Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARy 20, 2023 3 BIZ BRIEFS Tel: (860) 236-9998 | Fax: (860) 570-2493 Copyright 2020. All rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Hartford Business Journal P.O Box 330 Congers, NY 10920-9894 Peter Stanton | CEO, pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Tom Curtin | President, ext. 124, tcurtin@hartfordbusiness.com Subscriptions Annual subscriptions are $132.00. To subscribe, visit HartfordBusiness.com, email circulation@ hartfordbusiness.com, or call (845) 267-3008. Advertising For advertising information, please call (860) 236-9998. Please address all correspondence to: Hartford Business Journal, 100 Allyn Street, Suite 3, Hartford, CT 06103 Stay Connected For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to: www.HartfordBusiness.com HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on Linkedln:www.linkedin.com/company/the-Hart- ford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend: www.hartfordbusiness.com/enewsletters Hartford Business Journal (ISSN 1083-5245) is published bi-weekly, 27x per year — including two special issues in November and December — by New England Business Media, LLC, 100 Allyn Street, Suite 3, Hartford, CT 06103. Periodicals postage paid at Hartford, CT and at additional entry points. Editorial Greg Bordonaro | Editor, ext. 139 gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com Drew Larson | Web Editor, ext. 121 alarson@hartfordbusiness.com Michael Puffer | Staff Writer, ext. 145 mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Real Estate, Economic Development, Banking & Finance Hanna Snyder Gambini | Staff Writer hgambini@hartfordbusiness.com Beat: Economic Development Robert Storace | Staff Writer, ext. 127 rstorace@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Health Care, Higher Education, Arts & Culture Skyler Frazer | Staff Writer, ext. 145 sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Manufacturing, Cannabis, Technology, Transportation Stephanie R. Meagher | Lead Researcher Heide Martin | Research Assistant Steve Laschever | Photographer Business Tom Curtin | Publisher, ext. 124, tcurtin@hartfordbusiness.com David Hartley | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 130, dhartley@HartfordBusiness.com Daniel Schilke | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 135, dschilke@HartfordBusiness.com Emily Paskind | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 133, epaskind@hartfordbusiness.com Tracy Rodwill | Human Resources Manager trodwill@nebusinessmedia.com Production Bartosz Zinowko | Production Director, ext. 147 bzinowko@hartfordbusiness.com Breeze Airways CEO David Neeleman. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Breeze Airways launching six new nonstop flights at Bradley through May; one-stop flight to Los Angeles B reeze Airways announced it's adding six new nonstop destinations from Bradley International Airport through May and a one-stop/no-plane change service to Los Angeles. Three new nonstop flights began this month to Vero Beach, Florida, Phoenix, Arizona, and Raleigh- Durham, North Carolina. Three other nonstop routes will begin in May to Tampa, Florida (May, 18), Fort Myers, Florida (May, 17), and New Orleans (May, 19). The daily one-stop/no-plane change service to Los Angeles begins May 17. Once these flights commence, Breeze will be offering 14 nonstop flights out of Windsor Locks — all on Airbus A220 aircraft. Comcast agrees to purchase 70 MW of electricity produced by East Windsor solar farm A Comcast technician monitors a solar array. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Comcast announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase 70 megawatts of renew- able electricity from the Gravel Pit Solar project in East Windsor. Under the 15-year agreement with Constellation Energy Corp., Comcast will purchase enough electricity to power about 43% of its Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal operations across Connecticut and Massachusetts. Those operations include the company's regional headquarters in Berlin, NBC Sports in Stamford and NBC CT in West Hartford. Gravel Pit Solar, which is being developed by D.E. Shaw Renew- able Investments, is a 485-acre solar farm that includes former sand and gravel pits and is adja- cent to former tobacco fields. Two Greater Hartford credit unions propose merger Finex Credit Union's East Hartford branch on Burnside Avenue. PHOTO | COSTAR Two Connecticut-based credit unions — East Hartford's Finex Credit Union and First Connecticut Credit Union of Wallingford — are proposing to merge under the Finex name. The merger requires regulatory approval from the National Credit Union Administration, Connecticut Banking Department and a majority of First Connecticut Credit Union members, the credit unions said. If approved, the combined credit union would have 20,000 members and $150 million in assets. The proposed merger is expected to be completed in mid-2023. Finex, with $104.6 million in assets, has three locations, including in East Hartford, Vernon and Manchester. First Connecticut Credit Union, with $50.4 million in assets, has one location, in Wallingford. Hartford's Express Kitchens acquires NJ-based cabinet company Max Kothari is the founder and CEO of Express Kitchens. HBJ FILE PHOTO Express Kitchens, a kitchen cabinet and countertop retail busi- ness based in Hartford, has acquired New Jersey-based Direct Cabinet Sales, expanding its footprint into two new states. As a result of the acquisition, the company will have five additional retail outlets in New York and New Jersey. Express Kitchens, which manu- factures and distributes kitchen cabinets in Connecticut and Massa- chusetts, now has 17 retail outlets and showrooms in four states, with distribution facilities and manufac- turing plants in Hartford; Dayton, New Jersey; and Ahmedabad, India. East Hartford fuel cell maker lays off 57 employees An affiliate of South Korea-based fuel cell company Doosan Corp. has laid off 19% of its 300 employees in Connecticut. HyAxiom Inc., which is headquar- tered in East Hartford, announced the reduction in hourly and salary positions. The 57 employees who lost their jobs were eligible for a severance package, the company said. HyAxiom CEO Jeff Hyungrak Chung said the job cuts were driven by an "adverse global economic situation coupled with impacts to the industry." South Windsor paper company acquired by NY firm A South Windsor manufacturer, Keystone Paper & Box Co., has been acquired by a New York packaging company. Keystone was purchased by Mill Rock Packaging Partners LLC, which is based in New York City. Keystone makes custom folding cartons for consumer and healthcare customers. Mill Rock Packaging is a portfolio company of Mill Rock Capital, a private equity firm that invests in the consumer packaging industry. It is Mill Rock's fourth acquisition since it was formed in 2020.

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