Hartford Business Journal

32 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | APRIL 7, 2025 POWE R 50 24 Stacey Kennedy S tacey Kennedy leads a team of more than 200 employees at Philip Morris Internation- al's new headquarters in downtown Stamford, at a pivotal moment in the company's history. Kennedy became the president of PMI's Americas region and CEO of its U.S. business in January 2023. History notwithstanding, PMI is working to distance itself from cigarette sales in the United States, and to usher in a smoke-free future. The company is focused on growing its business with tobacco-free products, such as its Zyn pouches, which deliver nicotine orally. PMI also sells its flagship heated tobacco product, IQOS, across the U.S. The device mimics the expe- rience of smoking a cigarette, but without burning tobacco. The products are geared toward customers who would otherwise smoke cigarettes, but are looking for an alternative. While PMI's products remain controversial, Kennedy reminds skeptics that cigarettes are "the most harmful form of nicotine." PMI says its goal is to achieve a cigarette-free future. In the summer of 2022, PMI moved its U.S. base from Manhattan to the former UBS inter- national banking headquarters at 677 Washington Blvd., in Stamford. Kennedy serves on the board of AdvanceCT, a nonprofit that works to retain and recruit businesses to Connecticut. She began her career with Philip Morris USA in 1995 as a territory sales manager. She held numerous roles of increasing responsibility during her career, including as managing director for Germany, Austria, Croatia and Slovenia from 2015 to 2018. Kennedy earned a bache- lor's degree in sociology and cultural anthropology from Randolph College in Virginia, and an executive MBA from IMD in Switzerland. 25 Kat Kayser- Bricker K at Kayser-Bricker, chief scientific officer for New Haven biotech Halda Thera- peutics, was honored last year as the Entrepreneur of the Year in the state's bioscience industry. First presented in 2013, the annual award is given by New Haven-based BioCT, the state's bioscience booster organization, and law firm Shipman & Goodwin. The award honors outstanding innovators who are "imaginative, passionate and game-changers in Connecticut life sciences." Halda Therapeutics, located in New Haven's Winchester Works building, is developing a novel class of cancer therapies called RIPTAC (Regu- lated Induced Proximity Targeting Chimeras) therapeutics — small mole- cules that selectively target cancer cells and "kill" them. In August, Halda said it raised $126 million in new funding; it has raised $202 million from investors since its 2018 inception. The company is set to begin clinical trials in the spring. Prior to joining Halda at its founding, Kayser-Bricker spent 10 years as a key scientific leader at FORMA Thera- peutics, a public company that was acquired in 2022 by Novo Nordisk for $1.1 billion. She has been a significant supporter of Connecticut's life sciences industry as a volunteer leader on the steering committee for the Executive Women in Bio Connecticut chapter; the co-chair of the BioLaunch Advisory Committee for the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce; a board member of Modifi Bio; and a member of the BioCT board of directors. 27 Lawrence P. Ward L awrence Ward took the helm of the University of Hartford last July, at a time the roughly 6,000-student school was working to correct financial challenges while confronting demo- graphic shifts that could hinder future enrollment growth. A native of Vernon with deep family roots, Ward took the job with a three-year contract, but plans for a long tenure. That confidence was reflected in his purchase of a roughly 5,000-square-foot house in an upscale section of Hartford's West End, not far from the UHart campus, shortly after his arrival. 26 Maurie McInnis M aurie McInnis leads one of the world's premier institu- tions of higher education. She became the 24th president of Yale University on July 1, 2024, bringing with her a long track record in academia. Most recently, she served as presi- dent of Stony Brook University in New York. Before that, she served as the provost and executive vice president of the University of Texas at Austin. A historian, McInnis is a scholar in the politics of art and slavery in the American South. She has published five books on the topic. In an interview with the Yale Daily News in October, McInnis said one of her key focus areas will be boosting Yale's science and engineering programs. She earned her bachelor's degree in art history from the University of Virginia, and her master's and doctorate in philosophy from Yale. 23 Bill Shufelt & John Walker B ill Shufelt and John Walker founded Athletic Brewing in 2017 based on an absurd proposition — that beer could taste great even when it's missing a key byproduct of fermentation, alcohol. The odds of success at brewing nonalcoholic craft beer may have seemed low, in a craft beer industry dominated by double and triple IPAs with alcohol-by-volume that can top 10%. Shufelt and Walker not only defied expectations, they were at the fore- front of a cultural shift. Athletic Brewing was the first brewery and taproom in the United States dedicated to producing nonal- coholic craft beer. What began as a modest exper- iment between Shufelt, a former hedge fund trader and marathon runner, and Walker, an award-win- ning brewer, has risen to become the 10th-largest craft brewery in the country. Athletic Brewing has grown from producing 875 barrels in 2017 to over 258,000 barrels in 2023. The brewery outgrew its original Stratford location and moved to a 150,000-square-foot facility in nearby Milford in 2022. (Its Stratford facility is still used for experimenting with new products.) Athletic Brewing in 2020 acquired its second brewery, a facility previ- ously owned by Ballast Point in San Diego. Last year, the company secured a $50 million equity financing investment to help position it for long-term growth. Athletic Brewing's growth has been described as "meteoric." It has landed on Inc.'s list of the fast- est-growing private U.S. companies for the past two years, with 313% three-year growth reported in 2023. Shufelt serves as CEO, while Walker is chief operating officer.

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