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Peter Stanton | CEO, pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Tom Curtin | President, ext. 124, tcurtin@hartfordbusiness.com 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 Beats: Economic Development, Arts, Culture & Tourism Skyler Frazer | Staff Writer, ext. 145 sfrazer@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Manufacturing, Cannabis, Technology, Transportation David Krechevsky | Staff Writer, ext. 702 davidk@hartfordbusiness.com Beats: Health Care, Bioscience Stephanie R. Meagher | Research Director Heide Martin | Research Assistant Steve Laschever | Photographer Business Tom Curtin | Publisher, ext. 124, tcurtin@hartfordbusiness.com Jessica M. Quinn | General Manager, ext. 137 jquinn@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 Jaime O'Connor | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 136, joconnor@hartfordbusiness.com Donna Hogan | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 101, dhogan@hartfordbusiness.com Tracy Rodwill | Human Resources Manager trodwill@nebusinessmedia.com Production Bartosz Zinowko | Production Director, ext. 147 bzinowko@hartfordbusiness.com Sikorsky President Paul Lemmo. Major setback for Sikorsky as Army ends scout helicopter program T he U.S. Army announced the cancellation of its program to develop an armed scout helicopter, delivering a major setback for Sikorsky, which had been competing for years to secure a contract likely worth billions of dollars. The Stratford-based company, as well as Connecticut's entire congressional delegation, expressed disappointment that the Army abandoned the search for a manufacturer to build the new future attack reconnaissance aircraft. The program began in 2018, and Sikorsky was selected as a finalist for its Raider X prototype, competing once again against Bell-Textron. The Army had already put substantial money into the FARA program, though officials for the military service said some of the money that is no longer needed for it will go to other aviation invest- ments, including at Sikorsky. "With a $1 billion investment, X2 aircraft offer speed, range and agility that no other helicopter in the world can match," Sikorsky said in a statement. "We remain confident in X2 aircraft for U.S. and international mission needs now and in the future. We are disappointed in this deci- sion and will await a U.S. Army debrief to better understand its choice." Sikorsky employs thousands of people in the state between its Stratford headquarters and other campuses. Hundreds of businesses are suppliers to the Lockheed Martin-owned company. — Lisa Hagen, CT Mirror Hartford HealthCare executive chosen for key post in Hartford City Hall Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulam- palam has named a Hartford HealthCare executive to serve as the city's new chief operating officer. Olusegun "Shay" Ajayi is expected to take on his new role March 18, following an anticipated confirmation by the City Council during its Feb. 25 meeting. Ajayi, a Hartford resident, currently serves as vice presi- dent and chief of staff at Hartford Health- Care, where he helps create and launch strategic initiatives and programs for the office of the president. Ajayi, who has worked at Hartford HealthCare for more than four years, had previously served as Hartford Hospital's director of operations. Prior to that, he held various positions at The Hartford Financial Services Group. UI deploys 'Sparky' the robot- dog to hunt for problems at electrical substations Orange-based utility company Avangrid Inc. has deployed an AI robot-dog to help with substation inspections. Avangrid, the parent company of United Illuminating, which provides electricity to more than 341,000 customers in Connecticut, developed the robotic dog with AI company Levatas and engineering company Boston Dynamic. Nicknamed "Sparky," the robot will conduct visual and thermal inspec- tions of UI substations in Bridgeport and New Haven. It can read analog gauges, record thermal images and detect damaged equipment. The AI robot-dog is part of a pilot project and, for now, is operated by an on-site human using a tablet. UPS to lay off 118 employees at Windsor hub Global shipping company UPS plans to lay off 118 employees at its Windsor distribution hub at 1 Market Circle, as part of a nationwide cost-cutting effort. In a federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act filing, UPS said the layoffs will be permanent due to "lack of available work" and a reduction in shipping volume. On April 2, the nighttime pack- age-sorting operations at the Windsor hub will close, and 72 part-time hourly employees, 23 full-time hourly employees and 23 part-time supervi- sors will be terminated. In January, UPS announced during its fourth-quarter earnings call that it would lay off nearly 12,000 employees nationwide, reducing its costs by about $1 billion. The company said it saw a 7.8% drop in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2023 due to reduced shipping volume. Manchester will be getting its third cannabis dispensary — with a drive-thru A multistate cannabis business has received approvals for a new retail dispensary in Manchester, which will be the town's third dispensary since the state's recreational market launched last year. Ayr Wellness, a multistate cannabis operator based in Florida with 88 dispensaries across the country, won a special exception for its newest planned dispensary at 185 Spencer St., Manchester. The existing 1,585-square-foot building on the property formerly hosted a Starbucks, but is currently vacant. Ayr said it will convert the building into a cannabis dispensary that will be open seven days a week and employ up to 10 people. The building has an existing drive- thru that Ayr said it will use for online order pickups. 185 Spencer St., Manchester. PHOTO | COSTAR 'Sparky' the robot-dog conducts visual and thermal inspections at United Illuminating substations in Bridgeport and New Haven. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED HBJ FILE PHOTO Olusegun "Shay" Ajayi