Hartford Business Journal

Ideal Fish reels in new customer base amid restaurant closures By Greg Bordonaro gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com C onnecticut's Brass City can now also be called the Medi- terranean Sea Bass City. In a 63,000-square-foot former button and artil- lery manufactur- ing plant at 64 Avenue of Indus- try in Waterbury, Ideal Fish in 2018 began harvest- ing European bass, commonly known as branzi- no, which is popular among high-end restaurants and grocery stores that largely rely on farming operations in the Mediterranean Sea for their supply (the U.S. imports the majority of its seafood). Ideal Fish President and CEO Eric Pederson said he saw an opportunity a few years back to kickstart domestic production to serve the lucrative East Coast seafood market that craves both fresh and sus- tainable branzino, a flaky silver- skinned fish. He began leasing the Waterbury facility in 2016, spent about two years building it out — equipping it with 25,000-gal- lon water tanks and other technol- bankatpeoples.com Member FDIC/Member DIF like it's our business. We'll help guide your business Meet our team bankatpeoples.com/businessteam T he global coronavirus pan- demic has impacted all com- panies, but small businesses have been hit hardest. With fewer resources, small employers have less wiggle room to endure deep and prolonged economic downturns. Some have been forced to temporarily close to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Others have had to reinvent their business to find new customers and revenue streams. Some have simply gone out of business, lacking the reserves to deal with a precipitous drop in customer demand. For example, popular Hartford farm-to-table restaurant Firebox announced early this month it has closed its doors for good due to "uncertainty" caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Downtown Hartford's Homewood Suites by Hilton hotel on Asylum Street made the same announcement in March. The economic pain felt by small businesses is reflected in the number of companies that applied for and received emergency loans from the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program. As of May 23, the U.S. Small Business Adminis- tration approved nearly 56,000 loans for Con- necticut businesses totaling $6.6 billion. Hartford Business Journal talked to four small businesses about their survival strategies dur- ing these trying times. Some have innovated and found new customers. Others are still trying to figure out how to operate for a while longer under current economic conditions. All are hoping for better days in the future. Here are their stories. Survival Tactics As many small businesses struggle amid the pandemic, grit, determination and innovation key to staying afloat Eric Pederson, president and CEO of Ideal Fish, says Connecticut could become a destination for the farm-raised seafood industry. To the right is a Mediterranean sea bass raised at Ideal Fish's 63,000-square- foot Waterbury facility. Continued on page 8 >> FOCUS: SMALL BUSINESS PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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