Hartford Business Journal

4 Hartford Business Journal • June 10, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Week in Review Briefs Tecton Architects moving to Colt Gateway A third Hartford design house, Tecton Architects, will relocate to Hartford's Colt Gateway office-housing campus by early 2020, authorities say. Tecton and Colt Gateway landlord Larry Dooley confirmed Tecton's 10- year lease of 13,847 square feet on the top floor of an L-shaped building at 36 Huyshope Ave./34 Sequassen St. The building previously housed the Capitol Region Education Council's River Street School from 2004 to 2017. Tecton Marketing Manager Jennifer Saari said it was vital for the firm to retain a full-service Hartford office close to its long-time clients, including Aetna, Travelers and the state of Connecticut. Tecton, currently housed just a short distance away at the One Hartford Square North office building, 146 Wyllys St., on downtown's southern rim, will join Maier Design and JCJ Architecture as Colt Gateway tenants. DOL: CT brewery employment up sharply with room for growth In a decade of modest statewide job growth, Connecticut's craft brewery industry has been carrying its own weight. The state's brewery industry, mainly including the craft beer segment, has dramatically increased from less than 15 workers in the first quarter of 2010 to almost 800 in Dec. 2018, according to Lincoln S. Dyer, an associate economist for the state Department of Labor (DOL). That mirrors national brewery job growth over that time, as employment, including large brand-name breweries, has grown from less than 25,000 in the first quarter of 2010 to 81,180 in Sept. 2018. Although local industry growth is a blip in comparison to Connecticut's total workforce, which tallies more than 1.7 million workers, Dyer said it's an encouraging sign for a sector that has no commercial breweries and wasn't unleashed until 2012, when state law changes allowed craft brewers to have on-site taprooms. Hartford council pres. Thames named DECD deputy Glendowlyn L. H. Thames, a Hartford city council leader who the last three years has helped Connecticut's business startups launch and innovate, has been named deputy commissioner at the state Department of Economic and Community Development. Thames has assumed her DECD duties, but will remain in her current post as interim executive director of CTNext, the state's innovations-ecosystem unit of Connecticut Innovations, until a permanent successor is found, DECD said. She will report to David Lehman, a former Wall Street finance executive from Greenwich whom Gov. Ned Lamont tapped as his DECD commissioner and senior economic adviser. Lawmakers approve Lamont's 5G initiative With a unanimous vote by the state Senate in the waning hours of the now- closed legislative session, Gov. Ned Lamont is poised to push forward on one of his campaign talking points: Making Connecticut a leader in the rollout of "5G" wireless technology. The bill is headed to Lamont's desk, and the former telecom entrepreneur is expected to sign it. It establishes a council to review and approve requests from wireless carriers wanting to install antennae and other 5G infrastructure on state-owned property, and also sets up a process to help municipalities streamline their own regulations related to licensing public property for 5G installations. State regulators have seen an increasing number of applications from wireless companies wanting to install "small cell" antennae, which are seen as a vital piece of the still nascent rollout of the next- generation 5G wireless networks. 5G promises to be as much as 100 times faster than its 4G predecessor. But there are also plenty of hurdles and uncertainty. The new bill aims to address some of them. While Connecticut has existing processes in place for carriers that want to put that infrastructure on utility poles, getting approvals to site them on buildings or other structures in denser areas is a patchwork of state and local rules, which 5G advocates say has led to delays and difficulties in a potential 5G rollout. TOP STORY A tale of two budgets: Dems back plan over GOP objections I t was a tale of sharp contrasts as the Senate June 4 gave final approval to a new $43.4 billion, two-year state budget that averts a major projected deficit without increasing income tax rates, but does shift billions of dollars in pension debt onto the next generation of taxpayers. Despite the potential for a $3 billion-plus deficit unless adjustments were made, legislators and the new governor made new investments in health care, bolstered local education aid significantly while sparing cities and towns from having to help cover municipal teacher pension costs. The budget does establish a "mansion tax" surcharge on the sale of expensive homes, asks more from small businesses and consumers and defers the first stage of property tax relief Lamont pledged on the campaign trail. Majority Democrats hailed it as a historic plan that averts a big deficit without raising income tax rates and makes key investments while Republicans painted it as a sloppy blueprint that overtaxes, spends and borrows recklessly, leaves Connecticut with no viable long-term transportation building program, and skirts the legal requirement of a balanced budget. Keith Phaneuf & Mark Pazniokas | CT Mirror BY THE NUMBERS 5 The number of new medical condi- tions added to the state's medical- marijuana program. There are now 36 conditions that qualify patients to use the drug for medicinal purposes. $705M The approximate amount of new tax and fee revenues that will be raised over two years as part of the new $43.4 bil- lion budget passed by state lawmakers. $206M The amount the state has spent over the last decade incentivizing develop- ment of brownfields. 1,627 The square feet that New York apparel company UNTUCKit, which specializes in making button-down shirts designed to be worn untucked, is now occupying at its new Westfarms mall store. TOP 5 MOST READ On HartfordBusiness.com • 1. UTC names new Carrier, Otis CEOs • 2. Hartford breweries eye beer garden launch at Bushnell Park • 3. CT officially drops 'Still Revolutionary' slogan • 4. $70.5M Gold Building purchase aided by $60.6M in debt financing • 5. Hartford council pres. Thames named DECD deputy 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 www.HartfordBusiness.com/ subscribe Connecticut House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz and House Majority Leader Matt Ritter at a press conference following the passage of a $43.4 billion state budget. HBJ PHOTO | MATT PILON

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