’s State Senate.

“We’re at a crossroads. If we continue to do things as we have done – to put a Band-Aid on fiscal policy issues and think that we can continue to raise taxes without driving wealth outside the state – then we’re going to screw it up.”

Transportation: Upgrades are needed to the state’s airports, seaports, railways and highways.

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New Haven’s Martin Looney was chosen by Democrats as the next State Senate President Pro Tempore.

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REALESTATE The fourth annual Startup Weekend New Haven – the event in which hopeful innovators work in groups over 54 hours from Friday night to Sunday night to create a minimum viable product and present it to a panel of judges – saw the top prize going to a web portal aimed at pairing genomics laboratories with much-needed research scientists.

“I needed this today, yesterday, last week. I really would use this,” he said, while offering a critique shared by other judges that the team needs to ensure quality control of the competing scientists using the site. “I’m going to publish these results and my name is on the paper; you guys aren’t necessarily the ones who are on the line. How do I know I’ll get high quality?”

Stanton said the site would have a feedback system and monitor user credentials to ensure each scientist is a worthwhile candidate. Judges also wondered if the bid process was the best route, since labs using the system might be more attracted to a lowerpriced bid than a top-quality scientist.

HEALTHCARE Group leader Kelly Stanton, a Yale University student a month away from finishing his Ph.D. in computational biology, says he and his group – all data scientists specializing in genomics – recognized a need in the marketplace.

Many small laboratories don’t have as many scientists as they need to analyze the data from their research to be published.

“As a solution to this problem, there is a large, untapped supply of data scientists out there in the form of graduate and post-doctoral students,” he said when presenting to a panel of judges at the close of Startup Weekend. “This group isn’t making a lot of money and wants every opportunity to make a little cash on the side.”

SeqHub would be a portal that labs can use to find qualified scientists for projects; the scientists would offer bids for

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The other four judges were Elm Street Ventures managing partner Rob Bettigole, Yale dermatology and surgery Professor David Leffell, Connecticut Innovations Senior Investment Associate Matthew Storeygard and Angel Investor Forum Managing Director Mary Anne Rooke.

Stanton says the group plans on going full time with SeqHub after school obligations are out of the way. They plan on at least getting the ball rolling in New Haven – team member and fellow Yale student Taiwo Togun is also based here – but otherwise they are open to going elsewhere if it makes sense.

Most Promising Green Tech Company of the Year was given to Hamden-based Dry Flush, maker of a water-less and chemicalless portable toilet; Milford laproscopic surgical device maker SurgiQuest won Most Promising Life Sciences Company; Logicbroker, of Shelton, won Most Promising Software Company for its cloud-based inventory cataloging software platform; Stamford-based LocalYokel Media won Most Promising New Media/ Internet/Telecom Company of the Year for its digital marketing research platform; and ZetrOZ, of Trumbull, won in the Most Promising New Technology Product Company category for its wearable ultrasound pain therapy device called “sam.”

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“There’s nothing that would incentivize us to stay in Connecticut,” said Stanton, who is from Austin, Texas. “We could look at the tax structure in other states and change based on that. I haven’t looked into it yet, but that could be a good criteria for where to start our business.”

Two other startup pitches tied for second place: Frenzy, a mobile app that allows commuters to pre-order food from restaurants at highway rest stops and make quick pick-ups of their orders once they arrive; and Hyve, a web portal that allows visitors to large institutions and buildings to report and view maintenance and infrastructure issues or events as reported by other users.

MARKETING&MEDIA Of the 10 groups vying for a grand prize of entrance into Microsoft’s BizSpark program, hours of co-working space at The Grove, and a chance to have dinner with successful New Haven entrepreneurs, it was SeqHub that won over SW’s five judges.

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TECHNOLOGY Judge Craig Crews, a Yale professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology and executive director at the Yale Molecular Discovery Center, confirmed the need for this tool.

The annual event by the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) highlights local “Tech Companies to Watch” and offers mentoring, pitch events and a Funding Fair.

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EMPLOYMENT each one, and the labs could select the most attractive offer.

WALLINGFORD — Connecticut’s promising technology companies were awarded at the 2014 Connecticut Innovation Summit, held at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford.

This year 87 companies were highlighted by the CTC, with half of those participating in a pitch event to get a crack at investment dollars and resources. One company each was recognized in a total of five categories.

