Hartford Business Journal

4 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | July 4, 2022 Entrepreneurs hope to build cannabis 'campus' in Hartford By Skyler Frazer sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com T wo entrepreneurs are hoping to create a hub for cannabis businesses in Hartford with a new campus that could house several different brands and businesses. Serial entrepreneur David Salinas and Hartford native Janice Flemming-Butler are the co-founders of Let's Grow Hartford, a prospective cannabis business hoping to operate in the Capital City. The two say they have applied for a disproportionately impacted area cultivator license and also submitted social equity lottery applications for retailer, food and beverage manufacturer and delivery licenses. According to Salinas, Let's Grow Hartford was inspired by one of his other ventures, District, a technology and innovation campus in New Haven. He said the business will operate similar to the way contract brewers serve the craft brewing industry, with multiple brands operating together under one roof to share resources and ideas. "We can have established [cannabis] brands or up-and-coming brands and startup companies come in and we'll incubate and help them land in Connecticut," Salinas said. "We want to have them be a part of the ecosystem. So in a sense it's a coworking space or a co-op on the campus." The campus will be designed to house different brands of cultivators, manufactured goods makers, packagers and retailers. Some brands operating within the campus could change annually if they outgrow the space. A majority of the campus will be for business- to-business activity, workspaces and office suites, but Salinas said a retail presence of some kind is planned. "There will be applicants who get a license but face challenges in finding funding or a great space," Flemming- Butler said. "We want those folks to know we have a highly-visible location, with significant vehicle traffic – likely the most desirable location in the state. But more importantly, we have the resources, entrepreneurial spirit, and commitment to help them succeed." Salinas and Flemming-Butler declined to disclose the location for their planned venture, but did say it's already zoned for cannabis business operations. The business model is unique for the cannabis space, but Salinas said he doesn't expect there to be any regulatory issues with the state Department of Consumer Protection regarding the partnerships or operations. "We have to be customer obsessed, and we have to build the future of retail spaces for the customer," Salinas said. "We've got to be thinking about the future of the products that these customers are going to want because it's changing really quickly." Even if the duo doesn't win a cannabis business license, they're still pursuing the campus concept and will be willing to work with any licensed marijuana businesses, they said. "We have the wherewithal, the resources and the property to open this one way or the other, which is why we say that we're open to other people's licenses coming on the property with us," Salinas said. For now, the company's website is up (www.letsgrowhartford.com) and the founders are inviting those interested in learning more to reach out. Salinas said he projects the campus could bring at least 100 new jobs to Hartford. In addition to District, Salinas is also a co-founder of design and digital marketing company Digital Surgeons. Flemming-Butler is founder of Voices of the Women of Color, a Hartford-based social justice firm. More recently she founded lobbying firm Strategic Outreach Solutions. This is the second economic development project Salinas has proposed in Hartford. In March, Salinas revealed plans to open a District-like coworking space as part of broader efforts to redevelop the city's Parkville neighborhood. According to plans, District New Haven would open a 20,000-square- foot coworking space in an advanced manufacturing innovation hub known as the "The Factory," at 81 Bartholomew Ave. That project, which is separate from the Let's Grow Hartford venture, depends on the city getting money from the state's Innovation Corridor grant program, Salinas said. David Salinas Janice Flemming- Butler PHOTO | COSTAR Cigna plans $386M renovation of Windsor data center By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com B loomfield-based health insurer Cigna Corp. hopes to tap tax incentives enacted by Connecticut in 2021 for a $386 million renovation of its Windsor data center. Windsor's Town Council, on June 20, unanimously endorsed a local tax agreement with the insurer. It was an easy sell, as the agreement will see no reduction of the added local tax revenue coming from the project. A "host municipality agreement," however, is required before data center owners or operators can tap the state's relatively new Connecticut Data Center Tax Incentive Program for projects worth more than $200 million, according to an explanation presented to the town council by Windsor Economic Development Director Patrick McMahon. Cigna maintains a data center at 9 Griffin Road North, in a 153,462-square-foot building built in 1982. According to the town, the company plans to spend $100 million on software and another $286 million on taxable personal property over the coming five years. The state's Data Center Tax Incentive Program allows investments in data centers to qualify for local and state tax incentives, including sales and use tax exemptions on goods and services; property tax exemptions; and exemptions on future state financial transaction taxes. To qualify, owners or developers must spend – within five years – $50 million on data centers in an enterprise zone or federal opportunity zone, or $200 million if located elsewhere. That spending can be for the creation, upgrade, acquisition or operation of a data center. Cigna agreed to no abatement of its increasing tax obligation to the town, McMahon wrote. The company did not respond to requests for comment. The tax incentive agreements with the state Department of Economic and Community Development generally carry 20-year terms but can be extended up to 30 years for investments of at least $200 million in enterprise or opportunity zones, and $400 million if elsewhere. Cigna's project will come with significant tax benefits to Windsor, but those will be short-lived due to rapid depreciation of data center equipment, McMahon wrote. The town is projected to reap an additional $1.3 million in taxes in the project's first year, rising to $3 million in additional tax benefit in year five. But depreciation will quickly see that revenue fade, beginning in year six, McMahon wrote. "Absent additional investment beyond year five, estimated tax revenues in years six through eight are projected to range from $1.9 million in year six to $860,000 in year eight," McMahon wrote. Cigna's headquarters in Bloomfield at 900 Cottage Grove Road.

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