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2 Hartford Business Journal | February 22, 2021 | HartfordBusiness.com The manufacturing operation is using nearly half of Aquiline's 15,000 square feet of space in the building. Carla's Pasta files for Ch. 11 bankruptcy South Windsor fresh pasta maker Carla's Pasta has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as it struggles to meet tens of millions of dollars in debt obligations amid a COVID-19 pandemic that's negatively affected its business. In its Feb. 8 petition filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Hartford, Carla's Pasta restructuring officer Sandeep Gupta said the 43-year-old family- owned business has experienced a severe downturn and lost accounts from restaurant customers, many of which have shuttered amid the pandemic. The company listed between 200 and 999 creditors, debt liabilities between $50 million and $100 million and total assets ranging from $10 million to $50 million. The filing noted the company had about 140 employees as of Feb. 8. Former Wethersfield Cardio Express property sells for $1.2M The former home of a Cardio Express gym in Wethersfield has sold for $1.2 million. The 17,150-square-foot property at 1199 Silas Deane Highway, which is now vacant, sold this month. The buyer was 1199 SDH LLC, which is controlled by David Azulay of Sunny Isles, Florida. The buyer intends to remodel the interior for a new tenant, "Children of America," Educational Daycare of Delray Beach, Florida, according to Andrew Hale and Jay L. Morris of O,R&L Commercial LLC, which brokered the deal. It will be the daycare's first location in Connecticut. The seller was 1100 Silas Deane Associates LLC, which is controlled by Paul Kaplan of Kaplan Enterprises. Kaplan purchased the property for $910,000 in 2001, town records show. Amazon leases space at former J.C. Penney warehouse in Manchester Amazon has signed a lease to take over a large chunk of the former J.C. Penney warehouse on Pleasant Valley Road in Manchester, according to Director of Planning and Development Gary Anderson. The massive, 1.9 million-square- foot distribution center at 1339 Tolland Turnpike, owned by Winstanley Enterprises, continues to fill up as the facility undergoes a multimillion-dollar renovation project to get it updated. Anderson said Amazon will occupy a 350,000-square- foot section of the warehouse. Amazon will run four shifts and be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Adam Winstanley, principal of Winstanley Enterprises, told the planning and zoning commission in December that the company expected to sign a lease with a then-unnamed tenant that would generate about 600 jobs. In 2019, Ahold Delhaize, the Dutch parent company of Stop & Shop, signed a 15-year lease to occupy the 975,000-square- foot section of the building. J.C. Penney has continued to use about a third of the property as well. — Skyler Frazer | Journal Inquirer Hartford Foundation sets record with $52.7M in grants to nonprofits for 2020 The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving boosted its giving by more than a third in 2020 to address pandemic needs, giving nonprofits grants of $52.7 million ‒ its highest-ever yearly total. Major efforts included the Hartford drone startup launches manufacturing downtown An aerial drone startup headquartered in downtown Hartford says it has begun manufacturing activities in the center city and is significantly increasing its workforce as a result. Aquiline Drones, founded in 2019 by commercial pilot Barry Alexander, said it has recently hired 25 technicians to assemble two types of drones as well as a smart camera, and plans to hire another 25 people in the coming weeks. That'll be up from 15 employees about a year ago. Aquiline aims to seize on a government-spurred push for domestic drone manufacturing. The drone production is taking place at Aquiline's Stark Building headquarters, where it signed a lease about a year ago for the 16th and 17th floors. SUBSCRIPTIONS Annual subscriptions are $96.00. To subscribe, visit HartfordBusiness.com, email hartfordbusiness@cambeywest. com, or call (845) 267-3008. ADVERTISING For advertising information, please call (860) 236-9998.Please address all correspondence to: Hartford Business Journal, 100 Allyn Street, Suite 3, Hartford, CT 06103 STAY CONNECTED For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to: www.HartfordBusiness.com HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on Linkedln:www.linkedin.com/company/the-Hartford- Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend: www.hartfordbusiness.com/enewsletters Tel: (860) 236-9998 Fax (860) 570-2493 Copyright 2020. All rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Hartford Business Journal P.O. 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Peter Stanton | CEO, pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Tom Curtin | President, ext. 124, tcurtin@hartfordbusiness.com Mary Rogers | COO/CFO, mrogers@nebusinessmedia.com EDITORIAL Greg Bordonaro | Editor, ext. 139, gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com Matt Pilon | News Editor, ext. 143, mpilon@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Real Estate/Economic Development, Energy, Startups & Entrepreneurs, Banking & Finance, and Government Liese Klein | Web Editor, ext. 127, lklein@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Health Care and Bioscience Sean Teehan | Staff Writer, ext. 145, steehan@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Manufacturing, Law, Technology, Higher Education, and Transportation Tim Doyle | Lead Researcher Heide Martin | Research Assistant Steve Laschever | Photographer BUSINESS Tom Curtin | Publisher, ext. 124, tcurtin@hartfordbusiness.com Christina Zuraw | Events Coordinator, ext. 134, czuraw@hartfordbusiness.com David Hartley | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 130, dhartley@HartfordBusiness.com Zac Macinnes | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 133, zmacinnes@HartfordBusiness.com Daniel Schilke | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 135, dschilke@HartfordBusiness.com Valerie Clark | Director of Audience Development, ext. 332 Jill Coran | Human Resources Manager Megan Mason | Operations Assistant, mmason@hartfordbusiness.com PRODUCTION Christie Novotny | Production Director, cnovotny@hartfordbusiness.com Joe Zwiebel | Founding Publisher Biz Briefs Lamont unveils new employer hiring incentive program www.copyright.com Gov. Ned Lamont has proposed a new incentive program for companies that add jobs in the state. As part of his recently released budget plan and legislative priorities, Lamont unveiled his JobsCT Tax Rebate Program, which he describes as "a simple, transparent, targeted, earn-as-you-grow incentive program for businesses to expand in or relocate to Connecticut." It provides incentives to employers in the state's top and emerging industries ‒ including aerospace and defense, clean energy and renewables, entertainment and digital media, financial services, information technology, life sciences, manufacturing, and R&D facilities ‒ that create a minimum of 25 new full-time equivalent positions with salaries above $37,500, or 85% of the median household income of the municipality where the jobs will be located, whichever is greater. Employers that hit and maintain those benchmarks for at least two years will receive a fully refundable rebate equal to 25% of the withholding taxes from the new employees over the next five to seven years. They can use that money to reinvest in their business. The plan still requires approval from the state legislature. Gov. Ned Lamont gets a tour of 5 Churches Brewing in New Britain from owner Peter Lemnotis (left) in October. CT MIRROR PHOTO: CLOE POISSON Barry Alexander (right), CEO of Aquiline Drones, with his chief strategic advisor, Brooks Bash, in Aquiline's Stark Building offices in downtown Hartford. HBJ PHOTO | MATT PILON Amazon plans to add hundreds of new jobs at the Winstanley Logistics Hub in Manchester. HBJ | PHOTO FILE