Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | DECEMBER 5, 2022 21 www.HartfordBusiness.com • July 15, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 9 Cencap Federal Credit Union (formerly Hartford Municipal Employees CU), plus two other CUs in Bridgeport and Greenwich, are Inclusiv members. A Cencap official said her $45 million- asset credit union has leveraged its CDFI designation to obtain grant fund- ing to upgrade its data-processing sys- tems, train staff, and counsel members and teach them financial literacy. One-on-one Nutmeg in 2016 chose to focus on becoming a CDFI, Clark said. But even before that, since 2011, Nutmeg had di- versified its minority outreach, including hiring bilingual staff to its markets' growing Hispanic population. Nutmeg also introduced a new checking and savings account, among other products and ser- vices, Clark said. It also rewrote policies and pro- cedures to reflect, among other things, its ability to accept alternative forms of identification to open an account. But perhaps the CU's most innova- tive effort is Working Wheels, which Clark says "is a car-ownership program that focuses not only on the loan, but all aspects of car ownership." Since Working Wheels launched in May, Nutmeg has closed five loans, including Defrancesco's, averaging $8,000 for a three-year term, with a fixed interest rate of 12 percent, Clark said. Ten more were in the pipeline as of late May. "Not having reliable transportation is definitely a problem'' for some Nut- meg members, Clark said. "This is an effort to try to help with that.'' Nutmeg's Working Wheels application- review process mirrors its usual loan process, but with some key variations. Wheels applicants undergo a two-week long approval — rather than the usual one-day review/approval turnaround — in which Nutmeg loan underwriters review applicants' credit histories. However, credit records only serve as guideposts — not a reason to reject applicants — to help Nutmeg craft a financial-literacy tutorial for each. The literacy-training, Clark says, plus rate discounts Nutmeg offers Working Wheels borrowers who pay on time, are the reason none of its Working Wheels loans is past due. In Defrancesco's case, she was required to write an essay about what a new car would mean for her and her family financially. She also learned how to balance her checkbook, set up and stick to a household budget, and received advice on bill paying. Defrancesco, who for a time relied on public transit to get back and forth to her food-service job, said her used Rogue SUV "really fit my needs." "It's life-changing as far as I'm con- cerned," she said. FOCUS Community development financial institutions Community development financial institutions (or CDFIs) have a primary mission of promoting community development and providing both financial and educational services to one or more defined target market. There are 10 of them in Connecticut. They include: Organization Type of financial institution City Capital for Change Loan fund Hartford Cencap Federal Credit Union Credit union Hartford First City Fund Corp. Depository institution New Haven holding company First Community Bancorp Inc. Depository institution New Haven holding company Hartford Community Loan Fund Loan fund Hartford Hartford Economic Development Corp. Loan fund Hartford Housing Development Fund Inc. Loan fund Stamford Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union Credit union Rocky Hill Seasons Federal Credit Union Credit union Middletown Start Community Bank Bank New Haven Source: CT Office of Legislative Research Jules Epstein- Hebert, Program Officer, Inclusiv Want to lose the jargon and buzzwords? A giant in accounting and auditing. It's not that size matters. Katie is diminutive, and no one asks her if she played basketball in college. But her clients think of her as a powerhouse. Specializing in accounting and auditing for closely held businesses, she is a consummate professional with a variety of experience in various industries and organizational formats. Her client list includes: private schools and nonprofits, fixed base airport operators, international specialty chemical companies, aerospace fabricators/defense contractors and foreign owned US based manufacturers. A great communicator, she has an ability to understand complicated business structures and transactions and explain it in plain English so people can understand. In a profession often fraught with jargon and buzzwords, Katie can figure it out and explain it to others. She might not win the jump ball, but she gets very high marks with her clients. 231 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06032 | 860-678-7100 | www.flrcpa.com " " My strength is helping businesses large and small navigate complex accounting and auditing challenges. Katie H. Anderson, CPA protect their organizing efforts. But there are already questions over the law. The Connecticut Busi- ness & Industry Association (CBIA) is one of the plaintiffs in a suit chal- lenging the new statute. "The federal government has very clearly weighed in on unionizing matters," said CBIA CEO Chris DiPentima. "The Connecticut law is in conflict with the federal law." Under both the federal statute and new state law, employees have the right to leave any meeting called by an employer to discuss labor organizing. But under federal law, if they leave the meeting they no longer get paid for their time, while under the Connecticut version, the employee continues to get paid. DiPentima said the Connecticut law is also too vague about other topics that can be governed under the concept of captive audience, including politics and religion. "In this world where employers are trying to do more around a better understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion, part of the training includes talking about everyone being from diverse religious backgrounds and embracing that," he said. "Does an employee perceive that as being reli- gious in nature, and then get up and leave that really important training?" But there are warning signs for the potential success of the lawsuit. National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, an appointee of President Joe Biden, has issued a memo saying she believes captive audience meetings held by employers are in violation of the National Labor Relations Act, a stance that would move interpre- tation of the federal statute toward Connecticut's position. "I think employers would be wise in Connecticut to see what's going on nationally," said Jarad Lucan, co-chair of the labor employment and education group at Hartford law firm Shipman & Goodwin. But Lucan said he does believe there's a lot still to be decided as the Connecticut statute is implemented. "There are some questions left open about whether or not you can force someone to come and talk about, say, a safety issue in the work- place that might relate to legislation," he said. "I think those are things that are going to have to get played out." Lucan has advice for employers who may wish to quell organizing within their workforce. "Obviously it's up to each employer whether or not they're fine with a union or not," he said. "For those that aren't, we need to look at how can you make the workplace as positive an experience for your employees as possible." He said paying attention to wages and other concerns will signal to employees that there's no need for a third party to dictate workplace conditions. "If you want to make sure you're doing the right things to be competi- tive with other states that might have less pro-union legislation, you want to be able to show you're that employer that does do the right things," Lucan said. "Many of our members are unionized facilities," added CBIA's DiPentima. "Some of them have very great relationships with the unions and the facilities perform very well. I don't think businesses are anti-union or pro-union. It just depends on the union mindset, the union culture – if they're really looking to work with management to grow the facility so that the facility can prosper." And often, he said, it can come down to the bottom line. "Sometimes with a lot of the rules that come in with collective bargaining with the union, it's a challenge to be cost competitive at a global level," DiPentima said. "If you've got only a certain number of people who can drive a forklift and they're not available, but no one else under the union rules is allowed to come over and use a forklift, that really ties the hands of the employer." Chris DiPentima Jarad Lucan Local Teamsters union bus drivers encouraging organizing efforts. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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