FAIRFIELD COUNTY
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February 4, 2013 | VOL. 49, No. 5
2012 Campaign in Review
PACs, special interests tighten grip
As political action committees and special interest groups seek to influence election results, analysts warn of the potential consequences
jbissell@westfairinc.com
T
he rising cost of running for public office has forced candidates to increasingly turn to special interest groups and political action committees for financial support, a Business Journal review of 2012 campaign filings shows. Analysts warned that as PACs and super PACs become more prominent in
FCBJ TODAY Enterprise social networks will gain traction in 2013 as smartphone manufacturers ship more than one billion devices, Deloitte predicts … 2
electoral outcomes, it falls on voters to hold officials accountable to their constituents and not just to the causes that in many cases helped fund their respective campaigns. “The cost of running a political campaign has spiraled up in the last few years,” said Diane Generous, a Connecticut-based political consultant who worked on Steve Obsitnik’s most recent campaign for U.S. Congress. “It’s
not necessarily a positive thing, but it’s what you have to face as a candidate.” The race between Sen. Chris Murphy and Republican challenger Linda McMahon in Connecticut was the second-most expensive Senate race in 2012, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. McMahon’s campaign spent $49 million on the race while Murphy’s campaign spent $10.2 million, according to data submitted by the campaigns to the
Federal Election Commission (FEC). The race between Rep. Jim Himes and Republican Steve Obsitnik for Connecticut’s 4th District ranked among the state’s most expensive congressional contests. In that race, Himes’ campaign spent $1.9 million and Obsitnik’s spent $1.4 million. Each of the candidates’ costs were PACS, page 6
Connecticut bucks VC trend
PATRICK GALLAGHER
BY JENNIFER BISSELL
BY JENNIFER BISSELL
Starwood Property Trust and Starwood Capital Group have agreed to acquire a real estate investment firm for more than $1 billion in cash … 3
jbissell@westfairinc.com
With the economy in need of a jolt, the time is ripe for immigration reform, the Business Journal writes … 4 Connecticut’s hospitals employ more than 54,000 individuals and have a $20 billion annual economic impact, according to a new report … 5 Mental health care professionals say the field lacks the resources and workforce to handle significant increases in screenings and demand for services … 13
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Leonora Valvo
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Like many other technology companies, it wasn’t until etouches Inc.’s first round of venture capital fundraising that the company was really able to take off. A web-based platform for managing events, Norwalk-based etouches has grown 78 percent in revenue from 2011 to 2012. The platform helps manage every aspect of event management and gives customers effective tools to communicate with their clients. In the past year, the company has grown from 26 to 70 employees and currently has more than 600 customers. “We’ve been growing at a fast rate since the first round of funding in 2010,” said Leonora Valvo, etouches founder and CEO. “But it was very difficult to get. We went out for funding in 2008 and that was really a hard time economically. In general, venture capital had pretty much dried up.” Securing seed funding is often the tipping point new businesses need to grow, analysts and entrepreneurs say. And as Connecticut, page 6