Hartford Business Journal

HartfordBusiness.com | February 22, 2021 | Hartford Business Journal 31 been responsible for revitalizing downtown Hartford by funding about 2,000 new apartments. James Loree & Marty Guay Stanley Black & Decker CEO and President James Loree is one of the state's top corporate executives who in recent years has become a leading voice in trying to improve Connecticut's business environment. Since taking over the New Britain hand- and power-tools maker's top job in 2016, Loree has inserted himself directly into state government's affairs. In 2017, he joined the CEO- led Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth, which proposed major reforms aimed at jumpstarting Connecticut's economy, including an overhaul of the state tax code. He's also on the board of AdvanceCT, a nonprofit organization focused on recruiting and keeping businesses in the state. Most recently he was appointed to Gov. Ned Lamont's Governor's Workforce Council, which is trying to ensure Connecticut has a highly-educated workforce that employers need and want. The company made a splash in 2018 when it opened a technology and research center in downtown Hartford and helped launch the Stanley+Techstars Additive Manufacturing Accelerator on-site to groom global startups. Marty Guay, Stanley Black & Decker Inc.'s vice president of business development, has become a big Hartford booster. Guay wants to bring Connecticut manufacturing back to its urban roots of the Industrial Revolution era, and he's encouraging more companies to relocate to the city. He also wants to establish a manufacturing hub in the city's Parkville neighborhood. Christopher Swift Christopher Swift — chairman and CEO of The Hartford, one of the largest property-and-casualty insurers in the country — is a major Hartford booster. When former GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowksi wrote a scathing op-ed about the city of Hartford in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, Swift responded with a strong defense of the city his company has called home for more than two centuries. "Prior to the pandemic, there by more than a third, providing nonprofits grants of $52.7 million — its highest-ever yearly total. Major efforts included the foundation's COVID-19 Response Fund, which made more than 200 grants totaling $9.5 million through the end of 2020 for basic needs and improving pandemic safety at area nonprofits. The foundation also launched a $1.4 million relief program for Hartford-area small businesses that distributed 150 grants of up to $10,000 each, with some of the funding earmarked for enterprises owned by women and people of color. In partnership with the city of Hartford and Dalio Philanthropies, the foundation also pledged to help fund a network of wireless access points across the city that will give all city residents and businesses free high-speed Wi-Fi access when the project is completed later this year. A former mayor of Youngstown, Ohio, and member of the Obama administration, Williams has made an outsized impact on the community. During his foundation tenure he has also developed a new strategic plan that focuses on pushing the Hartford region to achieve greater racial, geographic and economic inclusion. Andy Bessette Andy Bessette has long been one of Hartford's top boosters. As executive vice president and chief administrative officer of property-and-casualty insurer Travelers Cos., which has major operations in downtown Hartford, he has myriad duties, including overseeing corporate real estate, administrative services, community relations, event management and sports sponsorships. He's been one of the top leaders who has helped turn Cromwell's Travelers Championship into one of the PGA Tour's best-run tournaments, attracting some of the world's best professional golfers from around the world, while raising millions of dollars for charity. In 2020, the Travelers Championship took on even greater importance as it was one of the first PGA Tour events to return to action following the outbreak of the pandemic. Despite not having live spectators at the event last year, the event still generated over $1.6 million for more than 100 charitable organizations. Put simply, Bessette is the face of corporate civic engagement in Greater Hartford. A UConn graduate, his ties to Connecticut and the region are strong. He sits on several boards, including UConn and the UConn Health Center. He's also vice chairman of the Capital Region Development Authority, which has Capital City into a destination for tech startups. She — along with her brother, real estate investor/developer Benjamin Schlossberg — are both from New York but have become major Hartford boosters. Shana's organization called Upward is located in downtown's Stilts Building at 20 Church St. and has connected a number of national and global startups to investors and various local corporate partners. Numerous early-stage companies that have participated in Upward's incubator have relocated to Hartford and/or are hiring staff here. In 2020 Shana debuted a "co- living" space at 196 Trumbull St. called Upward Living, which provides short-term housing to out- of-town entrepreneurs and business travelers. Upward signed a 20-year lease for its 34,000-square-foot Stilts Building space with prominent Hartford landlord Shelbourne Global Solutions LLC, for which Benjamin is a managing member. Benjamin and his realty firm in recent years have bought up hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate downtown — including major class A office towers — becoming the center city's most dominant landlord. Shelbourne Global is also leading a $100-million redevelopment of Pratt Street. Shelbourne's most recent major deal was purchasing for $4.3 million the former Fuller Brush Company property in the north end at 3580 Main St., which it hopes to upgrade to a better office/flex/warehouse space. Jay Williams Since arriving at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving in 2017, Jay Williams has significantly lifted the profile of the organization, which sits on a $1-billion community fund. In 2020, he led the foundation's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit many Hartford nonprofits, small businesses and residents hard, and the racial equality movement. The foundation responded by boosting its annual giving 2021 POWER 50 Tyler Anderson & Scott Dolch Connecticut's restaurant industry has been battered by the pandemic but it's had several leaders advocating to save eateries from going out of business. Connecticut Restaurant Association Executive Director Scott Dolch and celebrity chef Tyler Anderson have been lobbying state and federal policymakers to ease restrictions on restaurants and create financial aid packages to help them survive. Dolch's profile over the last year has risen significantly, and he's really had no choice. At the outset of the pandemic last March restaurants were forced to close indoor dining and provide takeout-only services. He had to help his members adapt. He's spent the last year lobbying the Lamont administration to ease certain capacity and curfew restrictions and to make available loans and grants to help restaurants get through the worst of the pandemic. Indeed tens of millions of dollars in grants and loans were made available on the state level. He also lobbied Connecticut's congressional delegation to push for Paycheck Protection Program funding, which has provided a financial lifeline to many restaurants. Meantime, when journalists had questions about how restaurants were adapting during the pandemic they often turned to Anderson, owner of Millwright's in Simsbury and several other Connecticut restaurants. Anderson has been an innovator throughout the pandemic, purchasing a food truck to buoy his outdoor dining service over the summer and setting up greenhouses outdoors to accommodate foodies during colder winter months. When state officials initially rejected the greenhouses as unsafe, Anderson, who has appeared on several Food Network shows, made a public plea for them to reverse their decision. They did about a day later. That's power and influence. Shana & Benjamin Schlossberg Shana Schlossberg broke into Hartford in 2016 and has quickly built a successful coworking, networking and incubator hub downtown that aims to spur entrepreneurship and turn the Tyler Anderson Shana Schlossberg Andy Bessette James Loree Marty Guay Benjamin Schlossberg Scott Dolch Jay Williams 11 12 13 14 15 16

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