Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • November 25, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 29 how much political capital he's spending on transportation, Lamont was honest. "A little bit, but what do you do?," he told me. "I look at the numbers. The Special Transpor- tation Fund goes underwater in 2025. There is no choice but to deal with it. I'm going to deal with it one way or the other and workout any deal that works for [legislators]." Looking ahead to 2022 The longer-term question, in my mind, is whether an issue this early into Lamont's tenure can cost him a chance at re-election in 2022. There are differing views on that. "I don't think it's too early to be thinking about his re-election chances," said Gary Rose, a political science professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield. "We are in a situation right now with gover- nors and presidents where it's the constant campaign anyway. If this fails, it's not as if people are going to say 'well, this was back then.' It's going to be one of the trademarks of his governorship." Roy Occhiogrosso, a former advi- sor to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, doesn't necessarily agree with that. "It's too early to be thinking about what happens in Nov. 2020," let alone two years after that, Occhiogrosso said. Occhiogrosso said Malloy didn't start thinking about re-election until he was much deeper into his first term. And the former gover- nor took on two issues early in his tenure — balancing a multibillion- dollar deficit with spending cuts, a major tax increase and union concessions, as well as education reform — that were very difficult to get through the legislature and cost him significant political capi- tal, but ultimately not his chances of winning re-election. "This is not unusual for an administration in its first year to struggle to get a big issue through the legislature," Occhio- grosso said. "It's pretty standard." Personally, I think Lamont could be a one-term governor depending on how the transpor- tation issue plays out. And given that he's 65 and not a lifelong politician, I don't think that would be the end of the world to him, es- pecially if he thinks he positively impacted the state's future. OTHER VOICES CT's pathway to energy and economic sustainability By Joel Rinebold C onnecticut continues to move forward with aggressive implementation of an energy strategy that includes procurement of offshore wind, development of solar facilities, installation of fuel cells, and development of biomass facilities. This renewable-energy agenda with zero- or low-carbon fuels makes good sense to increase energy sus- tainability and long-term reliability, reduce waste, improve air quality, and reduce carbon for climate control. This energy agenda also ap- propriately includes replace- ment of older ob- solete baseload facilities with new high-effi- ciency combined cycle natural gas facilities derived from our aerospace industry that are reliable and cost- effective as we transition into a fully sustainable energy environment. Development of these energy resources in Connecticut helps to provide jobs related to construction and operation. These values are not insignificant in that they provide thou- sands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue to the Connecticut economy. Further, Connecticut has a premier supply chain to research, manufacture, and assemble ad- vanced energy technology, includ- ing energy storage, electrolyzers, fuel cells, turbines and blades made with advanced composites, and high-speed foil bearings. New renewable-energy technolo- gies made in Connecticut or sup- plied with components from the Connecticut manufacturing supply chain will further improve the value proposition for Connecticut with additional jobs and revenues. High-tech businesses seeking to operate in Connecticut will also find this green-energy economy of value to support product lines that include IT server farms, bioscience and health care. The message here: Connecticut is a technologically advanced state and we should continue to use our manufacturing and supply chain industries to research, manufac- ture and develop advanced renew- able-energy technologies. In addition, where and when pos- sible, these technologies should be interconnected in Connecticut to provide reliable service directly to consumers. It will not be possible to make and site all of these renewable tech- nologies in Connecticut, but our policy goals can maximize the value proposition with jobs and revenues that provide research from our research institutions including UConn, utilize our manufacturing talent to make these technologies, engage our world-class supply chain for the production of components, and use our construction industry for assembly work. With this policy for energy sus- tainability and action to facilitate transformation through replacement of older obsolete power facilities, Con- necticut will be on a favorable path- way to provide clean, cost-effective and reliable energy to consumers in Connecticut that will further enhance Connecticut's position as a world- class manufacturer and global leader in clean-energy technology. Joel M. Rinebold is director of energy at the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology. needs, career goals, personality, attitude, etc., to properly deter- mine the strength of the match. Ignoring a gut feeling that something isn't right If something doesn't feel right, it usually isn't. When hiring, al- ways listen to your intuition. I frequently hear employers say, "I have a feeling something is off about so-and-so, but I can't put my finger on it." They have a bad feeling, ignore it, make the hire, and then regret the decision later when it becomes clear that some- thing was, indeed, "off" about the candidate. I get it — you need people. But making snap decisions and hop- ing for the best rarely works. Be thoughtful, trust your gut, and al- ways pay close attention to red flags. Overlooking negativity Any candidate who speaks poorly of their previous bosses, colleagues or employers can and will say negative things about the next place they work — so don't let that be your company. Negative people are negative in general, and they can be down- right cancerous to your organiza- tion, culture and sanity. They can also damage a business' reputa- tion, which is no small matter. The only surefire way to avoid such complications is to stand firm in never letting these people through the door in the first place. Jackie Ducci , founder and CEO of Ducci & Associates in Hartford and Washington D.C., is a headhunter and hiring consultant. Joel Rinebold

• Cover