Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • June 17, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 9 FOCUS shares our patient philosophy. Q. Florida's medical program is "vertically integrated," which means marijuana growers can also sell the drug, while Connecticut's is not. How big of a deal is that for Trulieve? A. While Connecticut is not a verti- cally integrated state, it is a medical- only state with which we are very fa- miliar here in the state of Florida. Many of Florida's "snowbirds" from Con- necticut are likely very familiar with Trulieve and its focus on the patient, which we feel will be beneficial for us. Additionally, Trulieve is already in a non-vertically integrated state (California) so the concept is not for- eign to us. In addition to the current offerings at the dispensary, Trulieve can use some of its established relationships and partnerships to introduce the high-quality products for which Trulieve is known. Q. Connecticut has seen several dispensaries and a grower acquired in the past 10 months. As a pending acquirer here, how competitive do you perceive the dispensary market to be in Connecticut? Are there a lot of competing buyers out there sniff- ing around for licenses? A. We expect to see a lot of competi- tion in Connecticut. As in many other states, the cannabis market continues to grow and we welcome the com- petition. It helps to define our brand, which we feel is very beneficial for us. We have no idea if there are other buyers looking for licenses as we focus on attracting partners with quality products and building strong business fundamentals. MEN MAKE A DIFFERENCE Interval House is grateful for the many men in our community who stand with us to end violence against women. Tony A. Steven Abrams Peter Adelsberger Edward Alamo Dudley "Skip" Alleman Tony Allen Kenneth Alleyne MD William J. Anastasiades Mike Andreo Jon Andresen Mark Andresen Anonymous Donald E. Baker Barry Baskind Beswick Belnavis Sr. Bill Bergamo Timothy D. Bergstrom Mike Bermudez John A. Bierly DMD Mark Birdwell Anthony Bivona Robert Blanchard Richard Blumenthal David Bogan Steve Boucher Brian Boyle David Brandwein Richard Brown Lawrence C. Donn Cabral Craig Campbell Daniel Caouette Bruce Carlson Coleman H. Casey David "Peter" Castaldi Devin Castaldi-Micca Gary Castellani Michael Ceppetelli Dan Clark Steven Clark Stephen Collins Elliot Comeaux Julio Concepcion Aaron Coombs Brian Correra Charlie Coursey Chuck Coursey Ned Coursey William Cox James Cox-Chapman Erik Crespo Victor Cristofaro Eric Daniels Adam Delaura Norman DeLaura Marc DiBella Todd Doyle Bradford Drazen Ed Driscoll Benjamin Dubow Jeffery A. Dupont Jr. Eamon Dworkin Paul Dworkin Jack Ellovich Brian Erhlich Brian Ferguson Donate, volunteer, or get help at intervalhousect.org Arnold Flannery Bryan Flannery Trayvon Fleming Miner Flyer Bernard Forand Joseph Fortuna Brien Foster Sam Foster Tucker Foster Donald Frechette Ben Fuchs Joe Furey John Q. Gale Bruce Gaston Keith Gaston Steven Gaston Sean Gaura Joseph Gianni Louis Golden Bill Gombatz Daryel Gonzalez Rafy Gonzalez Jr. Rafy Gonzalez Sr. Robert Graham David Hadden John Harkins Peter Hicks Jon Hitchcock Hop River Radio Club Brad Hutensky Jason Jakubowski Marvin Janow Adam Jeamel George Jepsen Carl Johnson Bradford Karsky Mel Kawakami Richard Kehoe David Kinahan Talbot Kramer Robert Kreutel Wayne Kulas Michael LaBella John Labelle Garry Lapidus Dominique Lebel Michael Lipsett Jim Lohr Frank Lord Geoff Luxenberg Matthew Magda Dean Marchessault David Mason Patrick Matthews Ken McGovern William J. McGurk Jr. Dan McKeever Michael McLaughlin Jr. Prasad Menon James A. Micca Salvatore J. Micca Peter P. Micca Jr. Edward Mitchell Jeffrey Mitchell Michael Mitchell Robert Mitchell Robert Montecalvo John Moore Paul H. Mounds Sr. Josh Murawski Peter Murawski Ray Noeker Mark Orenstein Mark Overmyer-Velázquez John Paindiris Bob Painter Bill Pasquale Brewster Perkins Scott Perrault William A. Petit Jr. Alexander Phillips Richard Phillips Timothy Prete Julien Quirion David Rivera Jason Rojas Anthony Rose James Sanchez Paul Schlickmann Javon Lydale Scott John Jerome Scott John Luther Scott Nathaniel Scruse Jr. Ernest Scruse Sr. Sandy Singleton Adam Sloat John Small Charon Smalls James Stark D. Charles Stohler Thomas Storey Maurice DeFalco Stuckey Richard Sugarman Liam Sweeney William "Bill" Sweeney Fred Sweitzer Steven Teague John Thomas Mike Thurz William Tong James Turcotte John Turgeon Michael Ungaro Theodoros Vassilakis Jake Veilleux Richard Veilleux Joe Wall DeVer Warner Ricardo Watson Howard Weiner Randy Weinstock Michael West Greg Wilcox Kenneth Williams William Williams Chris Wirth Thomas Witt Gregory Woodward Ed Wrobel John R. Young Tony Zambrello Farhad Zarinejad At the time, DSS ordered providers to start using a visit-tracking system meant to reduce overbilling and fraud. Farmington-based Companions & Homemakers (C&H) refused, citing pri- vacy concerns over sharing additional employee data. As a result, DSS pulled C&H's Medicaid contract, putting it at risk of losing 1,400 clients. The two sides reached a deal not long after, but amid the hubbub, C&H sued ap- proximately 30 caregivers who had switched to other employers while keeping former C&H clients. C&H CEO Linda Grigerek said the suits, which sought injunctions, were a defensive response. "In 2017, 1,400 of our clients were contacted by a DSS contractor and told they would be losing their agency and possibly their current caregiver in 30 days," said Grigerek, adding agencies like hers play a crucial role in recruit- ing, training and then matching care- givers to needy residents. "By invoking the 30 non-solicitation agreements, Companions was able to tell the state they could not take away 40 percent of a private company's business in 30 days. And by fighting [the recent budget provision] we are again trying to prevent this from happening to any other agency, caregiver or client." The lawsuits clearly bothered DSS, whose commissioner at the time, Roderick Bremby, advocated for a non-compete ban for the industry. Deputy Commissioner Kathleen Brennan had a similar message ear- lier this year for lawmakers. "As a matter of public policy, the health and safety of frail elders or persons with disabilities should not be disrupted by homemaker-companion or home-health agencies that seek to pro- tect their business interests at the cost of those they serve," Brennan testified. Many other homecare companies have competitive restrictions in their employee and client contracts. They're often targeted at discourag- ing clients from offering to directly hire caregivers, and blocking caregiv- ers from soliciting or working for former clients during a period of time after leaving their job, sometimes six months. "As an industry, we don't have an issue with our caregivers working for multiple agencies or clients," Roth said. "Where we have a problem is the piece of this that prohibits non- solicitation agreements." Among other issues, the homecare industry is facing a worker shortage as Connecticut's population continues to age. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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