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NEW HAVEN — With another year comes another chance for budding entrepreneurs to take their startup ideas to the next level.

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Each of the winning teams received free co-working time at the Grove – SeqHub gets three free months, while the other two teams, tied for second place, each get two months. As the grand prize winners, SeqHub won entrance to the BizSpark program, which provides $15,000 of resources, three years of access to Windows startup programs, cloud hosting services and invites to competitions and accelerators.

The Startup Weekend pitch event took place at Edward P. Evans Hall, the new Yale School of Management building on Whitney Avenue. Startup Weekend New Haven is part of a global movement, with Startup Weekends held around the world each year.

Applivate, the winner from the first Startup Weekend New Haven in 2011, took its diabetes-monitoring app ShugaTrak to market last October.

The awards ceremony featured an address from Liddy Karter, new executive director of the Connecticut Venture Group, who said that Connecticut this year jumped from 24th to 4th in the nation for venture capital dollars invested per capita in the first quarter of the year.

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“This is because we have great people doing great things in great companies people want to invest in,” she said.

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Four bioscience projects – including two based at Yale – were awarded $1.8 million from the Connecticut Bioscience Fund (CBIF) in November, part of the latest round of funding.

The $200 million CBIF was established in 2013 to make investments to bioscience projects over the next 10 years in efforts to speed up commercialization of new products. Nearly $4 million has been awarded in 2014.

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CyVek Gets Bought Out WALLINGFORD — Connecticut biotech company CyVek has joined the big leagues.

The company, which develops research tools to allow measuring of multiple substances undergoing chemical analysis in research samples, was bought for $60 million by Minnesota-based Bio-Techne, which produces biotechnology tools and controls.

CyVek, which employs 40 people, will keep all but two employees as it transitions into Bio-Techne. The company has received its fair share of state money over the years: Connecticut Innovations (CII) has invested nearly $2 million since it started in 2010, but with the sale of the company will get a $6 million return.

CyVek earlier this year received the Connecticut Business Champions and the Frost & Sullivan awards for innovation. Chairman Kevin Didden previously had launched Wallingford software company CiDRA.

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University of Connecticut-born Tangen Biosciences got $500,000 to develop a mobile diagnostic test for tuberculosis for use in the developing world. Tolland-based Loon Medical was awarded $458,000 for development of a Bluetooth-integrated software monitoring system for homebound patients, including those with dementia.

Connecticut-based non-profits, startups, universities or early stage businesses are eligible for funding from the CBIF. More information can be found at http://bioinnovationct.com. /photo/ A screenshot of the Cinnamon Vocabulary Quiz game

eBrevia Nets CII Cash STAMFORD — Legal technology company eBrevia just got a $1.5 million win.

The company got the money through a funding round (including $500,000 from Connecticut Innovations) for product development and marketing for its product – an artificial intelligence-based software platform that automatically extracts information from and summaries legal documents.

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The current group of projects focused on diagnostic tools, therapies and information technologies to improve care standards.

Yale received one grant of $500,000 for Craig Crews, Ph.D., for development of a small-molecule therapy for multiple myeloma patients who develop a resistance to treatments. Another $500,000 grant was give to Yale for a project by Richard Flavell Ph.D. to create new methods of drug development in collaboration with the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington.

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QU ‘Hackathon’ Births Learning Games HAMDEN — Quinnipiac University is fostering a new generation of software programmers.

The school’s software engineering program hosted its first Hackathon event in November, inviting 40 students to work in groups to develop Android software apps aimed at helping young students learn, all in the course of four hours.

Computer science professor Jonathan Blake says the groups developed programs that centered on math, telling time and building vocabulary.

One app was called Cinnamon Vocabulary Quiz, a game in which young people match images with words, which progressively gets more difficult as the player goes on.

That team was led by freshman Jiseok Hyun, who says the app could be useful to those learning English as a second language.

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Another Hackathon is being planned for the spring.

The company has raised $2.1 million since its founding in 2012.

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MANUFACTURING Sikorsky Deal Soars: More Choppers

W 41 Blackhawk helicopters were included in an $8.4 billion defense contract for Sikorsky.

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STRATFORD — With the rescue of two feared-defeated defense contracts, Sikorsky is on tap to provide 102 helicopters to the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy in a deal worth a total of $1.3 billion.

