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Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Hartford Business Journal P.O Box 330 Congers, NY 10920-9894 A rendering of the North Crossing development in downtown Hartford. Rentschler Field in East Hartford. RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED HBJ PHOTO | GREG BORDONARO S tanley Black & Decker and Cigna have agreed to contribute to a supplemental loan pool designed to help fund private real estate deals in Hartford. The two Greater Hartford-based companies will fund a loan pool that will provide $1.7 million to the Downtown North mixed-use apartment development, helping the developer proceed with the second phase. Each company will provide $850,000 toward the loan pool for the so-called North Crossing development near Dunkin' Donuts Park. The project's $50 million first phase, which includes construction of 270 apartments, is expected to debut in the first quarter of 2022. The developer is Randy Salvatore of Stamford-based RMS Cos. The Capital Region Development Authority board of directors unanimously approved a resolution Sept. 16 to enter into the agreement with New Britain-based toolmaker Stanley and Bloomfield health insurer Cigna. The companies will fund the loan, which the developer must pay back; CRDA will disburse and service the loan. Stanley Black & Decker, Cigna loans to help downtown development Hartford's Blind Pig Pizza to close Blind Pig Pizza Co., a Hartford eatery that's part of the Bear's Smokehouse BBQ restaurant group, announced it would close Oct. 3. The Bear's Restaurant Group, which owns the pizza eatery on Arch Street in downtown Hartford, announced Blind Pig employees will have the opportunity to work at one of its four Bear's Smokehouse locations in Hartford, New Haven, South Windsor and Windsor. In a statement, co-owner Cheryl Antoncic cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a contributing factor to the closure. The restaurant's lease at 89 Arch St., was also coming up for renewal. Ion Bank opens South Windsor branch Ion Bank has opened a new branch in South Windsor, its third location in Hartford County. The new branch at 1751 Ellington Road is the bank's 20th overall and the furthest geographically from its main Naugatuck branch. Ion, the former Naugatuck Savings Bank, joins a host of smaller community banks expanding into Hartford County. As of June 30, 2021, its total assets were $1.77 billion, up from $1.62 billion one year earlier. UHart opens center for advanced engineering and health care The University of Hartford has officially opened its new 60,000-square-foot center for advanced engineering and health care. The Francis X. and Nancy Hursey Center for Advanced Engineering and Health Professions is equipped with specialized technology for training in the engineering and healthcare fields, UHart said. Students in the university's colleges of engineering, technology, architecture and education and nursing and health professions will all take courses in the building. NY architecture, engineer- ing firm opens office in Windsor H2M, a New York-based architecture and engineering firm, has opened its first Connecticut office in Windsor. The new H2M location is located in a suite at 360 Bloomfield Ave. The firm specializes in consulting and design services, and its new investment in Connecticut stems in part from the federal money the state could receive as part of a bipartisan infrastructure package being negotiated in the U.S. House and Senate. UConn breaks research- funding record with $375M in fiscal '21 Funding for research at the University of Connecticut reached record levels last fiscal year, with more than $375 million in new awards. It was the first time Connecticut's flagship university broke the $300-million mark for research funding in a year, according to UConn. Grants went to researchers at UConn's principal campus in Storrs, UConn Health and the university's four regional campuses. External sponsors — including federal agencies, state government and companies in various industries — funded 746 proposals for one-time and multiyear projects. Rentschler Field, CT Con- vention Center need $3.5M of work It may seem like the Connecticut Convention Center and Rentschler Field are relatively new additions to Greater Hartford, but the reality is that both facilities are getting old. Rentschler Field opened in 2003 and the Convention Center in 2005. And like anything that's aging, they need work. The Capital Region Development Authority's board of directors recently voted to authorize their executive director to apply to the state Bond Commission for $3.5 million to replace cooling towers and install a new elevator at the Convention Center, and for a comprehensive building assessment and HVAC repairs at Rentschler Field.