Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 13, 2025 3 BIZ BRIEFS "I hear the same thing from patients daily - I need my hands. Our hands are our basic tools for everything from going to work every day to holding a grandchild," ex- plains Daniel J. Mastella, MD, of The Hand Center. "We are certified hand ther- apists and fellowship-trained doctors, but also a small business. PeopleBank supports our ability to grow and open additional locations, like our new office in Farmington. PeoplesBank is our partner. They're the right partner for business." The Hand Center of Connecticut has a highly skilled and educated team of "The Right Partner for Business." P E O P L E S B A N K B U S I N E S S S U C C E S S S E R I E S board-certified doctors, surgeons, and physician assistants who diagnose and treat conditions of the hands and upper extremities. Currently, it has four conve- nient offices in Hartford, Glastonbury, Tolland, and Bloomfield, and with the help of PeoplesBank, it is opening a brand- new office in Farmington, Connecticut. "We provide The Hand Center with effi- cient and user-friendly cash management services so they can focus on running the best orthopedic practice in New England," explains Daniel Bishop, First Vice President of Commercial Banking at PeoplesBank. "With local, quick decision-making, we have provided them the financing they need to grow." Dr. Mastella feels that his PeoplesBank commercial banking team provides him with great local services but also import- ant advice. "Help with business strategy critical to our success and our being able to help patients. The PeoplesBank team is interested in what we need and makes sure that we get what we need, even if we don't know it sometimes. Their respon- siveness is critical to our success, and we are very grateful for it. "Whatever you want to do, you do with your hands," Dr. Mastella continues. "They're intricate. It's challenging work because it is fine work in that everything we deal with is very small. However, the rewards for attention to detail are great, so getting down to those finer points will make a difference to that patient's life." Business Success Tips: Open Book Management Increase financial literacy before sharing financial data. Determine what you are willing to share. 2 1 Member FDIC 877.888.1388 bankatpeoples.com/PBbusiness "We are certified hand therapists and fellowship-trained doctors but also a small business. PeoplesBank is our partner. They're the right partner for business" - Daniel J. Mastella, MD, The Hand Center "We provide The Hand Center with efficient and user-friendly cash management services so they can focus on running the best orthopedic practice in New England. With local, quick decision-making, we have provided them the financing they need to grow." - Daniel Bishop, First Vice President Commercial Banking, PeoplesBank dbishop@bankatpeoples.com Watch Video Health company, on a new multiyear provider contract. The deal was reached before the previous three- year contract expired at midnight on New Year's Eve. The deal ended a tumultuous year of contract negotiations with insur- ance companies for THONE, which had seen three previous agreements expire before new deals were reached. Those deals were with Wall- ingford-based Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Bloomfield-based Cigna and UnitedHealthcare. The Aetna contract is for commer- cial and Medicare Advantage plans in Connecticut and 15 other states where Trinity Health participates. In Connecticut, the contract affects patients at St. Francis Hospital and Mt. Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital in Hartford, St. Mary's Hospital in Water- bury and Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs, as well as other THONE facilities and providers. UConn gives football coach Mora 2-year extension; contract now worth $10M over next 4 years It was a bit late as Christmas presents go, but the University of Connecticut announced Dec. 28 that it had agreed to a two-year contract extension with head football coach Jim Mora. Mora, 63, originally agreed in 2021 to a five-year deal through the 2026 season that paid him $1.5 million during his first season as head coach in 2022. That agreement included performance incentives worth $200,000 annually. The new deal extends that contract through Dec. 31, 2028, and is valued at $10.01 million over the next four years, though it also includes performance bonuses. The extension was announced just before Mora led his Huskies to a decisive 27-14 win over the Univer- sity of North Carolina in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl in Boston on Dec. 28. The win improved UConn to 9-4, its first nine-win season since 2007, and first bowl-game victory since 2009. West Hartford's Colt awarded $12.4M to supply arms to Israel West Hartford gun maker Colt has been awarded a $12.4 million follow-on contract to make additional weapons to be supplied to Israel. The latest award is a modifica- tion to a $26.7 million contract given to Colt last May to produce M4A1 carbines, silencers and flash suppressors. The M4A1 is a fully automatic assault rifle — the primary service weapon for the U.S. military. The latest contract is expected to be completed in June 2025. An Israeli request in 2023 for 24,000 assault rifles in the wake of the October 7th Hamas attack initially drew criticism from some U.S. lawmakers who were concerned that the guns might end up in civilian hands, contributing to additional violence in the region. It also sparked protests outside Colt's West Hart- ford facility from pro-Palestinian demonstrators. CT remains in bottom 10 of U-Haul Growth Index in 2024 Connecticut moved up one spot but remained in the bottom 10 of the annual U-Haul Growth Index, which tracks the number of one-way U-Haul customers moving into or out of each state. Growth rankings are determined by each state's net gain or loss of customers using one-way U-Haul equipment in a calendar year. U-Haul International compiles the index from more than 2.5 million annual one-way truck, trailer and U-Box moving container transactions. According to Phoenix-based U-Haul, Connecticut ranked 41st out of the 50 states in the growth index for 2024, up from 42nd in 2023. Connecticut, however, continued to rank better in the growth index than Massachusetts (49th), New Jersey (48th), New York (47th) and Pennsylvania (46th). South Carolina topped the index for the first time in 2024, moving up from fourth, while Texas, North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee rounded out the top five. HBJ FILE PHOTO St. Francis Hospital is part of Trinity Health Of New England. SHAHRZAD RASEKH/CT MIRROR The outside of Colt Manufacturing Co. headquarters in West Hartford. Jim Mora

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