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The helicopter orders – themselves part of an overall $8.4 billion defense contract with Sikorsky – come in two phases. The first $772 million contract covers 41 UH60M helicopters and 24 HH-60M helicopters for the Army, along with associated maintenance and support, to be completed in June.

The second contract, at $535.3 million for the Navy, is for eight MH-60S helicopters and 29 MH-60R helicopters along with engineering, maintenance and other support functions. Those aircraft are due to be complete in December 2015.

All work is set to be done at Sikorsky’s facility in Stratford. The Navy had attempted to cancel the 29 MH-60R helicopters earlier this year, but this was met with protest from U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who argued that would hurt military readiness and result in a $250 million contract termination fee to the government.

June 2012 for at least 653 helicopters (with options for an addition 263 aircraft) to be delivered through 2017.

EMPLOYMENT

The original $8.4 million contract with Sikorsky was signed by the Pentagon in

Sikorsky has more reason to celebrate 2014: the manufacturer recently received the Exemplary Partner Award from

the Professional Advisory Board of the Tagliatela College of Engineering at the University of New Haven, from which Sikorsky gets a lot of manufacturing and engineering talent.

Over a five-year partnership, Sikorsky has sponsored Tagliatela’s Team-based Engineering and Manufacturing (TEAM) Summer Camp.

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The businesses and business leaders driving Connecticut’s green revolution

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GE is also building a new $32 million manufacturing facility in Findlay Township, Penn., set to begin construction in March 2015 and finish in the fall. The facility will serve as a place to spark innovation and implement new technologies for all of GE’s operations, initially in disciplines such as mechanical and electric to systems and software engineering, as well as additive manufacturing.

There are already 8,500 GE employees in Pennsylvania, especially in its Transportation, Power & Water, Oil & Gas and Energy Management divisions.

Kaman Scores Defense Contracts Peru Gets Hydrogen Hook-Up DANBURY — Industrial gases supplier Praxair is providing a Peruvian company with hydrogen gas.

The company is building a new steam methane reformer for Repsol, one of the world’s largest producers of petrochemicals, at its La Pampilla Refinery (near Lima), to be up and running in 2016.

The new plant is expected to produce 12 million cubic feet of hydrogen per day, using natural gas or naptha as feedstock. The refinery will produce gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas, jet fuel, kerosene, diesel, asphalts, low-sulfur diesel fuel and other products for local markets. ing robots working alongside their human counterparts.

The lab is GE’s second in Plainville; the NPI Accelerator Lab, featuring collaborative workspace with a machine shop and 3D printing production and assembly operations, opened in May 2013.

DECEMBER 2014

BLOOMFIELD — In another boon for Connecticut’s aerospace industry, Bloomfield-based Kaman Corp. was awarded nearly $70 million in new defense contracts.

The company got a contract expansion to produce $28.9 million worth of additional Joint Programmable bomb fuses (JPF) for the U.S. Air Force, adding to an existing $90 million contract for fuses. Kaman has been the sole provider of JPFs to the Air Force since 2002, and also supplies 26 other countries. The JPFs are produced in Middletown and in Orlando, Fla. Kaman is also entering a $40 million contract with General Dynamics Canada to remanufacture and upgrade four Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite helicopters for the Peruvian Navy. The aircraft are being transferred via a collaboration between the Peruvian Ministry of National Defense and Canada’s international government-to-government contracting organization, the Canadian Commercial Corporation.

The Super Seasprite is a multi-mission helicopter currently in use by the Royal New Zealand Navy, the Egyptian Air Force and the Polish Navy.

GE Opens New Mftg Centers PLAINVILLE — General Electric has had quite the expansion lately, opening several new outposts.

The company’s Industrial Solutions business opened an advanced manufacturing lab in Plainville, which will use automated systems and robotics to design and build the new GuardEon circuit breaker platform, which will be launched in 2015.

The Plainville location will house both advanced manufacturing engineers and design teams, with the manufactur

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efforts focusing on select marketing efforts and other services for financial institutions in the United States.

WHO’S WHAT, WHERE Waterbury-based Wesson Energy has named Janice Lea of New Milford its new director of marketing.

Lea brings more than 25 years of progressive marketing and communications experience to the newly-created position. Prior to joining Wesson Energy, Inc. Lea was the marketing and communications manager of Connex Intl. in Danbury. Prior to that, Lea served as vice president of marketing with the Savings Bank of Danbury.

