Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1198935
www.HartfordBusiness.com • January 13, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 5 Middletown's Wesleyan University preps $75M bond offering; major campus upgrades planned Middletown's Wesleyan University is planning a $75-million bond offering that will help fund major campus upgrades to its art, social science, and science academic buildings, officials said. The private, nonprofit college, which serves nearly 3,000 full-time undergrad students, said the bond funding will help with renovations or upgrades to the school's Public Affairs Center (PAC) and science and art facilities. Fed projects economic slip for CT in first half of 2020 While state officials remain hopeful that government coffers will continue to swell for another four years, a new federal forecast warns Connecticut's economy is poised to slip over the next six months. The latest monthly projections from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia identified nine states at risk of contraction by mid-2020, the most in more than a decade. And while the 0.13 percent decline in Connecticut's economic index is the mildest of the nine falling states — far less than West Virginia's 2.56 percent drop — it still casts a negative cloud over a state that lagged the nation in recovering from the last recession. Other states at risk of contraction include: Montana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Vermont and Kentucky. Keith Phaneuf | CT Mirror Denver company acquires one of CT's fastest-growing med-tech firms Farmington medical-technology vendor Evariant has been sold to a Denver-based company that makes customer relationship management software for the healthcare and life- sciences industries. Evariant, which has been named one of the fastest-growing companies in Connecticut and nationally several times, has been acquired by Healthgrades for an undisclosed sum. Evariant currently has its corporate headquarters on Farmington Avenue but also has offices in Texas and Massachusetts, according to its website. A Healthgrades spokeswoman said that while the majority of Evariant's Farmington employees will be retained, some layoffs will occur locally as the company cuts redundant positions. She added that the Farmington office will remain in place, and that Healthgrades is committed to the Hartford area. In 2017, Hartford Business Journal reported Evariant had 150 employees and raised $100 million since its inception. Wethersfield OKs $3M Artisanal Burger, countertop showroom developments Planning officials in Wethersfield have pushed ahead construction plans for a $3-million Artisanal Burger Co. restaurant and a kitchen-countertop showroom. The town's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voted to issue special permits for the owners of Artisanal Burger and Stone House By Temponi to construct new venues in town. The approval means the family- owned Stone House business will be relocating operations from Meriden to Wethersfield. Artisanal Burger co-owners Joseph Sullo and Dorjan Puka plan to build a $3-million restaurant on Maple Street with 250 seats. The 6,000-square- foot eatery will feature outdoor patio seating, at least 120 parking spaces and employ 75 part- and full-time workers. Stone House will erect a 5,000-square-foot showroom and outdoor display on vacant land at 1912 Berlin Turnpike. Farmington biotech Azitra expanding, relocating to Branford A growing Farmington biotech that is developing dermatological medicines by leveraging the good bacteria that live naturally on the skin will relocate in April to a larger lab and office space in Branford. Azitra Inc., founded by Yale scientists in 2014 and now housed in UConn's Technology Incubator Program (TIP) accelerator in Farmington, has leased 12,000 square feet of lab and office space at 21 Business Park Drive in Branford. 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com PDS ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. THINK • PLAN • BUILD Spotlight on: Commercial TriPoint Performance Based Insurance | Avon, CT Total Project Size: 4,000 SF Another Successful Project by PDS DESIGN BUILDERS • GENERAL CONTRACTORS • CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS PDS served in the role as General Contractor for a two story 4,000 square foot interior renovation of new office space. The renovation was a full gut of the existing facility consisting of new carpeting, wood flooring, ceilings, walls, millwork, doors, painting, toilet accessories, sprinkler, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical. This project was completed within a fast track two month span and finished within budget.