Hartford Business Journal

4 Hartford Business Journal • March 11, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Week in Review Briefs Liberty Bank settles loan 'redlining' suit Middletown mutual lender Liberty Bank has pledged another $15 million in loans and grants to step up its mortgage lending, including opening a loan office in Hartford, to settle unfair lending claims. The $4.8 billion-asset Middletown lender and Hartford-based Connecticut Fair Housing Center Inc., and its co- counsel, the National Law Center, jointly announced the settlement March 4. The settlement comes five months after both nonprofit organizations sued Liberty in Connecticut federal court, accusing it of violating federal laws by allegedly denying at higher rates or not providing adequate mortgage-lending services to consumers living in African- American or Latino neighborhoods. Although it denied all allegations of wrongdoing, Liberty said it will add $10 million to expand its Good Neighbor Mortgage Loan Program and expand its community development loan program by $5 million over the next three years, among other efforts. CCM: Recycling weighs on muni budgets Recycling, once a way to generate some modest revenues, is becoming a cost burden for cities and towns, according to the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. The green-to-red shift is the result of a collapse of the recycling market, fueled by China's recent crackdown on accepting contaminated bales of recyclables. That's suppressed prices recyclers can fetch for bales, creating the threat of higher costs that municipalities must pay to move recyclables from their local transfer stations. CCM recently identified 15 communities that have seen municipal recycling move from a revenue generator to a growing expense item. Translation-tech provider expands to E. Hartford A New York-based provider of translation and language interpretation technology has launched a new operation in East Hartford's tallest office building. TransPerfect, which calls itself the world's largest translation company, began operating at 111 Founders Plaza on Feb. 15, according to CEO Phil Shawe. The company is occupying more than 1,000 square feet, which can hold 10 employees, but Shawe said that number could grow to 30 in the near future. Some employees would work remotely, he said. Shawe said East Hartford surfaced as an ideal location because TransPerfect has a large client base in Greater Hartford. It provides foreign language translation services to Aetna, United Technologies Corp., Carrier Corp. and Stanley Black & Decker. Kaman developing next- generation K-MAX aircraft Bloomfield aerosystems maker Kaman Corp. says it's developing the next generation K-MAX lift helicopter that could be used for both manned and unmanned flights. Kaman Aerospace Group announced the latest unmanned system kits will be available in 2020 for new production and existing aircraft. Under the latest K-MAX model, operators would be able to decide whether to use the helicopter for manned or unmanned missions, according to AIN Online. The U.S. Marine Corps has been using Kaman's unmanned medium-to-heavy lift helicopters in Afghanistan for the last 33 months on combat resupply and logistical support missions, helping soldiers move more than 1.5 million pounds of cargo to remote outposts, Kaman said. More 'coworking' space for Hartford Downtown Hartford's CityPlace I office tower is the latest to debut coworking spaces. CityPlace I landlord Paradigm Properties and Serendipity Labs announced the scheduled summer opening of shared workspace on the 15th floor of the tower at 185 Asylum St. New York-based Serendipity Labs says it is present in 30 metropolitan areas nationwide, including Stamford, Charlotte, Nashville, Dallas, Denver and Los Angeles. Coworking spaces in other downtown Hartford and suburban buildings offer tenants flexible space and rents, plus a la carte use of office furniture and equipment. Forbes lists 17 CT billionaires Seventeen Connecticut billionaires occupy Forbes' 33rd annual billionaires list for 2019, the magazine announced. The state's top billionaire is still Greenwich resident Ray Dalio, the founder of the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, which manages $160 billion in assets. Forbes said his net worth jumped to $18.5 billion, compared to $17.7 billion in March 2018, which is the 53rd highest on the magazine's worldwide list of billionaires. TOP STORY With no contract in place, Millstone threatens closure T he operator of Connecticut's largest power plant, Millstone Power Station, has failed to negotiate a long-term contract with the state's two utilities, and is now threatening to retire the nuclear facility if a deal is not struck by March 15. The development throws a wrinkle in a plan that seemed like a done deal in December, when the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced it had selected the nuclear plant for a long-term contract with the utilities — a 10-year deal that was the result of roughly three years of lobbying by plant owner Dominion. DEEP agreed to the pricing of the first three years of Millstone's contract, but said it wasn't satisfied with the rate of return Dominion wanted for the final seven years of the deal. The state agency ordered utilities Eversource and Avangrid to negotiate lower pricing. Dominion spokesman Kenneth Holt confirmed his company intends to file a retirement notice with grid operator ISO New England if it cannot finalize a contract with Eversource and Avangrid by March 15. BY THE NUMBERS $33.2B The economic impact from the state's 15 nonprofit independent colleges and universities, according to a new study commissioned by the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges. 17 The number of Connecticut billion- aires identified in the latest Forbes ranking, unchanged from the maga- zine's 2017 list. 58.6% The portion of total higher-education degrees and certificates earned by women in Connecticut last year, con- tinuing a decades-long trend of women outpacing men in educational attain- ment, according to the state Office of Higher Education. $10.2M The amount of money Pratt & Whitney is seeking to recoup from the town of East Hartford, alleging its real estate was over-assessed in 2016 and 2017. TOP 5 MOST READ On HartfordBusiness.com • Forbes lists 17 CT billionaires • With no contract in place, Millstone threatens closure • CT's largest makerspace readies downtown Hartford opening • Liberty Bank settles loan 'redlining' suit • CCM: Recycling weighs on muni budgets 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 Millstone Power Plant is Connecticut's only remaining nuclear facility. PHOTO | HBJ FILE

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