Keith Churchwell M.D. Keith Churchwell, M.D., a native of Nashville, Tenn., has been appointed vice president and executive director of YaleNew Haven Hospital’s Cardiovascular Services division.

Dr. Churchwell had been serving as executive director and chief medical officer for the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute.

Board-certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease, Dr. Churchwell has been at Vanderbilt since 1999 and had also served as the director of cardiac imaging for Vanderbilt University Medical Center since 2006. He also served as associate professor of medicine and radiology.

Dr. Churchwell earned his medical degree from the Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis, Mo.) and bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. He completed his postgraduate training in cardiovascular disease and nuclear cardiology at Emory School of Medicine.

At Yale-New Haven Hospital, Dr. Churchwell will have direct oversight of all cardiovascular operations.

Jeffrey Weikert has been named president of Payveris, a Wethersfield digital payments firm that offers a full range of bill payment, money movement and interbank transfer services to banks and credit unions throughout the United States.

Weikert will report to Payveris’ Board of Directors and will be responsible for all aspects of Payveris’ growing digital payment enterprise, growth objectives and strategic direction. He will also focus on sales, client development and marketing as the company moves into its next phase of growth.

Payveris Founder Fran Duggan will be taking on the newly created role of chief operating officer and will be responsible for overseeing Payveris’ product vision and development, operations and client services teams.

Weikert joins Payveris from Deluxe Corporation, where he served as the vice president responsible for targeted sales

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Family-owned and operated, Wesson Energy helps homeowners and businesses Janice Lea realize improved energy efficiencies by integrating smart technologies with heating and cooling systems.

Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas B. Leonardi will soon join Evercore, a New York-based global investment banking advisory firm, as a senior advisor focusing on insurance.

Leonardi was appointed by Governor Malloy in February 2011 to head the Connecticut Insurance Department, a regulatory agency with jurisdiction over one of the largest insurance industries in the United States.

For 22 years prior to the appointment, Leonardi was CEO of Northington Partners Inc., an Avon-based investment banking, venture capital and private equity firm that specialized in the insurance industry.

Tracy Van Oss of North Haven, a clinical associate professor of occupational therapy at Quinnipiac University, has been selected to receive the American Occupational Therapy Association’s (AOTA) Roster of Fellows Award.

The award recognizes occupational therapists who have made a significant contribution to the continuing education and professional development of members of AOTA. Van Oss will officially accept the award at AOTA’s annual awards and recognitions ceremony in Nashville on April 18.

“I have been afforded so many opportunities to contribute to the profession of occupational therapy and I am proud to be part of a distinguished group of fellows, including many who have been mentors to me,” Van Oss said.

Van Oss, who joined the full-time faculty at Quinnipiac in 2005, holds a doctor of health science degree from Nova Southeastern University, a master’s degree in public health and a bachelor’s degree in corporate communications from Southern Connecticut State University. She also holds a certificate in occupational therapy from Quinnipiac.

Van Oss’ research interests include unintentional injury prevention and environmental modification.

At Webster, Williams oversees internal audit coverage of several groups including the chief financial officer’s group and HSA Bank. She will also oversee the division’s involvement in pre- and post-implementation projects and the annual risk assessment and planning process.

Williams is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Connecticut Society of CPAs. She earned her master’s in accounting and bachelor’s in accounting from the University of Connecticut.

Tracy Van Oss Quinnipiac University accelerated nursing student Olivia Palumbo of Southbury recently received a 2014 Peer Recognition Award from the Connecticut League for Nursing.

The award recognizes an outstanding senior nursing student from each CLN member school who has been selected by his or her peers. Palumbo was honored at the RN Student Day Luncheon recently at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington.

“This award means a lot to me because it illustrates that my peers look up to me as a future nurse who will provide competent and compassionate care,” Palumbo said. “I try my hardest to demonstrate my commitment to the nursing profession and provide leadership in my program.”

“Olivia truly demonstrates leadership and mentorship qualities among her peers. Her passion for nursing, values and beliefs, and commitment as a leader will shine in career as a future nurse,” said Angela Carrano, clinical assistant professor of nursing at Quinnipiac.

