Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • September 7, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 5 With two branches on tap, Dime Bank CEO looking to make a splash in Greater Hartford market Oftentimes when a community bank expands into a new geographic area, it starts with one branch. Nick Caplanson wants to go a bit bigger than that. The CEO of Norwich's Dime Bank said he isn't interested in merely dipping a toe in the waters of the Hartford market, where the $960-million asset bank has applications pending for two branches in Glastonbury and Manchester. "We're saying to these communities, 'we're going swimming,' " Caplanson said of the play. "We're that confident we're going to make an impact and it's going to be positive." If approved, the two branches would open late this year or in early 2021, he said. Asked why the bank is moving into Hartford County, Caplanson said part of it has to do with stagnant population growth. "The population is not growing in our market, in Rhode Island or in Connecticut overall," he said. "We have to look for spots with higher population concentration and these fit the bill." East Windsor mattress manufacturer reports COVID-19 outbreak An East Windsor mattress manufacturer said at least 10 of its approximately 190 workers from several towns in Connecticut and Massachusetts tested positive for COVID-19, First Selectman Jason E. Bowsza announced. Bowsza in a Facebook post said Blue Bell Mattress Co. LLC has been working with local and state officials to address the coronavirus outbreak at the manufacturing facility on Thompson Road. A company representative said Blue Bell implemented strict employee safety protocols at the start of the public health emergency in March. However, the company, which is headquartered in Illinois, said it cannot control the conduct of its employees outside of the workplace. "We are very confident that we will be able to control the recent incidence of individuals who test positive, but most importantly, we are 100% confident that our employees and our products will remain safe," the representative said. UConn scores $8M Air Force contract to study aerospace manufacturing UConn received an $8-million contract from the U.S. Air Force to study aerospace manufacturing processes, and how they could be improved. Pamir Alpay, associate dean of research and industrial partnerships at UConn's School of Engineering, said the grant will fund a three-year study of how planes and their components are built, including how to improve the way raw materials are processed. "What we will provide is the knowledge that will help [manufacturers] reduce waste and increase yield," Alpay said. Hartford HealthCare, Yale down nearly $152M from COVID-19 surge Connecticut's two largest health systems, Hartford HealthCare and Yale New Haven Health, are in the red by a combined $151.5 million for the first three quarters of the fiscal year, according to newly filed disclosures that shed more light on the financial impact COVID-19 has had on hospitals. For the nine-month period ended June 30, YNHH reported an overall loss of $121.3 million, while HHC said it lost $30.2 million. It's a significant swing for the two systems, which booked a combined profit of $313.2 million in the first three quarters of last fiscal year ($124.7 million for HHC and $188.5 million for YNHH). Both systems were profitable after the first quarter, which ended Dec. 31, but have seen those gains wiped out since the pandemic began. CT's minimum wage increases to $12 per hour Low-wage workers in Connecticut scored a pay bump Sept. 1, as the state's minimum hourly wage LATEST HEADLINES Nick Caplanson, CEO, Dime Bank Software Developer CGI Technologies & Solutions Inc. seeks Software Developer in Windsor, CT to research, design, develop, &/or modify enterprisewide systems &/or applications software. Job req Bach deg in Comp Sci, Comp Engg, Electrical Engg, Electronics Engg, Info Syst, IT or rel field & 5 yrs of IT exp in the following .NET technologies: C#, WCF, ASP.NET, & Web Services. Exp must incl 5 yrs working w/ SQL Server; 3 yrs working in an Agile software development environment using TDD or BDD; & 2 yrs working w/ Angular, Angular JS, Bootstrap, AJAX, Jquery, HTML5, & CSS. All offers of emp are contingent upon successful comp of background check, which may incl drug screen depending on work assignment. Email resume to recruiting@cgifederal.com & ref job code 773. Make the dark clouds of fiduciary responsibility less formidable. hhconsultants.com/fiduciary Continued on page 6 >> PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED THE BUSINESS NEWS YOU NEED DELIVERED EACH BUSINESS DAY FROM YOUR TRUSTED, LOCAL SOURCE HARTFORD BUSINESS.COM TODAY MORNING BLEND POWERED BY HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL & NEW HAVEN BIZ HARTFORD BUSINESS.COM TODAY VISIT HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM/ENEWSLETTERS TO SIGN UP

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