Hartford Business Journal

another, then all I heard were hooves, and sud- denly a deer was sliding under myself and my bike. It sounds terrifying, but we were both fine. I remember laying there in the road next to the deer, I reached out and touched him — he looked at me." While both Altrui and Kenney have public transpor- tation available to them, they chose to find creative, more enjoyable, more economically, and ecologically responsible ways to commute. "I started commuting by bike because I like how it gets your blood pumping early in the morning," said Kenney. "It wasn't until later that I saw a 30 percent reduction on the wear and tear of my vehicle not to mention fuel savings." Kenney, who now works from home, no longer bikes into Hartford on a regular basis. Altrui on the other hand paddles in as long as the rain is at bay and the ice isn't too thick. "I do this because I love to paddle," said Altrui. "It's a fun way to start my day and a good way to get some exercise." Kenney and Altrui are living proof that commuting to work doesn't have to be mundane. Whether by boat or by bike, there are many rewards, both physical and fiscal, that result from ditching four wheels and finding more creative ways to get to the office. "If I had to offer once piece of advise it would be this — don't let early morning's scare you," said Kenney. "It's hard to change habits, but once you're on the road, it's so worth it. It's a great way to start your day." www.CTGreenGuide.com Fall 2014 • Connecticut Green Guide 15 Jeff Altrui paddles 45 minutes on the Connecticut River to get to his job at Pratt & Whitney. PhoTo | kAiTiE ChASSé From Central Connecticut's trusted business news source. 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 March 31, 2014 Volume 22, number 19 $3.00 subscribe online June 5, 2014 Only 10 weeks until C T B E x p o . c o m Index ■ Reporter's Notebook: PG. 5 ■ Week in Review: PG. 6 ■ The List: PG. 10 ■ Deal Watch: PG. 11 ■ Nonprofit Notebook: PG. 19 ■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 20 Faces oF Business Main Street Mainstay Manchester's Bray Jewelers has survived for almost 100 years. Read about the family business' secrets to success and what makes customers keep coming back. PG. 3 Focus: economic DeveloPment Social Entrepreneurship Hartford business accelerator aims to nurture socially conscious businesses. PG. 8 Music copyright lawsuits cost restaurants unexpected thousands By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com A few years ago, nine songs were played inside Shelton's Vazzy's Cucina restaurant that ended up costing owners John Vazzano and Vincent L. Noce $18,000. That's because an agent of licensing giant Broadcast Music Inc., which represents the artists who owned the tracks, attested to being present when the tunes were played and sued Vazzano and Noce for copyright infringement, claiming the restaurant's music qualified as a public per- formance. Under federal copyright law, that meant the restaurant had to pay for the rights to play the songs, BMI said. Vazzano said he thinks a private party actually played the tunes. Broadcast Music Inc. • Founded in 1939 • Represents more than 600,000 songwriters and publishers with more than 8.5 million songs. • Distributed 85 cents of every dollar in licensing revenue in royalties — that amounted to $814 million in fiscal 2013. By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com B y late May, the Corporation For Independent Living (CIL) expects to have in its hands title to the derelict Capewell Horse- nails factory in Hartford's South End in a bid to convert the idle eyesore into 72 apartments and an adjacent parcel into 24 affordable townhomes. If it does, it will open another fruit- ful chapter for a South End nonprofit that has leveraged — and exported — its talent as a group-home developer to shelter a diverse swath of central Connecticut's population. It, too, will be one of the final swan songs before the yearend retirement of its first and only chief executive. Since its launch in 1979 to finance, build, lease out — then ultimately give away — supportive shelter for thou- sands of the state's physically and mentally disabled, CIL has invested $458 million to construct or convert 2,205 dwelling units into shelter for 7,200 residents in Connecticut and Massachusetts. For at least a dozen years, CIL has applied that same skill set to its expand- ing for-profit realty development opera- tions that include Capewell, and a neigh- boring nonprofit-office-space cluster. In February, CIL announced it bought and will resume work on the $3.34 mil- lion Depot Crossing mixed-use project John Vazzano, owner of Vazzy's Cucina in Shelton, was upset when his restaurant had to pay $18,000 to settle a music copyright lawsuit. P h o t o | P a b l o R o b l e s Continued on page 16 Continued on page 15 Martin "Marty'' Legault, president and CEO, Corporation For Independent Living (CIL) With Legault, developer CIL soars as landlord Sued for a ong It's the up-to-date information you need to do better business! and HBJToday Get local breaking business news daily! Sign up today at HartfordBusiness.com: Click on the 'subscribe' button

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