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G r e at e r H a r t f o r d ' s B u s i n e s s n e w s w w w. H a r t f o rd B u s i n e s s . c o m for more B2B news visit February 23, 2015 Volume 23, number 13 $3.00 subscribe online Friday, March 20th, 2015 8:30am – 1:00pm Hartford Hilton L e a r n i n n o v a t e C o L L a b o r a t e S a v e SUMMIT ANNUAL 's Index ■ Week in Review: PG. 6 ■ The Lists: PGS. 9, 10 ■ Deal Watch: PG. 13 ■ Reporter's Notebook: PG. 14 ■ Nonprofit Profile: PG. 18 ■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 20 Executive Profile Read how Tony Amenta helped save his Hartford architecture firm from a tough recession by changing the company's strategic focus. PG. 5 Child's Play Danish toymaker Lego, which has its U.S. headquarters in Enfield, is waging two federal court battles in Connecticut to fend off competitors it says are infringing on its famous toy blocks. PG. 14 Demand, not rents, leads rebirth in Hartford's industrial market By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com A few months back, Kim Gajewski went shopping around the Hartford market for a bigger distribution-warehouse than the one her employer, freight-forwarder Pilot Freight Services, currently occupies in Granby. It didn't take long for Gajewski, a Pilot regional vice president, to find 44,000 square feet in Windsor — nearly triple the size of the company's Granby freight terminal on Kripes Road — in a relatively new building in the New England Tradeport, owned by major Connecti- cut commercial landlord Griffin Land. The space is larger than what she and her boss originally had in mind, Gajewski says. But for just a bit more in rent, Pilot leased the newer digs to be in proximity of one of its biggest shippers, online retail giant Amazon. com, which just built a sprawling 1.5 million- square-foot fulfillment center off Day Hill Road. Amazon uses Pilot to ship TV sets, fitness equipment and other bulky merchan- dise to shoppers in the region. Space jockeyS Continued on page 14 Amazon.com's 1.5 million-square-foot Windsor fulfillment center off Day Hill Road is the biggest custom-built industrial warehouse-distribution facility in the Hartford region in years, brokers say. At the smaller end, industrial buildings sized 35,000 to 45,000 square feet are in vogue but vacancies and old age are depressing rents in that segment. P H O T O | P a b l O R O b l e s Businesses fret Malloy's tax increases By Brad Kane bkane@HartfordBusiness.com F acing a slower than expect- ed economic recovery, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is asking businesses to pay more in taxes and fees to help close billion-dol- lar budget deficits over the next two fiscal years. Although the Democratic gov- ernor insists his two-year, $40 bil- lion spending plan does not con- stitute a tax increase, the state's chief business lobby is warning state lawmakers that if Malloy's tax proposals are made law, it could have a cooling effect on the economy, hindering investment just as employers show signs of hiring more workers. Connecticut added 26,700 jobs in 2014, the strongest growth since 1998. "It really takes a shot at busi- ness confidence in the state," said Joe Brennan, president and CEO of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association. "These tax increases discourage investment in the state … It could put the brakes on the recovery in Connecticut." Malloy's budget, which increas- es spending by 3 percent in each of the next two fiscal years, pro- poses a myriad of tax changes, Continued on page 16 Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's proposed budget increases the tax burden on businesses. H b J P H O T O | b R a d K a n e Small Tenants, Big Returns Find out what strategy one landlord used to fill Simsbury's historic Landmark Building. PG. 3