Hartford Business Journal

4 Hartford Business Journal • December 17, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Briefs Bond Commission OKs tens of millions during Malloy's final meeting In near unanimous support, the state Bond Commission Nov. 11 greenlit dozens of projects worth tens of millions of dollars, mainly geared toward transportation and economic- development initiatives. The 50-minute special meeting was likely the last chaired by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who is nearing the end of his two-term governorship. The largest approval was a $91.6 million request from the Connecticut Department of Transportation for various projects, including improvements along I-84 and urban bikeway, pedestrian connectivity, trails and other programs. Other approved borrowings included more than $1 million for economic- development projects in Hartford overseen by quasi-public Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA). Hartford-based kitchen cabinet and countertop retailer Express Kitchens will receive a $3 million loan from the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) to expand and create up to 226 new jobs within seven years. Cromwell's GKN Aerospace Services Structures and Habco Industries in Glastonbury will receive $6 million and $2 million, respectively, to expand. CT's Savings Institute, Berkshire Bank merging Windham lender Savings Institute Bank & Trust Co. is merging with Massachusetts regional lender Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. in a $180 million all-stock deal that gives momentum to Connecticut's ongoing community-bank consolidation. Parent SI Financial Group Inc. (SIFI), based in Windham's Willimantic section, and Boston-based Berkshire Hills, owner of Berkshire Bank-Connecticut Region in Hartford, announced their proposed combination that would create a $13.6 billion-asset institution. SIFI has $1.6 billion in assets. If bank regulators in both states and federal deposit-insurance and bank- holding company overseers approve, Berkshire would double its eastern Connecticut branch network to 18 offices and five branches in Rhode Island. SIFI CEO and President Rheo A. Brouillard said the merger "will provide greater convenience and a broader array of products to our customers who will continue to have the personalized service they have come to expect." CBIA elects manufacturing veteran as board chair Connecticut's largest business lobby says its newly reshuffled board of directors elected a Middletown manufacturing executive as chairman. Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) elected Chris DiPentima, president of Pegasus Manufacturing, to succeed Mary Kay Fenton, executive vice president and chief financial officer of New Haven's Achillion Pharmaceuticals. CBIA's board also tapped two vice chairs: Jeff Hubbard, market president of KeyBank; and Jennifer DelMonico, managing partner of Hartford law firm Murtha Cullina LLP. CBIA's 46-member board plays a key role shaping the lobby's policy agenda. CT OKs 9 more medical marijuana retailers Connecticut's crop of licensed medical marijuana dispensaries will double in the coming months, according to state officials. The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP), the overseer of the state's medical marijuana program, named nine new facilities that will be licensed under the nearly three-year-old program. DCP said it will award licenses to producers in Newington, Meriden, New Haven, Stamford, Mansfield, Groton, Torrington, Westport and Windham. In total, the medical marijuana program, which has 30,448 registered Week in Review TOP STORY Bradley Airport eyes new Jamaican, West Coast, other routes in 2019 B radley International Airport could add flights in 2019 connecting the Windsor Locks airfield to new locations in the south, West and Midwest coasts and Caribbean in 2019. The Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA), the quasi-public agency that oversees Bradley, has been pursuing routes to Austin and Jacksonville, Fla., in the south; Milwaukee and Nashville in the Midwest; Seattle on the West Coast; and Jamaica, CAA Executive Director Kevin Dillon said. "By far and away the No. 1 city that we're pursuing … is Seattle," Dillon said, noting the vast array of one-stop connections at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, especially to Asia. Jacksonville also ranks high on the priority list, Dillon said. It's the last major city in Florida to which Bradley lacks a route. It's not realistic to expect CAA to add all those routes in 2019, Dillon said, but he thinks Bradley could see one or two new routes over the year. The process of wooing carriers for the new routes takes time, he said. "We're constantly out there meeting with carriers," Dillon said. "What you have to do is convince an airline that a route that you're proposing is better than a route they're currently operating." BY THE NUMBERS $180M The all-stock price Berkshire Hills Bancorp has agreed to pay to acquire the parent company of Savings Insti- tute Bank. 18 The number of medical marijuana dis- pensaries Connecticut will soon have, following a new round of license approv- als by the state. 16.2 days The average amount of time it now takes the state Insurance Department to review health insurance products, down from 93.3 days three years ago. $535,000 The gift the Hospital of Central Con- necticut received from the estate of longtime supporter Anna L. Eckersley Johnson, which will be used to up- grade technology and patient services. TOP 5 MOST READ On HartfordBusiness.com • 1. CT regulator assigns 9 marijuana licenses • 2. Startup pro football league lists CT as founding location • 3. Bond Commission OKs tens of millions during Malloy's final mtg. • 4. Stanley: Tariffs, other headwinds mean CT layoffs as part of $250M in cost cuts • 5. CBIA elects manufacturing veteran as board chair STAY CONNECTED For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to www.HartfordBusiness.com HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on Linkedln: www.linkedin.com/company/ the-Hartford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend www.HartfordBusiness.com/ subscribe Weekly e-newsletters: CT Health Care Weekly Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon. PHOTO | HBJ FILE Chris DiPentima

• Cover