Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com April 6, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 7 wHaT'S aHead: ■ 4/13 Focus: economic development ■ The List: largest decd deals ■ Nonprofit Profile: Foodshare calendar Thursday, april, 9 Small Business Symposium The Granby Chamber of Commerce is hosting a half-day small business symposium Thursday, April 9. The program, which runs from 12 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the New England Air Museum, Perimeter Road, Windsor Locks, is designed by business owners for business owners to cover a range of topics including human resources, customer relationship strategies, leadership, advertising, marketing, and sales. The keynote address will be given by author and consultant Pete Winiarski, who will discuss strategies companies can employ to boost their revenue, profits and cash flows. Price to attend is $45 per person. For more information contact: Lucy Eyre, 860.653.5085, gcoc@granbycoc.org. F O r a c O m P l e T e l i s T O F G r e a T e r H a r T F O r d B u s i n e s s e v e n T s , G O T O w w w . H a r T F O r d B u s i n e s s . c O m a n d c l i c k O n ' T H e a G e n d a . ' a l l c a l e n d a r i T e m s m u s T B e s u B m i T T e d e l e c T r O n i c a l l y v i a O u r w e B s i T e , H a r T F O r d B u s i n e s s . c O m . energy & uTiliTieS Energize CT saved customers $81M in 2014 More than 990,000 Connecticut businesses, municipalities, and residents used the various Energize Connecticut programs in 2014, saving a total of $81 million in energy costs for the year. Energize Connecticut is an initiative of the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Board, which receives the majority of its funding from a charge on ratepayers' utility bills. The programs are administered by the state's utilities like Eversource Energy, United Illuminating, Connecticut Natural Gas, and Southern Connecticut Gas. Through participation in programs like Home Energy Solutions and Small Business Energy Advantage, businesses and residents saved 387.8 million kilowatt hours of electricity, 6.3 million ccf of natural gas, and 2.1 million gallons of fuel oil and propane. The measures saved $81 million last year and will total $978.3 million in savings over their lifetime. T housands of Connecticut small businesses have chosen CBIA Health Connections. If you haven't, it's the perfect time to check us out. Your insurance solution. CBIA Health Connections offers solutions for all your employee insurance benefits — from medical and dental to life, disability, and vision options. And it's got built-in cost controls. You simply set your budget then let your employees choose a plan from Aetna, ConnectiCare, Harvard Pilgrim, or UnitedHealthcare that best meets their needs without having any impact on your benefit costs. Discover the power of choice. Contact your agent for a quote or call 860.244.1900. cbia.com/insurance Where do small businesses get insurance? Health Insurance for Small Business Jackson Laboratory received $1.2 million in Energize Connecticut incentives to carry out $2.4 million in efficiency improvements at its Farmington cam- pus. The project is expected to yield $620,000 in annual energy savings. manuFacTuring STR's 4Q loss climbs Enfield's STR Holdings said its fourth-quarter loss increased more than three-fold, largely due to its income tax bill. The solar-encapsulant maker booked a net loss of $13.4 mil- lion, or $1.38 per diluted share, up from a net loss of $3.7 million, or 26 cents, in the fourth quarter of 2013. The loss came despite an increase in net sales, which grew over the year from $6.7 million to $9.2 million — the result of gaining more Chinese customers, STR said. For the full year, STR lost $23.6 million, or $2.16 per diluted share, compared to a 2013 loss of $18.3 million, or $1.32 per share. STR said it has signed a supply agreement with an affiliate of Zhenfa New Energy, which acquired a majority stake in STR in December for $21.7 million. Under the agreement, STR will sell 500 megawatts of encap- sulants annually to Zhangjiagang Huhui Segpv Co. Ltd. Orders are expected to begin in the second quarter. employmenT & laBor JobsforHartford.com goes live The city of Hartford has launched an online database of munici- pal job openings available to city residents to ensure the city and its partners comply with hiring and community-benefits pacts. The website connects residents with city jobs. It also is being used to develop a database of residents who are looking for work. The database will be shared with contractors on public and private development projects in Hartford, as well as other po- tential employers. Residents of any profession, trade or skillset are encouraged to register on the website. P H O T O | H B J F i l e

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