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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 APRIL 27, 2015 Volume 23, Number 22 $3.00 Subscribe online J U N E 4 T H H A R T F O R D For more info: www.CTBEXPO.com Index ■ Week in Review: PG. 6 ■ Focus: PG. 8 ■ The List: PG. 9 ■ Deal Watch: PG. 12 ■ Corporate Profile: PG. 22 ■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 24 Millennial Entrepreneur Find out how Derrick Gibbs Jr. went from selling life insurance and copy machines to leading a $5 million, and growing, homecare and behavioral health services company. PG. 3 Changing Paradigm Hartford Healthcare is testing a new model of primary care that aims to reduce costs and keep people healthier. PG. 5 Omega Flex fends off big insurers' lawsuits By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com W ith its core manufacturing opera- tion in Pennsylvania and its corpo- rate headquarters tucked away in a Middletown office building, Omega Flex might not be a household name in the central Connecticut business community. But the gas-piping manufacturer's attorneys have been a common presence in courtrooms in Connecticut and across the country. The 140-employee company has been sued more than 50 times in federal court over the past six years for product liability and neg- ligence, according to an analysis of legal filings by the Hartford Business Journal. The complaints allege that a now-discon- tinued version of Omega Flex's flexible gas piping, TracPipe, was responsible for light- ning-strike related house fires, or that the product created such an increased likelihood of harm that homeowners deserved damages under negligence and liability laws. Omega Flex, which has settled more than half of the suits privately, insists that its piping — used to transport natural gas to home appli- ances and heating systems — is not to blame for fires and is not uniquely susceptible to light- ning damage. Not a single fatality has been linked to the product, the company contends. In lawsuits that have made it to judgment, Incentivizing Startups Proposed program waives government fees, red tape By Brad Kane bkane@HartfordBusiness.com A s the General Assembly heads into the second half of its 2015 legislative session, lawmakers are pushing a $34 million program that would enable startups to forgo filing state and local gov- ernment paperwork, along with all associ- ated fees. The Entrepre- neur Learner's Permit program allows owners and executives of qualifying small businesses for two years to waive any state or municipal filing, licensing, or permitting and the fees associated with starting a new company. The bill, orig- inally authored by State Sen. Scott Frantz (R-Greenwich), has unanimously been approved by the legislature's Commerce R E D E F I N I N G RETIREMENT Part II of Hartford Business Journal's examination of an aging Connecticut explores the evolution of some non- and for-profit second-career and flexible-work programs that are enticing seniors to broaden and share their skills and stay engaged. See PG. 14 UNAMI SILVER S Connecticut's Continued on page 16 Continued on page 16 A 2007 Omega Flex product guide shows a previous ver- sion of the company's TracPipe gas tubing, which has faced more than 50 product-liability lawsuits. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D P H O T O | S T E V E L A S C H E V E R Sen. Scott Frantz (R-Greenwich)