Hartford Business Journal

By Skyler Frazer sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com W ith a short legislative session set to get underway this week, the business community will keep close tabs on the General Assembly's Commerce Committee, where key proposals related to economic and workforce development, tax credits and other private-sector issues originate. The committee is led by co-chairs Sen. Joan Hartley (D-Waterbury) and Rep. Stephen Meskers (D-Green- wich), who said they expect to see proposals this session that address the state's workforce shortage and expand a student- visa program that aims to bring more immi- grant-entrepreneurs to the state. "If you talk to manufacturers … their greatest pressure is skilled workforce," Hartley said. "And that just speaks to the overall mission of the Commerce Committee, which is competitiveness: making sure that the state of Connecticut is in a place to continue its distinction of being a place with high-level and high-skilled employees and a competitive environment." Hartley, a former teacher, has been a senator since 2000, after serving in the state House of Representatives for 16 years prior to that. Meskers has a private-sector background, with a more than 35-year career in corporate lending, bankruptcy and international bond sales. He's worked at companies such as Banco Santander and Crédit Agricole CIB. The Commerce Committee also has oversight of tax credit, incen- tive and other programs offered by the state Department of Economic and Community Development and Connecticut Innovations, the state's quasi-public venture capital investor. Working group follow-ups The Commerce Committee created three working groups last year to better flesh out potential legislative proposals. Recommendations from those groups will be made public during the early part of the 2024 session and likely lead to new bills, Hartley said. One working group is exploring the feasibility of establishing a "global entrepreneurs in residence" program in Connecticut that would aim to increase the number of H-1B visa holders in the state. The concept is modeled after Massachusetts' global entrepreneur in residence program, which allows foreign entrepreneurs to qualify for an H-1B visa through partial employ- ment at a university. HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 5, 2024 17 Commerce Committee eyes bills to address state's workforce shortage, expand student-entrepreneur visa program XL Center sports gambling lounge on pace for six-figure deficit in first year; gamblers wagered nearly $1M through Dec. By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com A long-awaited sports betting lounge that opened on the western edge of the XL Center in downtown Hartford could end the fiscal year in June with a deficit as high as $750,000. The 5,000-square-foot sports bar and betting venue off Ann Uccello Street, part of a $15 million package of upgrades to the XL Center, opened Sept. 9. It has since run a $284,100 deficit through December, which puts it on course for a $600,000 to $750,000 deficit by the close of the 2024 fiscal year, which ends June 30, according to Capital Region Development Authority Chief Financial Officer Joseph Geremia. Geremia delivered his forecast during a recent CRDA board of direc- tors meeting. CRDA is an economic development agency that, among other tasks, oversees the city's sports and entertainment arena. The XL Center itself already runs an average annual deficit of $2 million, a cost that boosters argue is worth bearing given the facility's ability to bring thousands of patrons downtown when it hosts an event. The Connecticut Lottery Corp., one of three licensed sportsbook opera- tors in Connecticut, predicted CRDA would be able to "offset" anticipated losses from the sports bar through betting receipts, "but we haven't seen that volume come through here," Geremia said. From September through December, gamblers wagered $937,076 at the XL Center sports- book, according to data from the Department of Consumer Protection, and took home $797,332 in winnings. The sportsbook through December generated $18,000 in net profits that have been turned over to the CRDA, Geremia said. CRDA Executive Director Michael Freimuth said the sports- book was challenged by a change in gambling vendor, which caused a lull in activity. Marketing for the The H-1B visa program is used by U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for specialty jobs that require at least a bachelor's degree. The federal govern- ment, through a lottery system, issues only 85,000 H-1B visas per year. However, universities are exempt from annual federal H-1B visa caps, which makes an entrepreneurs in residence program attractive. The Commerce Committee also established an advanced manu- facturing training and education working group. It's exploring ways the state can facilitate the expan- sion of an advanced manufac- turing technology center at one of Connecticut's regional community or technical colleges. The new center would offer increased job-related training and advanced technology education, something that's been a point of emphasis in Connecticut as the manufacturing industry evolves. "This one kind of hits two real pres- sure points: getting more manufac- turing apprenticeships in the pipeline, and also growing the enrollment in our community colleges," Hartley said. Meskers said he's hoping the state finds university partners and workforce groups to collaborate on an advanced manufacturing and robotics-related hub. The final working group is reviewing the state's role in approving tax credits and grants for the redevel- opment of historic properties — a process some developers and munic- ipal officials say is too burdensome and unpredictable and can signifi- cantly delay or even block economic development projects. The working group was created in 2023 by the state legislature, which considered, but did not pass, a bill that would have created a third-party appeals process for decisions made by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). SHPO administers a range of federal and state programs that identify, register and protect historic buildings. It also oversees the state's historic rehabilitation tax credit program, a crucial funding source used by developers and munici- palities to finance property rede- velopments, including some of the office-to-apartment conversions that have occurred in downtown Hartford. The SHPO working group will recommend ways to make the SHPO approval process more transparent, Hartley said. "We're trying to understand what the path is and where the opportunities are for us to simplify and update the state's SHPO process, recognizing the importance and the significance of historic preservation, but also not at the expense of the overall state economic development," Hartley said. "That common ground is really what we've been trying to attain." sports betting lounge has also not yet launched in force, he said. New York City-based Fanatics Betting and Gaming in December took over as Connecticut Lottery's exclusive retail and mobile sports betting provider, including at the XL Center. Fanatics replaced Chica- go-based Rush Street Interactive, which backed out of a 10-year deal with CT Lottery after two years. Rush Street indicated to investors it ended the deal early because it wasn't profitable enough. Freimuth said CRDA anticipated a loss of about $400,000 in the first year, as the facility gains traction. "It's a new startup, really," Frei- muth said. "It takes a while to get established." Stephen Meskers Joan Hartley Sports betting wagers at XL Center WAGERS & PATRON WINNINGS Source: Dept. of Consumer Protection WAGERS PATRON WINNINGS SEPT '23 OCT '23 NOV '23 DEC '23 $350K $300K $250K $200K $150K $100K $50K $0

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