Quinnipiac’s accelerated nursing track in the School of Nursing is designed for individuals with a bachelor’s degree in another discipline interested in pursuing nursing as a second bachelor’s degree. The program consists of one full calendar year.

Christie Snow

Leslie Robertson has been named senior vice president of commercial banking at Webster Bank.

Robertson, based in Hartford, joined Webster this summer from Bank of America where he was senior vice president and senior client manager in business development, following earlier roles in credit management.

In his current position, Robertson will be guiding overall international business strategies, working to support U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations located here in the northeast, and assisting domestic companies with export related needs.

A resident of Farmington, Robertson earned his bachelor’s degree from Bradford University in England and is a graduate of the Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties President and CEO Candace Adams was named among the

East Haven-based Burzenski & Company is pleased to announce that Christie Snow has joined the firm as a tax specialist. She earned a bachelor of science degree in Health Sciences at Quinnipiac University and a master’s in business administration in accounting from Iona College.

Founded in 1983, Burzenski & Company is a full-service certified public accounting and financial management firm.

Webster Bank has announced the promotion of Kara Williams to senior vice president and director of internal audit.

Williams joined Webster in 2012 from PricewaterhouseCoopers, where her last position was senior manager in its Northeast Assurance practice.

Kara Williams

Www.Conntact.com

CHANGE WON’T 100 Most Influential Real Estate Executives in the fall 2014 issue of Real Estate Magazine.

master’s degree in political science from Northeastern University.

The award honors the service, dedication and hard work that real estate executives put into building their companies and serving their agents and clients.

Comcast has announced that Scott Knaub has been named chief financial officer for the company’s Western New England region. In this role, he will oversee all financial operations for the area, which includes more than 300 communities in Connecticut, New York, Vermont, Western Massachusetts and Western New Hampshire.

Adams was recognized in 2008 as one of the “Eight Most Remarkable Women” in business in Connecticut. In 2011 she was named a “Women of FIRE” by The Commercial Record. Earlier this year she was ranked 68 on Swanepoel’s “200 Most Powerful People in Residential Real Estate in 2013” list.

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Knaub has worked in the telecommunications industry for over 13 years, most recently as vice president of market strategy and analytics for Cablevision in Bethpage, New York. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Shelton-based Cara Therapeutics has finance and banking from the University of announced the appointment of Joseph Nebraska at Omaha and his MBA degree Stauffer, D.O., as chief medical officer.

If fully developed the Live Work and Play development at the 4.7of acre Coliseum site will from the University Texas.

Dr. Stauffer will oversee the clinical develchange the shape and scope of downtown, New Haven. opment of the company’s lead compound, The Connecticut Business & Industry expansion onto former Anthem Blue ogy building that been placed on hold CR845, as well ashad its pipeline of other novel Association has the named Brian Flaherty Cross & Blue Shield (now in a sufficiently would also go forward, with an opening pain therapies. senior vice president for public policy.

Flaherty brings yearsonofLeigus government affairs downsized location Road in likelyTherapeutics in 2019.

Cara is a biopharmaceutical and legislative experience to his newest role Wallingford) campus in North Haven. company focused on developing and comat the state’s largest business organization. mercializing new chemical entities designed UNH acquired the 47-acre campus and New Yale School to alleviate pain and pruritus. of In CBIA’s public policy division, itsleading 70,000-square-foot building for a new Management Building Flaherty will have responsibility for the The company is advancing its drug toward graduate school campus. The satellite camassociation’s government affairs, grassroots, Phase 3 registration acute pain It is hard to miss thetrials new for Yale School pus is located adjacent to the Wilbur Cross research and communications operations. and continues development of an oral tablet of Management (SOM) Building at 165 Parkway at exits 55 and 56. The Bergami formulation of CR845 both acute and Flaherty was most recently president Whitney Avenue.

The for 242,000-square-foot & Pompea Graduate Centervice recognized chronic pain. for public policy and external affairs Edward P. Evans Hall opened in January, the support of Samuel S. Bergami Jr. at a Nestle Waters North America, a division

by Foster + Partners “Idesigned am pleased to be joining CaraofatNew this York.

1985 UNH executive EMBA graduate, and of Nestle, Inc., where he oversaw the comCharles E. Pompea who graduated UNH Evans was the son of Thomas Mellon pany’s government relations, sustainability, in 1971 and returned in 1990 for a UNHPrior Evans, a New York financier who pioneered and stakeholder engagement activities.

