Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | NOVEMBER 7, 2022 13 the state Capitol, Dunkin' Donuts Park, a strong arts scene and other landmarks — as advantages to the Connecticut Convention Center. "They (Mohegan Sun) aren't able to offer the personal or the cultural experience that you have in being in a downtown city as historically signifi- cant as Hartford," Costelli said. Insurance influence Brown said he sees hope for Hart- ford with recent investments in down- town, but the city needs to update its offerings. With similar insurance industry events in Las Vegas and Austin, Texas, InsurTech Hartford needs to offer perks beyond just going out to a restaurant for dinner. InsurTech Hartford organizes insurance industry events across the state, but the annual symposium is its largest. The organization plans to host a "pre-event reception" in Hart- ford before the 2023 symposium, but details have not yet been announced. "We're not running away from Hart- ford, we want to continue to make Hartford, known for its strength in insurance, an asset," Brown said. "It's a community asset. You can't make that go away just by running a single conference at a destination location." While some people have ques- tioned whether Hartford is losing its stature in the insurance industry, Brown, who works for an insurance company, said Connecticut's capital remains important. "Hartford is highly relevant to the industry as much as the industry is highly relevant to Hartford," Brown said. "And, what we need to do, I believe, as a community is find our spot and make it a destination for people to come and be known as a place where business gets done in insurance." There's less competition between Mohegan Sun and the Connecticut Convention Center for events than there is between Connecticut expo- sition centers and those in New York City and Boston, Bunnell said. Ultimately, bringing tourism to Connecticut benefits Mohegan Sun, even when visitors land in Hartford, he explained. "I would tell you at the highest level, the Mohegan Tribe is part of the larger Connecticut tourism commu- nity," Bunnell said. "And whatever we can do to bring in anybody to the state of Connecticut is a win for everybody. And frankly, we are not shy to tell people if they are indicating to us that maybe it's not a perfect fit, that a great place to look is Hartford." Bunnell sees the casino's expo center and Connecticut Conven- tion Center as complementary. For instance, a person traveling to Mohegan Sun might arrive at Bradley International Airport and stop in Hart- ford on their way. "You're going to see the Science Center, maybe you're going to see a game at the baseball field," Bun- nell said. "It's good for all of us. And the more we stick together and fight together, the stronger we're going to be as a state." Connecticut Convention Center event totals Connecticut Convention Center total attendance FY 2013 200 150 100 50 0 400,000 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 FY 2013 2014 2014 2015 2015 2016 2016 2017 2017 2018 2018 2019 2019 2020 2020 2021 2021 2022 2022 * * ** ** *** *** **** **** * Convention Center closed in March 2019 due to pandemic. ** Convention Center didn't open for events in fiscal 2021 due to pandemic. *** Convention Center reopened for business in September 2021. **** This is the number of events projected in fiscal 2023. Source: CT Convention Center $5,200,000 Construction-to-Permanent Mortgage Construction Financing for Self-Storage Facility in Farmington $3,000,000 Revolving Line of Credit Receivable Financing for Logistics Company in Bristol $6,000,000 Term Loan Acquisition Financing for Materials Company in Southington For more information, contact: Here to Help Your Business Flourish. ThomastonSB.com | 855.344.1874 | | Member FDIC | Equal Housing Lender Anthony Mattioli VP, Sr. Commercial Loan Officer AMattioli@ThomastonSB.com 860-283-3469 John-David Scarritt First VP, Sr. Commercial Loan Officer JScarritt@ThomastonSB.com 860-283-3425 Trish Tomlinson VP, Sr. Commercial Loan Officer PTomlinson@ThomastonSB.com 860-283-3499 ∙ Commercial Real Estate Mortgages ∙ Term Loans ∙ Lines of Credit ∙ SBA Loans ∙ Equipment Loans ∙ Merger & Acquisition Financing James Murdick SVP, Chief Loan Officer JMurdick@ThomastonSB.com 860-283-3456 No. of annual events Total annual attendance

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