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48 Hartford Business Journal•November26,2012 www.HartfordBusiness.com Celebrating 20 Years of Business News jobs, due to a decline in national alcohol consumption. The corporate headquarters will remain in Farmington. Atlanta based ValuJet commences operations at Bradley Interna- tional with flights to Washington's Dulles airport. Hartford's Coyotes and Hellcats go up for sale. The Fleet-Shawmut banking deal makes Fleet New England's larg- est bank, leaves Fleet's Constitution Plaza home vacant, plus slams Hartford and Connecticut's already sagging morale. Hartford makes downtown living a priority. The Urban Home- steading program is a plus in rehabbing old buildings. Connecticut welcomes the '95 Special Olympics World Games, bring- ing 500,000 athletes, coaches, media, family and friends for 10 days. The New Britain Herald is sold to Trenton, N.J.-based Journal Register Co., ending the 108-year-long reign of the Vance-Weld-Brown family's four generations. The Rehabilitation Hospital of Connecticut dedicates a 60-bed facility as a joint project of St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center and Mount Sinai Hospital. Hartford based Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co. merges with Springfield's Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. to form the nation's fifth-largest life-insurer. The Caldor Corp, the Norwalk-based discount department store, files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors. The Stanley Works in New Britain cuts 800 jobs, including 80 of 1,800 Connecticut employees. This after Stanley received a $2 million incentive package from the state. Carnival Air Lines comes to Bradley International flights that con- nect through the airline's Fort Lauderdale hub to Caribbean destinations. Charles Nirenberg, founder of Enfield's Dairy Mart chain gave the board an ultimatum: Buy out his assets or he'd use his majority shares to install a new board and take back control. After a year of wrangling, the board caved, and completed a $13.15 million buyout with Nirenberg. Aetna Life & Casualty sells its property-casualty business to The Travelers Group for $4 billion. The deal ranks Travelers fourth-larg- est property-casualty business in the country — up from 10th. 1996 Westfarms mall undergoes a $100 million renovation that includes construction of a 590-car parking deck and a new 311,000-square-foot wing which will accommodate 50 new specialty stores. Aetna announces plans to buy U.S. Healthcare Inc. based in Blue Bell, Pa., for $8.9 billion — a move that would create the nation's largest managed-care company. One of Hartford's oldest law firms — Schatz & Schatz, Ribicoff & Katkin — closes, its strength sapped by the capital area's tepid economy and the recent defection of key money making partners. United Parcel Service announces it will replace its existing facility at Bradley International with 230,000 square feet of sorting area. UPS is investing $41 million in the Hartford area and hiring an additional 250 employees. Hartford lands the presidential debate, between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, despite just about everyone's disbelief in Daniel Papermas- ter's quest. The Bushnell was the site for the first event like this to be broadcast nationally from New England. Trinity College President Evan Dobelle is HBJ's Person of the year for his desire to connect the 173-year-old liberal arts college and its future to the blighted neighborhood around it. He's had six abandoned buildings torn down and made them a part of a massive $175 million revitalization project. The Hartford Business Journal grows from a bi-weekly to a weekly. After 25 years in the Connecticut market, WaWa Food Markets pulls out. WaWa sold its 22 stores to HAS Investment Group Inc of Edison, NJ, which reopens them under the Krauszer's name. Dairy Mart puts its 170 stores, 56 in CT, up for sale. 1997 Connecticut Yankee nuclear power plant in Haddam Neck official- ly closed its doors in 2007 after a nine-year decommissioning process. The 582-megawatt plant opened in 1968, but its board, made up of New England utilities, voted to close the plant in 1996 after repairs and maintenance became too costly. • New owners of Lake Compounce — Ken- wood Entertainment — announce a $35 mil- lion renovation of the nation's oldest park, and tap Cashman & Katz as ad and PR agents. After months of uncertainty, the Whalers skate out of town. They refused Gov. Row- land's offer of a $ 150 million arena, citing the loss of $45 million during the three-year construction phase. United Tech- nologies president George David says he is moving the entire functions and top managers of the company to Asia. Most of the employees would be from the parent company involving only the corporate head- quarters, not the divisions of UTC, which are mostly based in CT. Griffin Land breaks ground on New Eng- land Tradeport in Windsor/Granby. 1998 Only two years after moving its headquarters from Farmington to Hartford, Heublein says it is leaving the city at yearend. Gov. Rowland announces plans for a $135 million expansion at Bradley International Airport, including construction of a 600,000-square-foot passenger terminal. Mt. Sinai Community Hospital Association loses its lawsuit against the state to keep the hospital open. South Windsor's Gerber Scientific Inc. purchases Coburn Optical Inc. for $63 million in cash. The New England Blizzard of the American Basketball League play its entire 1998-99 schedule at the Hartford Civic Center, after splitting its first two seasons between the capitol city and Springfield. Gov. Rowland's $350 million package for "Six Pillars of Progress" in Hartford passes the legislature, creating the Capitol City Economic Development Authority. After two years of quiet planning, Robert Fiondella, CEO of Phoe- nix Home Life Mutual Insurance Co. reveals his billion-dollar plan for 35 acres of riverfront property. The proposed Adriaen's Landing calls for mixed use residential, office, recreational, entertainment and convention facilities. The small Environmental Systems Products of East Granby has acquired its larger rival, Envirotest Systems Corp of Tucson, AZ, the firm that is administering the state's emissions program testing. ESP's secret weapon: A well heeled partner from London, Alchemy Partners Limited. Lincoln Financial puts its logo atop of the MetroCenter building. The move to Hartford began in January with the purchase of Cigna Corp's individual life insurance business for $1.4 billion. Lincoln also acquires Aetna's indi- vidual life insurance business for $1 billion. With the handoff of a football into Gov. Rowland's hands, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft agrees to move his New England Patriots to Connecticut for the fall 2001 season, if the General Assembly agrees by Dec. 31 to help fund a $350 million, 68,000- seat stadium as part of Adriaen's Landing. New Britain opens its $90 million, five-story courthouse. New Britain expects the area sur- rounding the courthouse to explode with res- taurants, services and retailers. TIMELINE The Past 20 Years 1995 1996 1997 CT Yankee shutdown The 29-year-old Connecticut Yankee nuclear power sta- tion in Haddam final- ly closes after a nine-year decommis- sioning of the facility that owners deemed too costly to contin- ue to repair and maintain. George David, president, United Technologies New Britain's new courthouse debuts in 1998.