Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | AUGUST 7, 2023 17 and $10 million in Urban and Indus- trial Sites Reinvestment Tax Credits. The funding was to support a 90,000-square-foot expansion of FuelCell's Torrington facility, which broke ground in late 2015, and the hiring of hundreds of workers. But the company has struggled to reach hiring benchmarks required under the incentives agreement, and faced several headwinds in recent years that led to multiple rounds of layoffs. Since FuelCell's deal with the state was originally hatched, it's been amended several times. From East Hartford to China FuelCell, which has operations in Danbury and Torrington, competes with HyAxiom, which traces its history to the former Farmington-based United Technologies Corp. HyAxiom said it plans to use its recently raised $150 million from three Korean investment firms for capital investments and research and development, among other purposes. Jeff Hyungrak Chung, president and CEO of HyAxiom, said the recent capital raise is affirmation from investors that the company's "strategic path is promising, given the favorable market conditions for hydrogen business in the U.S. and throughout the world." "These funds will help HyAxiom boost its growth and enable the company to develop and commer- cialize competitive technologies and products including electrolyzers and fuel cells for stationary power and mobility applications," he said. The company's investment follows a reduction in staff in February, when HyAxiom laid off 19% of its 300 employees in Connecticut. As of July 31, HyAxiom had 256 employees. "The layoffs earlier this year were to improve supply chain management and to focus on our core competency, which is systems development," Chung said. "We look forward to moving into a strong third quarter." HyAxiom has been working to advance its hydrogen fuel cell tech- nology, and announced in November 2022 that it was entering the power generation market in China. Another competitor, San Jose, California-based Bloom Energy Corp., in May raised $550 million in a private offering. Osborne, the analyst, said Bloom Energy may have an advantage over FuelCell because it has more experi- ence producing solid oxide fuel cells. FuelCell entered the solid oxide space in 2003, with its $80 million acquisition of Global Thermoelec- tric, but has spent the last 20 years focusing on Department of Energy programs rather than commercializa- tion, Osborne said. 10:45 — 11:15 A M BREAK Sponsored By: BPS Lawyers 11:15— 12:00 PM OPPORTUNITIES AND OBSTACLES IN CONNECTICUT ADULT USE MARKET Moderator ANDREW C. GLASSMAN, Chair Cannabis, CBD & Hemp Practice, Pullman & Comley LLC Speaker KRISTEN TANGARONE Director Operations Curaleaf Speaker JEANNE SULLIVAN Co-Founder and CEO Arcview Collective Fund Speaker JEFF KOOPMEINERS VP, Human Resources Green Thumb Industries Speaker BEN ZACHS COO Fine Fettle HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM/INFO/CT-CANNABIS-CONFERENCE-EXPO Topics • Supply and Demand • Product Testing • Product Development and Marketing • Supply Chain issues • Access to Capital HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL Presents THE BUSINESS OF CANNABIS C O N N E C T I C U T C O N F E R E N C E T H E S E C O N D A N N U A L 09 • 21 • 23 AQUA TURF CLUB 8AM -4PM 8:00— 9:00 AM BREAKFAST Sponsored By: Pullman & Comley 9:00 — 9:45 AM KEYNOTE Keynote Speaker BRYAN T. CAFFERELLI Commissioner Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection • A Review of New and Existing Laws in Connecticut • How does Connecticut foster innovation and competition with neighboring States • DEP and its relationship with Operators 9:45 — 1 0 : 4 5 A M BUILDING AN INDUSTRY IN CONNECTICUT Moderator ANDREA COMER, Chief of Staff Office of the Treasurer, State of Connecticut Speaker PAUL LAVOIE, Chief Manufacturing Officer State of Connecticut Speaker GINNE-RAE CLAY Executive Director Social Equity Council Speaker MICHELLE BODIAN Partner Vicente LLP Speaker ADAM WOOD CEO, Connecticut Cannabis Chamber of Commerce Speaker BRUCE STEBBINS Commissioner, Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission CONFERENCE AGENDA AGENDA CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE SPREAD Jeff Hyungrak Chung

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