Hartford Business Journal

26 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | APRIL 7, 2025 POWE R 50 A s president and CEO of the state's largest business organization, Chris DiPen- tima continues to fight on behalf of members of the Connecticut Busi- ness & Industry Association (CBIA). Unable to get the state legislature to approve bipartisan legislation to H ouse Speaker Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) and Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D-New Haven) are not your traditional "power couple." Together, though, Ritter, 41, and Looney, 78, have presided over the state General Assembly as, well, a couple since Ritter was first elected speaker in 2021. For the 2025 legislative session, both find themselves entrenched at the top of their respective chambers. In fact, Ritter is just the third person elected to a third, two-year term as speaker. Looney, mean- while, has led the Senate majority for 10 years. Ritter, who is also a lawyer with Hartford law firm Shipman & Goodwin, has strong political roots. His father, Tom Ritter, is a former house speaker and now is a partner at the law firm Brown Rudnick in Hartford. Tom Ritter also sits on the UConn board of trustees. Matt's mother, Chris- tine E. Keller, is a former state Supreme Court justice. Looney's political roots also run deep. He was first elected to the state House in 1981, and served six terms before joining the Senate in 1993, where he served 12 years as majority leader before taking on his current role. As well acquainted as they are with their respective roles, the job doesn't get any easier, partic- address the shrinking options in the fully-insured small group insurance market last year, CBIA in September launched a program to provide small and midsize businesses access to more affordable healthcare coverage. Offered through CBIA's Health Connections, the program is for ularly during a six-month legislative session when more than 2,000 House bills and 1,400 Senate bills businesses with between 10 and 200 employees. It offers three preferred provider organization plans and three health savings account compatible plans. Also in September, CBIA published its latest public policy pledge, called Reimagine Connecticut, a 12-point are proposed. Yet, both Ritter and Looney agree that education and housing are the package of policy solutions intended to "unlock and reimagine" the state's economy. Seventy-two legislators now serving in the 2025 session pledged to support the solutions. DiPentima says CBIA's goal for this year's session is to convince lawmakers the state needs to be a less expensive place to live and do business. Whether talking about the high cost of energy or health insurance, or the need to fill 73,000 job openings statewide, affordability would help solve many of Connecti- cut's woes, he said. Before he became CBIA's leader, DiPentima was division president of Leggett & Platt Aerospace, a unit of S&P 500 company Leggett & Platt. He led operations at the company's Middletown-based Pegasus Manu- facturing facility, and locations in Washington, California and France. He joined Pegasus in 2002 as general counsel, and was named president in 2006. Prior to joining Pegasus, DiPentima spent eight years as an attorney representing corporations and individuals in a broad range of issues, including labor and employment, contracts, workers' compensation, and mergers and acquisitions. top priorities for the 2025 session. Other priorities include reining in high energy costs and supporting labor. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | CBIA PHOTO | CT MIRROR/MARK PAZNIOKAS 4 Chris DiPentima 5 Matt Ritter & Martin Looney

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