Hartford Business Journal

16 Hartford Business Journal • February 16, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com PDS has been meeting the needs of the construction industry since 1965. Our dedicated team of design and construction professionals welcomes the challenge of serving its past and future customers on their most demanding projects. US Cosmetics | Danielson, CT PDS Engineering & Construction served as General Contractor for an addition to the existing US Cosmetics facility in northeastern Connecticut. Particular attention was given to ensuring that the floor system was constructed to be completely level in order to balance all the material and products being stored on the racks. This project was completed on time and within budget. Project Features: - 50' storage racks throughout the entire addition Total Project Size: 18,000 SF 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com PDS EnginEEring & COnsTRuCTiOn, inC. Design BuilDeRs • geneRal COnTRaCTORs • COnsTRuCTiOn ManageRs SPoTlighT on: Manufacturing RepoRteR's Notebook Lawyer: Jim Barnes, CI near settlement on $3M lawsuit Jim Barnes, the former head of Oakleaf Waste Management in Windsor and FM Facility Maintenance of Hartford, is nearing a legal settlement with Connecticut Innova- tions over a $3 million loan the quasi-state agency made to a renewable energy company he started a few years ago, according to the attorney representing the businessman. In September, Connecticut Innovations filed a lawsuit against Barnes and his West Hartford renewable energy companies Broad- star Wind Corp., Broadstar Energy Corp., and Broadstar Investment Co. seeking to recoup a 10-year, $3 million loan originally made in 2011. Broadstar stopped making payments on the loan in August with a balance of $2.9 mil- lion remaining, according to the lawsuit. CI also alleges that Broadstar failed to meet its employment requirements under the state- backed loan agreement. Broadstar Energy had zero employees in Hartford at the end of 2013 when the loan agreement called for it to have 62, according to the lawsuit said. Because of the penalties involved for not hitting the employment target, CI is asking for $3.1 million plus attorneys' fees. Hartford attorney Edward Taiman, who is representing Barnes, said the legal issue is being worked out. "The parties expect this to be resolved, and my clients intend to pay everything," said Taiman, who did not offer a timeline for a settlement resolution. Barnes' attorney filed his response to the lawsuit in December, but the two sides still have a friendly working relationship — the lawsuit notwithstanding — and want to resolve the situation amicably, Taiman said. CI's attorney, Eric Goldstein of Hart- ford law firm Shipman & Goodwin, did not return calls for comment. Barnes founded Oakleaf Waste Manage- ment in 1995 and sold the company for $655 million in 2007. He also served as chairman of FM Facility Maintenance, a company that provided contract maintenance ser- vices to more than 130,000 client locations. Barnes invested in Broadstar Energy in 2009 and became its chairman. Broadstar manufactured non-traditional wind turbines that could be installed onsite at a small facil- ity, similar to a solar array. The business plan included having FM Facility Maintenance install those turbines for its customers. — Brad Kane Jim Barnes was sued in September by quasi-state agency Connecticut Innovations after his renewable energy com- pany missed a payment on a $3 million loan and failed to meet its employee-count requirement. P H O T O | H b J F i l e McBride said many ex-offenders have mul- tiple barriers in their way, even before they begin the job search: Locked away so long, they often have outdated or no job skills or training, not even a driver's license. "They often have families they need to take care of,'' said McBride. redemption story Jose Quinonez, 39, of Hartford, served 11 years and eight months in Connecticut prison for trafficking heroin. Freed in 2011, he enrolled in STRIVE, which he says not only coached him on boosting his self-confi- dence but also helped him appreciate the job skills he amassed before and during prison. He worked daily in the prison mess, serv- ing breakfast to fellow inmates, taking out the garbage and other tasks. He also worked as a bilingual translator between inmates and prison staff. He was paid 30 cents a day. "You may not have all the skills, but you have some skills,'' said the single father of a daughter in college. STRIVE counselors, he said, helped him pitch to hirers skills he gained serving breakfast to 1,500 inmates daily. Qui- nonez now works at a Vernon restaurant and as a STRIVE counselor. He says he is about to obtain certification as a fitness trainer. His actions post prison, Quinonez says, not only have boosted his self-esteem and given his life renewed meaning, but also have elevated his prestige among his peers. "It's like a rebirth,'' he said. "My friends and family look at me and they're proud of me again.'' Fairfield County energy entrepreneur John Santa says he's long been a second- chance champion, and it's a reason he sits on the Connecticut Sentencing Commis- sion, which reviews and sets incarceration terms and guidelines for criminals. The commission, he said, has urged the state to issue a "certificate of employability'' — a kind of "good housekeeping seal,'' Santa says — for parolees who meet the qualifications to make them more attractive to employers. "That's the hook for employers,'' Santa said. "When we make an ex-offender into a taxpayer, then we all win.'' n Second Chances

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