Hartford Business Journal

32 Hartford Business Journal | February 22, 2021 | HartfordBusiness.com Voting Rights Act or to restrict the sale of menthol cigarettes. As an activist attorney general, Tong has established a national profile as a fighter for mainly Democratic causes. Formerly a Democratic state representative, Tong won a tightly contested three- way primary in 2018 to become Connecticut's first Asian-American attorney general. As a legal foe of the Trump administration, Tong joined with other Democrats to push back on many of the president's policies. Under the Democratic Biden administration, Tong will likely gain more notice from allies in Washington, D.C. Vincent Candelora & Kevin Kelly Rep. Vincent J. Candelora and Sen. Kevin Kelly have each been promoted from deputy Republican positions to top brass in their respective House and Senate caucuses. Over the past decade, it's not been unusual for the Connecticut GOP to be the minority party, but Candelora, and particularly Kelly, are staring down larger disadvantages than normal, and they also must legislate in a mostly remote environment due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has taken the state for a bumpy ride over the past year. Still, the two new leaders, successors to longtime Connecticut Republican stalwarts Themis Klarides and Len Fasano, have come out of the gate aggressively. So far, they've opposed Gov. Ned Lamont's recent extension of his pandemic emergency powers, criticizing lawmakers on the other side of the aisle for "balking," and pressuring Democrats to reassert the legislative branch as co-equal to the governor's office. Candelora has also pressed the fact that the public will be removed — at least physically — from the bill-making process this year as a reason for urging moderation from Democrats in their policy agenda this session. How it shakes out remains to be seen, but despite a damaging November election that further shifted the Connecticut power balance to Democrats, Kelly and and defense powerhouse created by the 2020 merger of East Hartford- based United Technologies Corp. and Massachusetts defense contractor Raytheon. The company is now headquartered in Waltham, Mass., meaning Hayes from afar will be making future decisions about the company's Connecticut presence, which still remains strong with thousands of workers at various subsidiaries including jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney. Hayes has completely transformed UTC in recent years, building up its aerospace and defense business through various acquisitions and spinning off its Otis Elevator and Carrier Corp. subsidiaries. 2020 proved to be a challenging year for Raytheon as the pandemic created headwinds for many aerospace companies serving the commercial aerospace industry, but its defense business remained strong. Paul Mounds & Josh Geballe Gov. Ned Lamont's inner- circle has a mix of business and public policy experts and two of the most influential are Chief of Staff Paul Mounds and Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe. Both have been key in helping Lamont shape his response to the pandemic. As chief of staff, Mounds is Lamont's right-hand man, controlling who has access to the governor. He's attended numerous COVID-19 press briefings, offering insights to the media and public about the state's response to the pandemic, including the vaccine rollout. Geballe worked for 18 years in the technology industry as a business executive, investor and advisor. Before joining the Lamont administration, he was most recently vice president and general manager of digital science at Thermo Fisher Scientific, which in 2017 acquired his software company, Core Informatics LLC. He's been a key official in helping shape the state's vaccine distribution strategy, bringing business principles to the process. William Tong Nearly every day, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announces another action by his office on behalf of residents. One day he's fighting for energy efficiency standards. The next he's joining with other AGs to defend the In Connecticut, when state lawmakers were considering adopting a public health insurance plan in 2019, Cordani reportedly threatened to uproot his Bloomfield- based health insurer and relocate it elsewhere. The legislation died that same day. Cigna denied any threat was made, but the episode still underscored the power health insurers have in Connecticut, where they are one of the region's largest employers. Cordani oversees about 4,500 employees in Connecticut and despite that reported flare up, his company has reaffirmed its commitment to Bloomfield by engaging in a multimillion-dollar campus renovation. Connecticut Democratic lawmakers are proposing a similar public insurance option this year so it will be interesting to see what role Cordani and his fellow health insurance execs play in that debate. At the end of 2020 Cordani oversaw a major $6.3 billion deal — the sale of Cigna's group life and disability insurance unit to New York Life Insurance, which allows the health insurer to focus more on its healthcare businesses. Karen Lynch & Greg Hayes Karen Lynch and Greg Hayes lead two of the region's largest employers that share at least one thing in common — they've both moved their corporate headquarters out of state in recent years. Lynch on Feb. 1 took over as the CEO and president of CVS Health Corp., the Rhode Island-based pharmacy retail giant that acquired Hartford health insurer Aetna in 2018. Following that $69 billion deal, Lynch was named president of the health insurer, but it didn't take long for her to ascend to the top of the company's corporate ladder. She replaced longtime CVS CEO Larry J. Merlo who retired. Lynch will be a major player in determining Aetna's future presence in Connecticut. CVS has pledged to keep Aetna's headquarters in Hartford for at least 10 years and maintain 5,291 employees here for at least four years. What happens after that is anyone's guess. Lynch is leading CVS as it plays a key role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, setting up testing sites and participating in the vaccine distribution. Hayes is CEO of Raytheon Technologies Corp., an aerospace was a palpable change in Hartford's mood, a discernible shift in how the city thinks of itself and of its future," Swift's Jan. 11 op-ed in the Hartford Courant read. "The cloud that has hovered over the city since the late 1980s was lifting. Together, I know we will recapture that momentum as we finally put the deadly coronavirus behind us." Swift represents another corporate CEO who has significantly ramped- up his civic engagement in recent years. He was one of three insurance executives in 2017 who declared that his company would give the city of Hartford millions of dollars over five years, to help with its dire financial issues. He was also a member of the state legislature-backed Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth. Swift also spearheaded a multimillion-dollar fundraising campaign that will yield a new Boys and Girls Clubs recreation center in Hartford's South End. Besides defending the city, Swift has also had to defend The Hartford's response to the pandemic, specifically when it comes to dealing with business interruption insurance claims filed by companies hit hard by COVID-19. Many companies argued such policies covered pandemic- related business interruptions but insurers including The Hartford have fought — including in court — against that notion. In June, Swift penned an op-ed for CNN Business, arguing that viruses are generally outside the scope of business interruption coverage due to the absence of any physical damage. David Cordani David Cordani leads one of the country's largest health plans, Bloomfield-based Cigna Corp., and he's an outspoken proponent of private insurance being the best way to make affordable healthcare coverage more widely available in the U.S. He's also not been shy about weighing in on healthcare reform efforts at the state and national levels, making him a clear leader for the broader industry. In an interview with Fox News Digital about a year ago he said adopting a "one-size-fits-all financing program like 'Medicare-for-all' " isn't the solution to making health insurance universally available. Cordani also met face to face with President Barack Obama about a decade ago to discuss public health insurance exchanges during the debate over the Affordable Care Act. Karen Lynch Vincent Candelora William Tong Paul Mounds David Cordani Christopher Swift Greg Hayes Kevin Kelly Josh Geballe 17 18 20 19 21 2021 POWER 50

• Cover