Hartford Business Journal

12 Hartford Business Journal • January 27, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Joe Cooper jcooper@hartfordbusiness.com T here's a fair amount of optimism coming from Hartford boosters lately, but it quells in comparison to how the city's newest IT services firm views downtown and the region. New Jersey's GalaxE.Solutions Inc. entered downtown Hartford last year, promising to create "several hundred" tech jobs at its newly minted innovation center — dubbed "Outsource to Hartford" — at Up- ward Hartford's coworking space in the Stilts Building, at 20 Church St. The fast-growing global IT ser- vices firm has quietly hired some 45 downtown workers since then, and recently told Hartford Business Journal its ambitious plan to employ at least 200 people by summer. GalaxE, which currently occupies six offices scattered across the third floor of the Stilts Building, is also search- ing for new downtown office space to meet various hiring goals while existing staff continue to develop and implement technology for the insur- ance and healthcare payer markets. CEO Tim Bryan, the company's founder three decades ago in New York City, in a recent interview said his firm could make Upward Hart- ford its permanent residence or even purchase a downtown office tower. "I think the city is one of the best- kept secrets in America," said Bryan, who is bullish about tapping into Greater Hartford's talent pool and securing new insurance, healthcare and manufacturing clients in the region. "In my view we will surpass anyone who has come into town recently in terms of hiring." GalaxE's Hartford expansion builds on the city's recent progres- sion as a landing spot for new tech jobs and others geared toward the next-generation workforce. Global IT giant Infosys has hired 170 people in downtown's Goodwin Square office building, and more than 500 statewide since March 2018. The Indian-based company says it's ahead of schedule in deliv- ering on its promise to hire 1,000 people in Connecticut by 2023. Idaho insurtech Covr Financial Technologies also launched its new corporate headquarters in downtown's iconic Boat Build- ing last year, where it now houses about 18 employees, a spokeswoman said recently. It also comple- ments the innovation ef- forts of Upward Hartford and three startup accelerators for the insurance, advanced manu- facturing and healthcare industries. GalaxE, a competitor to Infosys more in terms of hiring than clientele, is looking to add at least another 150 or so jobs this year by creating new work- force pipelines with higher-education and nonprofit institutions, in addi- tion to bringing new hires through its extensive job-training program. It will also rely on Bloomfield health insurer Cigna, which ac- quired GalaxE's first-ever client, pharmacy-benefits manager Express Scripts, in late 2018. GalaxE's new physical presence near Cigna's Bloomfield headquar- ters has made it easier for both companies to interact. Cigna uses GalaxE's flagship GxFource plat- form, which has nearly 20 products that help clients with data automa- tion, compliance, infrastructure and security, among other uses. GalaxE typically serves the health- care, pharma and life sciences, finan- cial services, and retail and manufac- turing industries, among others. Mark Boxer, Cigna's global chief information officer, says Ga- laxE has helped streamline its integration with Express Scripts as the insurer looks to miti- gate risk, reduce costs and build a broader health- services business. "We're expanding our broader health-services business and driving innovation in the market to meet the 'whole personal' health needs of our clients, customers and patients," said Mark Boxer, Cigna's global chief information officer. "GalaxE will help us make that vision real." Growth blueprint, Cigna's recruitment Tripling GalaxE's Hartford work- force in a matter of months won't be easy, but an expansion of this magni- tude is nothing new for the company. The Somerset, New Jersey-based firm debuted its second innovation hub — "Outsource to Detroit" — in the Motor City about a decade ago. At the time, it pledged to create hundreds of new jobs and become a piece of the city's revitalization. Today, GalaxE has a 150-employee unit in downtown Detroit, where it also established a training program called ExperienceIT with Quicken Loans Inc. and others. It also maintains offices in New York, Toronto, United Kingdom, India, Belgium, Brazil, China, Ireland, Japan and Singapore, and em- ploys about 2,000 people worldwide. GalaxE's growth in Detroit caught the eye of President Barack Obama in 2012 as Bryan and his staff were invited to the White House to dis- cuss the competitive advantages of investing and creating high-level IT jobs in the U.S. Cigna also noticed how quickly GalaxE was growing in Detroit and other markets and envisioned Hart- ford becoming an ideal landing spot for the company, Boxer said. When it became apparent last year that GalaxE was looking to add another software-development hub, Cigna's leadership informed Bryan that Hartford had the business in- frastructure, academic partnerships, IT Boom Hartford's newest tech company aims for 200 workers, new downtown office in 2020 GalaxE.Solutions CEO Tim Bryan (left) stands next to Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin in September as the global IT services firm announced its plan to create an innovation hub in downtown's Stilts Building, 20 Church St. GalaxE recently hired Chandra Dyamangoudar to lead the firm's hiring and business development in Hartford. HBJ PHOTO | SEAN TEEHAN HBJ PHOTO | JOE COOPER HBJ PHOTO | JOE COOPER

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