Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | APRIL 7, 2025 35 POWE R 50 37 Lisa Tepper Bates L isa Tepper Bates leads a United Way of Connecticut (UWCT) staff of nearly 400 people. The nonprofit operates the state's 211 health and human services contact center and 988/Suicide and Hummel joined KeyBank in 2020 to jump-start its commercial lending activity in Connecticut. Shortly after, he was promoted to market president. He's made a big impact since being in the role. KeyBank named the Connecticut/Massachusetts region its "Market of the Year" in 2022 due to its: strong performance in new client acquisition and sales; strength of risk management and asset quality; and service quality and employee engagement. 39 Melia Bensussen, Cynthia Rider & Rob Ruggiero C onnecticut's arts and culture industry has had a slow recovery from the pandemic, which closed down theaters for months and made the industry's older audience hesitant for years to return to in-person events. Melia Bensussen and Cynthia Rider, artistic director and managing director, respectively, of Hartford Stage, and Rob Ruggiero, artistic director of TheaterWorks Hartford, have been working to not only help their organizations recover from the public health crisis, but also ensure their long-term future. Most recently, all three leaders announced a new joint partnership that is rare in the industry. Hartford Stage and TheaterWorks in March announced they will, for the first time, jointly co-produce a musical, the Stephen Sondheim classic "Sweeney Todd," next year. The production, which will include a cast of nine actors and nine musi- cians and cost roughly $1 million, will be directed by Ruggiero and take place at Hartford Stage. Organizers say a 2019 change in lead- ership at TheaterWorks and Hartford Stage, combined with a divisive national climate and the need to rebuild audi- ences and subscriber bases following Mental Health Lifeline; administers the Connecticut child care subsidy (Care 4 Kids); and offers additional services to support Connecticut residents in need. Bates has more than 25 years of experience working in U.S. diplo- macy, public policy, and state and nonprofit leadership. One of the key issues Bates has focused on is putting a spotlight on the financial struggles of Connecticut families. Her organization published a report last fall that found nearly 40% of households in the state faced poverty in 2022. That focus has led the United Way to push the state legislature to estab- lish a fully refundable child tax credit. According to its 2025 policy agenda, the United Way is lobbying for a tax credit of $600 per child — a benefit that would go to families even if they don't have a tax liability. Tepper Bates holds degrees from Georgetown University and the Yale School of Management. She is a board member of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority and Stonington Board of Police Commissioners. 38 Matthew E. Hummel M atthew Hummel, a former All-American college basketball player at Colby College, is the Connecticut and western Massachusetts market pres- ident for Ohio-based KeyBank, which established a presence in the state in 2016 with its $4.1 billion acquisition of First Niagara Financial Group. 36 Andreas Kapetanopoulos A ndreas Kapetanopoulos is a well-known, veteran Connecticut banker who was recruited by NBT Bank a few years ago when the New York-based lender was looking to break into the Connecticut market. Kapetanopoulos was hired to estab- lish a regional office in Greater Hart- ford and recruit a team of commercial lenders. He has helped NBT Bank, with $13.79 billion in assets, grow its Connecticut footprint since then — the bank has opened branches in West Hartford and Glastonbury. NBT made its biggest Connecticut splash in 2023, when it acquired Lakeville-based Salisbury Bancorp for $204 million. That gave NBT an addi- tional $1.56 billion in assets and more than a dozen new branches, extending the bank's reach in Connecticut and the Hudson Valley region of New York. As of June 30, 2024, NBT had $497.4 million in deposits and six branches in Connecticut. Over the course of a more than 30-year banking career mostly focused on Greater Hartford, Kapetanopoulos gained experience in many facets of the business, including commercial, small business, municipal and retail banking. Prior to joining NBT, he was senior vice president of small busi- ness lending for People's United Bank. Before that, he worked at Farm- ington Bank and TD Bank. Kapetanopoulos earned his MBA and bachelor's degrees from Boston University. the COVID-19 pandemic, helped inspire the theaters to think outside the box and pool their resources for a swing at a big production. "I view theater as a public health initiative," Ruggiero said. "I view theater as an economic engine. These are really hard times. We need you to support these two institutions, all of the arts organi- zations in Hartford and really in this country." In addition to the joint venture, Rider in October announced a new fundraising campaign to boost Hartford Stage's endowment by $20 million, one of the most aggressive campaigns recently announced by a Connecticut arts and culture organization. The Set the Stage fundraising campaign had already raised more than $9 million by last fall, and will ultimately provide a financial cushion that allows Hartford Stage to better manage downturns and invest in new educational and other programs, Rider said. Before joining KeyBank, Hummel spent most of his three decade- plus career at Bank of America. His focus at KeyBank has been on the middle market commercial lending space, providing loans and other financial services to companies with between $25 million to $2 billion in revenue. The avid UConn fan has lived and worked in Connecticut his whole life. He sits on the board of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association. PHOTO | DEFINING STUDIOS

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