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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MAY 29, 2023 23 MECH JOB INFORMATION PROJ. NO.: 659749-309219 JOB NAME: MKT - Taub CT Bond Offering Print Assets SPECIFICATIONS TRIM SIZE: 4.75" x 6.75" FINISHED SIZE: 4.75" x 6.75" BLEED: 0.125" NOTES State of Connecticut $710,000,000* $100,000,000* General Obligation Bonds (2023 Series A) $260,000,000* General Obligation Refunding Bonds (2023 Series B) $350,000,000* Taxable General Obligation Bonds (2023 Series A) Preliminary Pricing Information: Retail-Only Order Period Wednesday, May 31 st * Institutional Pricing Thursday, June 1 st * Delivery Date Thursday, June 22 nd * Expected Tax Status: Interest on the General Obligation Bonds is exempt from federal income taxes and is excluded from Connecticut taxable income. Interest on the Taxable General Obligation Bonds is included in gross income for federal income taxes and is excluded from Connecticut taxable income.** Further information on these Bonds can be obtained at www.buyCTbonds.com, or contact any of the fi rms listed below *Preliminary, subject to change. **Before purchasing any Bonds, contact your tax advisor to determine any applicable federal, state and local tax consequences. These Bonds may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the Offi cial Statement is delivered in fi nal form. Under no circumstances shall this announcement constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the Bonds in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualifi cation under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The Bonds will only be sold by means of an Offi cial Statement. Morgan Stanley 203-967-7001 Jefferies 800-567-8567 J.P. Morgan 855-231-8873 Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. 866-844-9565 Stern Brothers & Co. 800-466-5519 Academy Securities 855-212-3239 AmeriVet Securities, Inc. 646-809-6940 Baird 414-765-3649 Blaylock Van, LLC 877-591-7072 BofA Securities 888-768-6999 Cabrera Capital Markets LLC 800-291-2388 Drexel Hamilton, LLC 212-632-0406 Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC 917-343-7900 Loop Capital Markets 888-294-8898 Mesirow Financial, Inc. 800-558-7290 Mischler Financial Group, Inc. 800-820-0640 Piper Sandler & Co. 800-552-0614 Raymond James 877-295-9116 RBC Capital Markets 860-657-1777 Roosevelt & Cross Incorporated 800-348-3426 Stifel 800-679-5446 INVEST IN CONNECTICUT, INVEST IN YOUR FUTURE Honorable Erick Russell Treasurer of the State of Connecticut up with a widely marketable idea. BioSafe registered its first product, ZeroTol, in 1998, and from there it was all hands on deck for the Larose family. Rob's brother, Steve Larose, at that time working in the restaurant industry, was recalled, along with a cousin, Mike Abbott. "That was the four of us," Steve Larose recalls. "And we sat around a table like this with four phones and a map and a phone book. And we just started calling people and trying to get someone to try it." The kids — then in grade school — also got in on the ground floor. "It was truly a grassroots effort," said Crane. "We used to help fill product in the basement. Then my dad would drive around and try and get people to take a sample and try it out and get testimonials from customers." Horticulture was their first successful market, among green- house growers who wanted an alternative to toxic pesticides. From there they branched out into field agriculture and soil remediation. While the company has always remained headquartered in Connecticut, first in Glastonbury and then in East Hartford, many of its biggest customers are elsewhere in the country, in regions with a bigger agricultural presence. Steve Larose moved to Florida for a while, to get the business off the ground there. "Let me tell you, it was not easy being a Yankee trying to sell to the growers down there. They did not want to talk to me," he smiled. "When we started to broaden our sales force and we started to hire people native to Florida, sales really took off." Now, once a new territory is iden- tified and opened up, BioSafe will hire local sales reps to connect to customers. Manufacturing, too, has been decentralized. "We started building manufac- turing facilities and warehouses where our major growing areas are," said Vice President of Sales Jeff Kline. "It fit our sustainability mission — less carbon footprint, obviously, than trucking across the country." "Building plants where our sales are, allowed us to have a shorter response time to our customers," he added. BioSafe has manufacturing facil- ities in Michigan, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona, along with warehouses in California and Washington. Meanwhile, other applications have also joined the lineup, including disinfecting bodies of water, ranging from small orna- mental koi ponds to large municipal water systems. Animal health applications now include foot baths for cattle, and water line treatments to keep livestock pens supplied with safe drinking water. In fact, the success of multiple new applications for a while meant the company grew well beyond its horticultural roots, until the advent of the cannabis industry brought it full circle back into the greenhouse. "When it was underground, they were using some pretty gnarly pesticides, which were actually hurting people," said Kline of cannabis growers. "And with our chemistry being no residual, it was perfect for medicinal cannabis, right? So now, we're pretty much the top name when it comes to crop protection in cannabis." As a privately held company, BioSafe does not disclose financial information, but it has seen consis- tent year-over-year growth, and over the last 10 years has grown reve- nues by 140%, officials said. New horizons For the future, Kline said he sees growth potential in the U.S., as well as in new international markets. Already in Canada and Mexico, BioSafe is looking at expansion into Central and South America. And Kline also sees more potential in the retail market. While BioSafe has grown principally as a busi- ness-to-business company, it does sell to retail customers through independent garden centers and on Amazon. Kline said the company is working on partnering with high-pro- file brands to get further into the retail space. BioSafe recently patented its Restorative Soils Program, which works to improve soil health for crop production, and opened a new inno- vation center where an all-female lab team is at work. As for Rob Larose's children, they're also continuing to re-imagine the company without their father's guiding hand. "We're still processing it to some degree," said Matt Larose. "We did not know how the company at large would react. And there were a lot of questions. But I've got to say, it's been very encouraging." They say while the management style may evolve a little with a new generation, the core vision will stay the same. "We got a lot of phone calls from people looking to purchase the business," said Crane, "and we could have gone that way. But we don't want to, because that's not what he would've wanted or what he would've done. My dad's biggest tagline was, 'complete the mission.'"