Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • October 19, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal CLA 11 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS 2020 Brennan's career devoted to improving CT's business climate By Liese Klein J oe Brennan has been fighting tax hikes since his first day at the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA). As a young lawyer, Brennan joined the state's largest business lobby look- ing to explore his interest in politics and government as a staff attorney specializing in tax-policy issues. Brennan retired this July after 32 years with CBIA — including five years as its president and CEO. His tenure has been marked by ongo- ing battles to improve the state's business climate and reduce tax and regulatory burdens on companies. "I look at our role as really help- ing the entire state of Connecticut," Brennan said. "We all benefit from a robust, growing economy." From his first months on the job at CBIA, Brennan recognized that the state's businesses were facing serious economic headwinds. Higher property taxes for manufacturers and software were an urgent issue, along with fiscal policy. Adding to the pain as the 1980s came to a close, the nation was hit by a severe reces- sion that cost the state 160,000 jobs. CBIA helped usher in reforms includ- ing a spending cap and other measures in the early 1990s, but the collapse of the tech bubble and other challenges lay ahead. The Sept. 11 attacks and the 2008 recession continue to impact the state's job creators, he added, even as lawmakers persist in seeking new tax revenue. "Although the individual taxes that we may have dealt with have changed, the fiscal policy has remained a con- stant throughout my career," Brennan said. "The overall business climate has been an ongoing challenge." He took CBIA's CEO post in 2015, and immediately worked to build a coalition to convince the legislature to roll back nearly $1 billion in tax hikes. "CBIA really stood up in 2015 and fought hard to reduce some of the taxes," Brennan said. "Since then, we haven't seen broad-based tax increases." Looking back, Brennan said he is proud that many firms continue to thrive in Connecticut, and that the state's economic climate rankings have risen. "Overall, I think we're starting to trend in a better direction," Brennan said. "We've got a great opportunity here to really jump ahead; we're better positioned than many other states coming out of the pan- demic." Even in retire- ment, Brennan said he continues to be active in CBIA programs, including CONNSTEP, a manufacturing consulting firm, and ReadyCT, which provides educational and career support to young people. He also plans to continue as a board member of the Governor's Prevention Partnership, aimed at reducing youth substance abuse and violence. "Trying to make Connecticut a bet- ter state for everyone has been really rewarding," Brennan said. "At least some progress has been made." Evans helps showcase CT biz to the world By Liese Klein A nne Evans spent her first stint in government in the early 1970s in the office of a congressman on Court Street in Mid- dletown. Now she's back in the same building, promoting the state's busi- nesses to the world as area director of the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration. "I sort of went around the world and came back in 35 years to where I really wanted to be," Evans said. "I went around the world and moved up nine floors." In between those two stints, Ev- ans earned praise both as a busi- nessperson and an environmental pioneer in the tire industry, cham- pioning new technology as head of her family business, City Tire of Middletown. Founded by Evans' grandfather, City Tire had grown to become one of the largest Firestone tire dealers and tire retreaders in the Northeast by the time she took the helm in 1978. Evans' early experience in politics served her well in a competitive and changing industry, allowing her to parlay her work ethic and experience in coalition-building to grow the company. "It was a different opportunity to take skills I learned in government and politics to business," Evans said. Evans' innovations at City Tire included developing special car clin- ics for women and "plain language" handouts for customers explaining repairs. Her leadership was recog- nized in 1984 when she was elected the youngest and first women president of the 800-member New England Independent Tire Dealers Association. Evans also became a leader on the issue of tire recycling, traveling the globe to promote tires as an alternative energy source. Her expertise in international business made Evans a favored candidate to lead the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration in Connecticut, and she took the job in 2007 — just in time for the state to be hammered by a major recession. Evans first moved to assemble a strong team to help state firms survive the downturn, then began reaching out to companies large and small to offer help with business development and exports. Trade missions abroad were launched to bolster efforts to strengthen the state's export economy. Under Evans' leadership, the export office soon grew to support the international business efforts of more than 2,500 companies in the region, in addition to hosting events involving 1,200 firms a year. "As a team we were able to make the Connecticut office one of the top offices in the country," Evan said. Major events supporting the state's defense and aerospace industries are among Evans' most prized accom- plishments, including the Internation- al Space Summit last year that drew 300 people to Hartford to seek deals with Connecticut companies. "Not only are we bringing the world to Connecticut but we're bringing Connecticut to the world," Evans said. Now the pandemic has thrown up another challenge for state busi- nesses, and Evans has taken the lead in moving the Commerce Depart- ment's services online. Despite recent blows to the economy, the state's successful efforts to fight the virus and keep its economy on track bode well for the future, Evans said. "We kept our manufacturing going, and the governor did a good job with that. I think we're ready to go," she said. Evans added that the state still needs to be active in promoting its accomplishments. "Trying to make Connecticut a better state for everyone has been really rewarding."

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