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www.HartfordBusiness.com November26,2012•Hartford Business Journal 9 Celebrating 20 Years of Business News 20 Years of NEWS & EVENTS StorieS F or much of the past 20 years, Hartford has been locked in an identity crisis. Were we really 'New England's Rising Star'? Were we in fact a major league market? And much of that struggle involved the business of sports. After the bitter exit of the Hartford Whalers and two unsuccessful bids to lure the New England Patriots, Hartford found both validation and vindication in the success of UConn's national championship basketball teams. The 1996 presidential debate also helped the region realize that it had a place on the national stage. Of course, validation existed all along in the area's defense and aerospace industries and in its wealth of educational institutions. It was just a matter of choosing the yardstick. And in the '90s, that yardstick was sports. So what better place to start a look at stories that shaped the past two decades than to dive right into the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. -- Norm Bell, editor By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com T he University of Connecticut's last two decades of athletic success has pumped millions into Hartford's and the state's economies, as well as given a price- less lift to residents' psyches, observers say. The school's unrivaled 11 national team championships in womens' and mens' bas- ketball and mens' soccer since 1995 — not to mention multiple Final Four appearances and Big East championships between them — has elevated UConn from mocked coun- try sports and education backwater to elite status in college sports — and student enroll- ment — in the eyes of fans universally, they say. The beneficiaries are widespread — from sales of Husky-logoed sports apparel and game tickets to food and beverages con- sumed before, during and after contests in downtown Hartford's XL Center. Plus, there is the immeasurable halo effect to businesses and charitable events and organizations with ties to the university and its blue-ribbon ros- ter of players and coaches. More important, the school's on-court prestige has opened lucrative doors off the court, not only to greater taxpayer invest- ment in academic programs and classroom and research facilities at the state's flagship university, but private investment as well in the form of Jackson Laboratory. Those a re a lready ref lected in UConn's sports 'front porch' has room for Hartford, too More than two decades of unrivaled success for the University of Connecticut women's basketball program, led by Head Coach Geno Auriemma and Associate Head Coach Chris Dailey, both standing at far left, has been an economic slam dunk for the school, Hartford and the state. Continued on next page C O N T R I B U T E D P H O T O