EMBA as well. hostile corporate takeovers in the 1950s to joining Nestle, Flaherty was an eightand was a cousin of businessman and philanthropist Paul Mellon.

Edward P. Evans was an executive at several family businesses and CEO of the publishing company Macmillan Ltd. He was also known as a breeder and racer of thoroughbred horses.

Evans Hall sits on 4.25 acres and dominates lower Whitney Avenue, which has attracted both critics and admirers. An inner courtyard brings the outside inside, the glass walled interior creating a haven for gathering students and faculty.

Adams Its massive size has put SOM on the map in New Haven and throughout the construcexciting time inItthe development of steel, CR845,” tion industry. took 2,000 tons of said Dr. Stauffer.

“There is a tremendous more than 8,000 tons of concrete, 123 miles unmet need for and newapparently approaches to treatof copper wire a lot of doors ing pain, without the common opioid — 500 in all. (No word at press time ifside they effects and, more importantly, the potential came from local stalwart Sargent.) for abuse…CR845 possesses significant potential to change our approach to manag’Eds On ing pain & andMeds’ reduce the Power need for traditional opioids and the risks they present.” at UNH, QU

Stephen J. Morin, an experienced leader With a huge increase in retail space expanin higher education philanthropy, has been sion regionwide and 2,000-plus residential named vice president for university advanceunits coming online in downtown New ment at the University of New Haven. Morin Haven, clearly engine of job growth joins UNH froman Suffolk University, whereis also needed. he has served as senior vice president for advancement For now, that since job is 2012. clearly in the hands of

thethe region’s “other” universities As vice president for universitytoo. advancement, Morin will oversee fundraising, alumni That fact is no more obvious than with the relations, donor relations and communicamid-2013 sale of the former Hubble headtions. quarters to the University of New Haven, as Morin a bachelor’s degree in well asearned Quinnipiac University’s continuing history from Bates College and holds a SEPTEMBER 2014 DECEMBER 2014

term EMBA memberprogram of the Connecticut The apparently House was of Representatives, quite effective asrepresenting Pompea, 65,Watertown, purchased Middlebury and Primary Steel in Woodbury.

1993 and grew it into a

$600 million company.

CBIA is Connecticut’s largest business orgaNow “retired,” Pompeamember is majority owner nization, with 10,000 companies. of the Springfield (Mass.) Falcons, an American HockeyP.League Governor Dannel Malloyaffiliate today of the NHL’s Columbus Jackets. announced that heBlue intends to re-appoint Sharon Palmer as Commissioner of the Bergami spent a half-century business Department of Labor when his second term career at Alinbal Inc., where he rose from in office begins on January 7. tool-and-die apprentice to CEO and coowner the 400-employee manufacturer Palmer of began the position as the head based in a 200,000-square-foot facility in of the state’s labor department in August Milford.

2012. During her

tenure, the of agency Bergami chaired the UNH Board has forged Governors between 2006 and 2012aa new time partnership with the that UNH reinvigorated itself. New projoffice of the Chief ects included expansion of the school’s State’s Attorney to Tagliatela College of Engineering (with fight unemployment major support from another local fraud business insurance by leader, Louis F. Tagliatela), the opening prosecuting offendof the Henry C. Lee Institute Forensicbeners forof collecting Scott Knaub Science, several new dorms, David efits tothe which they Beckerman Recreationwere Center the notand entitled, recovering nearly $600,000. office& Bergami Learning Center for Her Finance has also implemented the state’s Subsidized Technology.

Training and Employment Program (Step Up), North to the shadow of the Sleeping Giant, resulting in over 4,000 new jobs.

Quinnipiac President John Lahey proved again he wasn’t letting the school’s well manicured lawns grow under his feet when the school purchased Anthem’s North Haven campus. The first class entered last fall at the Frank H. Netter, MD School of Medicine with the support of a $100 million investment from the Netter family.

“ Supporting United Way lets our employees and the community know that the Regional Water Authority is about more than water. We care about our customers and we care about the communities we serve, and United Way’s strategic initiatives help us create a better quality of life for everyone.”

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United Way Workplace Campaigns • Build employee morale • Promote a “giving back” philosophy • Improve Greater New Haven’s quality of life

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