Hartford Business Journal

2 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 16, 2024 Tel: (860) 236-9998 | Fax: (860) 570-2493 Copyright 2020. All rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Hartford Business Journal P.O Box 330 Congers, NY 10920-9894 Biz Briefs 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 Beat: Energy 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 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 | Associate Publisher, ext. 137 jquinn@hartfordbusiness.com Emily Paskind | Senior Accounts Manager, ext. 133, epaskind@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 Naming rights for XL Center expire; venue likely to change name in 2025 T he insurance company that owned the naming rights to the XL Center in Hartford for 17 years has ended its contract with Oak View Group, which manages the venue, leaving the facility's name up for grabs. XL Catlin, a Bermuda-based insurer and subsidiary of XL Group, renewed its naming rights for the XL Center for five years in 2018. The contract expired on June 30, and XL opted not to renew, said Ben Weiss, the arena's general manager. XL Group was acquired in September 2018 by Stamford-based insurer Axa, which renamed it Axa XL. XL bought the naming rights in 2006. Before that, the arena was known as the Hartford Civic Center. Weiss said the 16,000-seat arena will continue to be called the XL Center until the naming rights are sold to a new partner. A name change during the upcoming hockey and college basketball seasons would be unlikely, he said. "We have started the process of actively talking to other inter- ested parties," Weiss said. "Fortunately, they're happening, and eventually the name is going to change." The expiration of the naming rights comes as the Capital Region Development Authority recently approved a $145 million renova- tion to the XL Center. Weiss said the timing is ideal because it gives a new company an opportunity to associate its brand with what will soon be a newly upgraded facility. "My hope is that within a year we'll have a new brand associated with the building," Weiss said. Mariner, which is based in Over- land Park, Kansas, said it closed on its purchase of Woodbridge Interna- tional on Aug. 30. Woodbridge will maintain its current offices in New Haven and Cape Town, South Africa, and continue to operate under its brand for a period of time. Mariner, and its affiliates, advised on more than $245 billion in assets as of June 30, the company said. Denver investment advising firm acquires Old Lyme-based wealth manager Mercer Global Advisors Inc., a Denver-based national Regis- tered Investment Adviser, said it has acquired Benchmark Wealth Management LLC of Old Lyme. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Benchmark provides financial planning and wealth management for high-net-worth professionals and retirees. Its website also lists an office in Naples, Florida. Its principals, Richard Stout III and Thomas Britt, merged their separate financial planning practices in 2007 to form Benchmark. As of July 31, they served more than 300 clients representing approximately $412 million in assets under advisement, the companies said. Mercer Advisors has offices in more than 90 locations nationwide, including three in Connecticut in West Hartford, Westport and Woodbridge. Mercer is majority-owned by Oak Hill Capital, Genstar Capital and Altas Partners. It has over 1,150 employees and $63 billion in client assets. HBJ FILE PHOTO CBRE: Hartford ranks as top 50 city for tech talent in U.S., Canada Hartford is ranked as the 43rd-best market for tech talent in the United States and Canada, according to a recent report from international real estate services firm CBRE. CBRE analyzed the markets based on 13 metrics and awarded Hartford a score of 29.4. San Francisco, Seattle and New York City were the top three markets, the study found, followed by Toronto, Canada; Austin, Texas; Washington D.C.; Boston and Denver. Hartford scored ahead of larger cities including Cincinnati, Cleveland and Milwaukee. The study found that Hartford has 28,430 tech workers, an increase of 3.7% from 2018 to 2023. The tech concentration of Hartford's workforce was about 5% in 2023. Hartford's average annual tech worker salary was $111,601 in 2023, according to the study. Hartford had a relatively high concentration of tech talent in non-tech industries (25%), including finance, insurance and real estate, the study found. West Hartford golf club seeks permit to replace clubhouse destroyed by fires Just over four months after fires on consecutive days destroyed its clubhouse, Wampanoag Country Club is seeking a permit from the town of West Hartford to build a new one. The private golf club, which is situated on 163.2 acres at 60 Wampa- noag Drive, wants to construct a new, approximately 39,000-square-foot, two-story clubhouse building. The original single-story clubhouse was located on the parcel's southern boundary for nearly 70 years. Following the two fires, the building was demolished in August. Town fire officials said in April that the fires were not intentionally set, but they are still investigating to deter- mine the cause. New Haven M&A firm sold to Kansas company A national financial services provider has acquired New Haven- based mergers and acquisitions firm Woodbridge International. Subscriptions Annual subscriptions are $132.00. To subscribe, visit HartfordBusiness.com, email circulation@ hartfordbusiness.com, or call (845) 267-3008. Advertising For advertising information, please call (860) 236-9998. Please address all correspondence to: Hartford Business Journal, 100 Allyn Street, Suite 3, Hartford, CT 06103 Stay Connected For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to: www.HartfordBusiness.com HBJ on X: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on Linkedln:www.linkedin.com/company/the-Hart- ford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend: www.hartfordbusiness.com/enewsletters Hartford Business Journal (ISSN 1083-5245) is published bi-weekly, 27x per year — including two special issues in November and December — by New England Business Media, LLC, 100 Allyn Street, Suite 3, Hartford, CT 06103. Periodicals postage paid at Hartford, CT and at additional entry points. XL Center General Manager Ben Weiss inside the 16,000-seat arena. An artist's rendering of the proposed new clubhouse for Wampanoag Country Club in West Hartford.

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