Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • January 12, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com Stay ConneCted For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to www.HartfordBusiness.com. HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ the-Hartford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend www.HartfordBusiness.com/subscribe Weekly e-newsletters: CT Green Guide Weekly www.HartfordBusiness.com/subscribe By the numBerS 23.6% The effective tax rate in 2011 on the 725,202 Connecticut households earning $48,000 or less, according to a recent report from the Department of Revenue Services. $496,000 The amount of delinquent tolls Connecticut motorists owe New York for driving over the Henry Hudson bridge since 2012. $9 Taking effect May 1, a new recycling fee that Connecticut retailers must charge when selling a mattress. 6 The approximate number of weeks Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has to submit a two-year budget plan to the state legislature by Feb. 18. top 5 moSt read on HartfordBusiness.com ■ Hfd. ballpark developer buys contractor ■ Kansas healthcare consultancy acquires Wallingford's HMS ■ DEEP approves mattress recycling plan for CT ■ CT Friendly's operator to close some restaurants through bankruptcy ■ Hartford gov't leaders pitch authority for ballpark financing, ownership Government, politiCS & law Hartford Mayor Segarra announces re-election run Facing the potential of several Democratic challengers in November, Hartford Mayor Pedro E. Segarra announced last week that he will seek a second full term as mayor. Segarra made the announcement outside city hall, highlighting Hartford's improved graduation rates, reduced crime rates and other accomplishments. "After many years, optimism is back in Hartford and with good reason," Segarra said in a statement released after the press conference. "You hear the difference in conversations, you see the difference by walking around the city, and you feel the difference in all that there is to do in the city." Several potential challengers have said they may run. Among them is Luke Bronin, an attorney who recently resigned as Gov. Dan- nel P. Malloy's general counsel and took a position at law firm Hinckley Allen. The Hartford Courant has reported that City Councilor David MacDonald and City Clerk John Bazzano are also interested in the mayoral seat. Segarra, also an attorney, took office in 2010 following the resignation of former Mayor Eddie Perez, who was convicted on corruption charges. eConomiC development & ConStruCtion Hartford ballpark developer buys contractor The proposed developer of a downtown Hartford baseball stadium has ac- quired a North Haven construction firm. Middletown's Centerplan Construction Co. bought the assets of Earth Tech- nology Inc. at 250 Sackett Point Road for undisclosed terms. The deal makes Centerplan one of the state's largest contractors, Chairman Robert A. Landino said. The purchase covers all construction equipment, ve- hicles and real estate, and includes the formation of a new entity, Center Earth LLC. Center Earth LLC will offer site and concrete construction services through- out southern New England, and significantly expands the family of services cur- rently offered by Centerplan Construction Co. Engineer Michael J. Lombardi is Center Earth's CEO, with Centerplan execu- tive Daniel Rossi serving as president and responsible for daily operations. Landino and Centerplan are behind an ambitious development proposal to convert acreage on downtown Hartford's northern edge into a $350 million mixed-use development of housing, offices, retail and a new stadium to house the New Britain Rock Cats minor-league ballclub. manufaCturinG Stanadyne inks product development agreement in China Windsor's Stanadyne LLC has signed a five-year agreement with a Chinese diesel-engine maker to develop fuel-efficient products. Under the agreement, Stanadyne will supply rotary pumps for Guangxi Yuchai Ma- chinery Co. Ltd.'s off-highway products, which include tractor and combine engines. Stanadyne sold off its filtration business last year for $325 million to focus on its fuel injection systems business, which it says stands to benefit from rising fuel-efficiency standards in the U.S. and beyond. PCX buys Texas aeroparts maker Newington's PCX Aerostructures LLC has acquired a Texas manufacturer of precision-machined aerospace parts. PCX will operate Cam-Tech Manufacturing as a wholly owned subsidiary. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. PCX said the acquisition adds machining capabilities for its customers. Cam-Tech CEO Roger Hagger will continue to lead the business. PCX also has manufacturing facilities in New York. The Newington facility was part of a division previously owned by SPX Corp., which sold it for $62 million in April 2014. health Care Wallingford's HMS acquired A Kansas healthcare consultancy has acquired Wallingford's Healthcare Man- agement Solutions, which is led by the recently appointed chairman of the Con- necticut Business & Industry Association. The Corridor Group, which is backed by a private equity firm, said the deal broadens its range of consulting, staffing and training services and also ex- pands its target customer base to long-term care providers and physician practices. Both firms offer claims processing, regulatory compliance, financial manage- ment, strategic planning and other services. Financial terms were not disclosed. TCG named HMS President and CEO Donna Galluzzo as president of the com- bined company and a member of its board of directors. She will report to TCG CEO Des Varady. CBIA named Galluzzo as chair last month. enerGy & utilitieS DEEP approves mattress recycling plan for CT The Department of Energy & Environmental Protection has given its blessing to a statewide mattress recycling plan proposed by a Virginia nonprofit. The plan, which kicks in May 1, adds a $9 recycling fee to each new or reno- vated mattress and box spring sold in the state. Retailers will remit the fees to the Mattress Recycling Council, which will use the funds to pay contractors to collect and recycle mattresses. MRC is an industry group created under a 2013 state law that made Con- necticut the first state to have a comprehensive mattress recycling program. The group is responsible for meeting the industry's recycling obligations. Across the country, consumers discard 50,000 mattresses per day, according to MRC. Connecticut's recycling program will divert that waste from landfills to recy- cling plants that can extract the steel, cotton and other materials. retail 35 CT Xtra Marts change hands in $387M deal Nearly 150 Xtra Mart convenience stores in 10 East Coast states — 35 of them in Connecticut — now belong to a publicly traded Massachusetts com- pany as a result of a $387 million deal that closed last week. Global Partners LP said it has completed its purchase of Warren Equities Inc. from the Warren Alpert Foundation. The deal includes the Xtra Mart stores and related fuel operations, 53 commission agent locations, and fuel supply rights for approximately 320 dealers. Warren owned Xtra Marts in Manchester, Mansfield, Plainville, Tolland and other Connecticut communities. Week in review Northeast Utilities Chairman and CEO Thomas May is leading his company through a major rebranding effort. top Story NU rebrands entire company Northeast Utilities will rebrand itself and all of its natu- ral gas and electric subsidiaries as Eversource Energy, with the change set to take place Feb. 2. The change means Berlin electric utility Connecticut Light & Power and natural gas utility Yankee Gas will now be known as Eversource Energy, according to CL&P spokesman Mitch Gross. The rebranding of the company, which is dually head- quartered in Hartford and Boston, comes almost three years after its blockbuster $5 billion merger with Boston utility parent NStar. With the change rolling out in February, both the Northeast Utilities and NStar names will be no more. In addition to CL&P and Yankee Gas, the other subsid- iaries whose names will change to Eversource Energy include NStar Electric, NStar Gas, Western Massachu- setts Electric Co., and Public Service of New Hamp- shire, said Gross. P H O T O | H B J F i l e

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