Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | DECEMBER 11, 2023 21 FOCUS: 5 WE WATCHED Daum said specific corporate relo- cations both in and out of the state are just one small part of the larger jobs picture. "At DECD we focus more on the net number of jobs and businesses in the state as indicators of our economic health," she said. "We continue to see encouraging signs on these fronts, including the fact we've gained 25,600 jobs this year, private sector employment is now at an all-time high, and we've added over 21,000 firms since 2020." A bright spot came in mid-No- vember when South Korea-based aerospace and defense manufacturer Hanwha Aerospace announced it will establish its international engine business headquarters in Cheshire. Other Connecticut companies announced expansion plans in the state this year. Overall, Connecticut's 3.5% unemployment rate is below the U.S.' 3.9% jobless rate. Still, the state's workforce shortage remains an issue, with Connecticut employers reporting 103,000 open positions in September, which equates to five available jobs for every three people who are unemployed. CT's new brand Tourism was one of Daum's key focus areas in 2023. DECD this year added a new chief marketing officer position — held by former Lamont administration communications director Anthony Anthony — to help those efforts. Tourism activity in Connecticut has rebounded from the COVID-19-im- posed crash of 2020. State officials and tourism opera- tors said the declining threat of the pandemic has boosted the industry. So has a renewed focus by the state on outreach and marketing, with increased funding and sharpened tactics. According to research by Tourism Economics, the first half of 2023 saw 31.8 million visits to Connecticut tourism destinations, up nearly 3% year-over-year. Connecticut's tourism website, CTvisit.com, logged 7.3 million visits during that same time period, up 44% from a year ago, Daum said. A new $1.5 million statewide branding campaign, "Make it Here," was launched in September to hammer home Connecticut's best qualities. The campaign is using adver- tising and digital media to highlight Connecticut's position as an innova- tive hub of arts, sciences and manu- facturing, as well as a great place to live, work and enjoy life. Advertisements began on Nov. 1, in traditional and digital media, streaming services, billboards and placements in travel hubs like Bradley International Airport and the Metro-North Railroad. "It was more of an umbrella campaign to encourage people to visit, but also to live here, work here, start a business here," Daum said. The campaign, she added, attracted national media attention that highlighted New Haven as a top place to live, and towns like Mystic as top tourist destinations. Late developer Martin Kenny's work continues to shape CT's multifamily landscape Lexington Partners' late founder Martin J. Kenny in the chapel of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery in West Hartford. HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com P rominent Hartford real estate developer Martin J. Kenny headed into 2023 with a signifi- cant project lineup. The most ambitious was a 292-unit apartment development at the 22-acre Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery campus in West Hartford. The project was complex and long in the making; it needed to balance the needs and desires of surviving nuns, town officials and nearby residents. Wetlands needed to be shielded. The sale, and subsequent changes in the property's use, needed the blessing of the Vatican in Rome. Two developers had previously tried and failed to get the project off the ground, noted Chris Reilly, president of Kenny's company, Lexington Partners. But Kenny had a knack for real- izing opportunities where others saw obstacles, Reilly said. Kenny negoti- ated a deal that set aside a portion of the existing brick-sided Sisters of St. Joseph building on One Park Road as a condo — maintaining it as a resi- dence for the aging society of nuns. The remainder of the century-old building was refurbished into 92 modern apartments, which began leasing in May. Monthly rents for the studio, one- and two-bedroom apart- ments initially ranged from $1,590 to $3,400. Meantime, a newly constructed, 200-unit apartment building wrapped around the rear of the Sisters of St. Joseph building debuted in October. Unfortunately, Kenny died of a heart attack in September, just prior to the "One Park" development's IN MEMORIAM MARTIN J. KENNY Owner & Founder Lexington Partners July 26, 1956 – Sept. 16, 2023 (age 67) completion. He was 67. His death came as a shock to the Greater Hartford business community, where Kenny had an outsized impact. But while Kenny is gone, his company continues work on proj- ects he envisioned. Lexington Partners is also advancing tentative concepts and partnerships Kenny began forming. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony in October, family, friends and officials honored his memory and unveiled a "ONE PARK" sign in bold letters across the front entrance of the recently completed West Hartford apartment development. The sign includes Kenny's flourished signature, which appears like an artist signing his work. "He had a strong signature," Patrick Kenny, his son, noted just after a covering was lifted off the sign. Patrick and his younger brother, Kevin Kenny, are vice presidents at Lexington Partners. They have pledged to carry on the business in their father's memory, along with Reilly and parking magnate Alan Lazowski, Martin Kenny's longtime friend and business partner. Martin Kenny learned the devel- opment business under his father, Maurice. With Patrick and, later, Kevin Kenny joining Lexington Part-

• Cover