Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • March 25, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Reporter's Notebook Gregory Seay | gseay@HartfordBusiness.com Real Estate, Economic Development/Construction, Banking & Finance and Manufacturing BANKING & FINANCE Mass. lender uses a gentle touch in CT P eoplesBank, the Holyoke, Mass., lender that at the close of 2018 paid $60 million to acquire what was Suffield's oldest bank, has been careful to tread lightly in its newly acquired turf. Almost as soon as PeoplesBank and former First National Bank of Suffield announced last May their plans to combine, many among the latter's client roster mistakenly believed, due to the name simi- larities, that Bridgeport super-regional People's United Financial Inc. was the buyer. Others resented the intrusion of an out-of- town lender. Competi- tors even dotted First National's lawn with signs aimed at poaching its depositors. Thomas W. Senecal, president and CEO of PeoplesBank and its parent, PeoplesBancorp MHC, heard the discord. He held a community meeting at the Suffield Country Club, to explain his bank's reasons for choosing to enter their market through its purchase of First National Bank, a 154-year-old, $227 million-asset lender. "This is a very proud community, like most of the communities we're in,'' Senecal said in a conference room inside what was once First National's 30 Bridge St. headquarters. "We don't want to change the cultural feel of the community,'' said Senecal, who personally has called on First National's biggest depositors/ borrowers to introduce himself and his bank. So, when time came to replace the signage out front, reflecting new ownership by $2.9 billion- asset PeoplesBancorp, it simply replaced parts of the old name with new inserts. It is now called, The First Bank of Suffield — A Division of PeoplesBank. As part of the deal, PeoplesBank added four branches to its roster and it plans to open an- other before yearend near Enfield's Paloma Drive. PeoplesBank presently has 24 offices primarily in northern Connecticut and western Massachusetts. PeoplesBank, founded in 1885, also has en- deared itself to the community by seating a local selectman to its board of directors. Senecal says it has increased its commitment to exist- ing local charities that First National previ- ously supported, along with some new ones. Proof of success of its efforts, he said, is that of the approximately $260 million deposited at First National at the time of the merger, around 90 cents of every dollar has remained with the bank. PeoplesBank is one of Massachusetts' largest mutual banks, meaning it is effectively controlled by depositors, who own voting shares via their deposits. It also is among a shrinking cohort of U.S. mutual savings banks still in existence. Like other growth-hungry lenders, Peoples- Bank has sought to grow its core deposit-tak- ing and lending operations by seizing acquisi- tion opportunities when they arise. In First National's case, word had gotten around that the bank was open to offers. Senecal, a former KPMG consultant who has spent more than 25 years in banking, said he invited First National's retired CEO, Joe Greco, to lunch to craft a deal. Already, PeoplesBank is sharing many of its popular services — paperless transactions, online bill-paying, e-signatures, remote deposit capture — with its Suffield customers, and it provides them for a minimal or no fee as part of a strategy to retain market share. DEAL WATCH $2.3M Manchester sale A New York investor has purchased the historic Cheney Brothers Office Building in Manchester for $2.3 million. Brooklyn, N.Y.-based 146 Hartford Road LLC bought the 109-year-old, 29,000-square- foot office building at 146 Hartford Road from local Cheney Office Building Associates LLC for $78 per square foot, said sole broker Sentry Commercial. Built in 1910 to replace a previous structure supporting the Cheney family's silk- milling operations, the building presently houses offices for engineering firm Fuss & O'Neill. Generation Pet's Bloomfield lease All-natural pet-products retailer Generation Pet has leased 10,450 square feet of Bloomfield industrial space for distribution. Based in Savage, Md., Generation Pet signed with landlord FJS Properties LLC for space in the 20,900-square- foot, multi-tenant building at 420 Woodland Ave. Sentry Commercial was sole broker. $3.9M Farmington plaza sale The 24,000-square-foot office/retail plaza near Farmington's Route 4/Route 10 junction sold recently for $3.9 million, brokers say. Hayes Kaufman Farmington Associates LLC purchased the property at 838 & 850 Farmington Ave. from Woodgreen Epicure L.P. Built in 1966 on 2.53 acres, the plaza houses, among others, Starbucks and offices for William Raveis Real Estate. Hooker & Holcomb's office relo Actuarial and benefits consultant Hooker & Holcomb is relocating its 42-year-old West Hartford office to insurer MetLife's former Bloomfield space, effective April 1. H&H has leased 15,000 square feet at 1300 Hall Blvd., Suite 1C. The firm has outgrown the quarters it has occupied at 65 LaSalle Road since 1977, officials said. The West Hartford office, including its support services center and trading desk, will shut March 29 and reopen April 1 in Bloomfield. 146 Hartford Road, Manchester. 420 Woodland Ave., Bloomfield. PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED VENTURE CAPITAL CT looks to extend angel investor tax credit T he state's nearly decade-old angel investor tax credit would be renewed for five years and made more attractive to potential funders under a bill re- cently passed out committee. House Bill 5005 received bipartisan support in the General Assembly's Commerce Committee as well as from the state's bioscience industry, which says the angel investor tax credit is a key avenue for startups to attract funding in a state that lacks a robust venture-capital base. The bill has several parts to it. It would: • Extend the angel investor tax credit program for five years; • Increase the aggregate amount of angel investor tax credits that may be reserved annually by Connecti- cut Innovations, the state's quasi- public investment arm, from $3 million to $5 million; • Increase the maximum total tax credits allowed to an angel investor from $250,000 to $500,000; • And prioritize angel investments in veteran-owned, women-owned or minority-owned businesses and businesses owned by individuals with disabilities. The state's angel investor tax credit currently provides accredited investors with a 25 percent credit against their state income tax when they invest at least $25,000 in qualifying businesses. Qualified businesses include compa- nies that have gross revenues of less than $1 million, fewer than 25 employ- ees and have operated in the state for fewer than seven consecutive years, among other criteria. Startups funded by angel investors are up to 23 percent more likely to survive and create 40 percent more jobs than those that do not have angel funding, ac- cording to State Rep. Caroline Simmons (D-Stamford), who co-chairs the Com- merce Committee. State Rep. Caroline Simmons (D-Stamford) PeoplesBank President and CEO Thomas Senecal (center) talks with staff. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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