Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • February 18, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 7 Newell said, by reducing its earnings spread on loans. "Banks are pretty much giving the tax-cut savings to customers, primar- ily in the form of a lower interest rate,'' he said. Shareholders are also reaping the benefits. Total dividends paid out by Connecticut banks through the first three quarters of 2018 increased 58.4 percent from the previous year, FDIC data show. The state's lenders paid out $495.4 million in dividends during that time period, compared to $312.8 million a year earlier, FDIC data show. Meanwhile, the total loans and leases held by Connecticut banks grew at a much slower pace: only 2.53 percent during the first three quarters of 2018. At Webster Bank, its net income after pre- ferred dividends climbed 42 percent in 2018 from a year earlier, paced primar- ily by its strong operating perfor- mance, including consistent double- digit revenue growth throughout the year. Bank officials also acknowledge the contribution its lower tax rate made to earnings. Webster says it plied several routes to sharing the tax-driven windfall to boost its competitiveness and commu- nity engagement throughout its East Coast banking network. First, most of its employees received a one-time $1,000 cash bonus, while its lowest-paid workers saw a pay hike with the adop- tion of a $15-per-hour minimum wage. The bank also says it boosted overall loan volume last year by $900 million, or 5.4 percent, from 2017. It also invested in new technology to improve customer services and operating efficiency. Webster stockholders received a 27 percent dividend hike, from 26 cents a share to 33 cents, beginning with its 2018 first-quarter payout. In the com- munity, Webster said it raised its philanthropic and community investments by $1 million. It also expanded its ca- reer-development initiatives for as- piring bankers, in- cluding its summer internship program and its two-year training program. Webster said its extra capital also was a factor in the bank's decision to offer interest-free loans to any Con- necticut resident employed by the fed- eral government whose take-home pay was cut off during the recent federal shutdown. 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Gibbons , Financial-services consultant CT sees slight uptick in solar jobs By Matt Pilon mpilon@hartfordbusiness.com W hile U.S. solar employment declined in 2018 for the second straight year, Con- necticut solar jobs held stable, accord- ing to the nonprofit Solar Foundation's annual count. The ninth an- nual "National Solar Jobs Cen- sus" said there were 2,193 solar jobs in Connecti- cut last year, up from 2,168 in 2017, an uptick of about 1 percent. The Solar Foundation defines a solar job as one held by a worker spending at least 50 percent of his or her time on solar- related work. Connecticut had the 22nd highest number of solar jobs per capita last year (one of every 778 overall jobs), the report said. Connecticut was one of 29 states that had higher solar-industry job counts between 2017 and 2018, with the big- gest gainers being Florida (which sur- passed Massachusetts for the second- most jobs), Illinois, Texas and New York. While more than half of states added solar jobs last year, the U.S. lost a net total of 7,928 solar positions, falling to 242,343, a decline of 3.2 percent. That drop was led by a big decline of nearly 9,600 jobs in California, the country's largest solar market. The 2018 jobs slowdown was related to lower-than-expected solar installations, fueled in part by a 30 percent tariff on imported solar modules. The tariff, which will gradually decline through 2022, was put in place in Jan. 2018, but uncertainty during the lead- up to the levy impacted devel- opers' ability to plan projects. Companies that responded to the survey predicted 2019 will be a better year, estimating that U.S. solar employ- ment will grow 7 percent. A pending rampdown of the federal Investment Tax Credit for solar is driv- ing that optimism, as are longer-term, state-level policies requiring higher amounts of renewable energy in their respective power-generation mixes. Connecticut's "Renewable Portfolio Standards" will require utilities and other energy providers to obtain 40 percent of the energy they generate or sell from renewable sources by 2030, up from 19.5 percent this year. Connecticut's solar industry held steady in 2018. PHOTO | HBJ FILE

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