Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • June 8, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com TOP STORY Uncertain future for Hooker Brewery's DoNo move Thomas Hooker Brewery's proposal to build a restaurant and brewing op- eration adjacent to the Downtown North ballpark now under construction may be in question. Approximately 10 months after Hartford city officials selected Centerplan Development Co. as the developer for the Downtown North project, Hooker has yet to come to terms with Centerplan on a sale or lease of space at 150 Windsor St., a former bank data center site where Hooker wishes to build a nearly 50,000-square-foot restaurant and brewery, Hooker owner Curt Cam- eron confirmed last week. "We can't jeopardize the health of our company by not entering into an ap- propriate deal," Cameron said. Cameron said he has not yet given up on the project, though he admitted he expected to have a deal in place by now. He said he wants to own the brewery's building, but leasing or owning the land around it have both been discussed. He is scheduled to meet with Centerplan this week. Cameron said he has also been looking at other Hartford properties, just in case. Centerplan Vice President Yves-Georges Joseph III said that Hooker's DoNo proposal remains on the table and that talks between the parties are ongoing. "We're in conversations with Curt to try to put together a deal that works for everybody,'' Joseph said. "We're excited about having him be a part of DoNo.'' ECONOMY & LABOR Sikorsky laying off 1,400, including 180 in CT Stratford helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. said last week that it would lay off 1,400 of its workers, due to declining sales of offshore oil ex- ploration projects. The layoffs will include 180 workers in Connecticut, a Sikorsky spokesman said. The company has 8,000 employees in the state. The cost cutting also will include closing down the company's Bridgeport fa- cility and moving 450 employees there to the headquarters in Stratford. The cuts are related to declining investments by oil companies in offshore oil exploration projects, which has reduced production levels at Sikorsky facilities. ENVIRONMENT Study tags CT forests as economic dynamos More than half of Connecticut is forest land, but those scenic and wildlife pre- serves also are a generous source of income for the state and some residents, a recent study shows. The North East State Foresters Association calculates that Connecticut's for- ests gross $3.3 billion annually for the state's economy through harvesting of forest products ($2.1 billion) and as recreation outlets ($1.2 billion). They also support jobs for 8,200 workers who work in the forest-products in- dustry, plus 4,600 recreation-related jobs, the association said in its study re- leased last week. INSURANCE Stag inks multi-year sponsorship with MLB The Hartford Financial Services Group has signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Major League Baseball. The sponsorship includes the Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres, San Fran- cisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, and Texas Rangers. That list will expand next year, the property-casualty insurer said. The Hartford did not disclose financial details of the deal, which allows it to de- clare itself an "Official Sponsor of Major League Baseball" and the MLB's exclusive partner for business insurance, homeowners insurance, and employee benefits. REAL ESTATE XL Center manager gets new name The parent company of Global Spectrum, which manages the XL Center in Hartford and Rentschler Field in East Hartford, said it has changed the names of all three of its divisions to Spectra. Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Philadelphia Flyers and the arena in which they play, is also assigning the Spectra name immediately to its food services and ticketing software divisions. In Connecticut, Global Spectrum provides ticketing and other services to UConn and the Connecticut Open tennis tournament in New Haven. BANKING & FINANCE Liberty Bank buying Naugatuck thrift Middletown's Liberty Bank is buying a recovering Naugatuck thrift for about $78 million in cash. Stockholders in Naugatuck Valley Financial Corp., and its eponymous savings and loan, will collect $11 a share from Liberty, officials for both institutions said last week. Boards of both banks have approved the deal due to close in the fourth quarter, they said. Liberty Chairman and CEO Chandler J. Howard, in a statement, characterized the merger as "a strong fit for the customers, communities and the staff of both organizations." A mutual bank owned by its depositors, Liberty has more than $4 billion in assets. In early May, federal bank regulators lifted sanctions imposed on Naugatuck Val- ley S&L, including that it maintain minimum capitalization levels. The thrift had as- sets of $508.8 million as of March 31, a quarter in which it netted $301,000. William Calderara, who was hired in September 2012 to stabilize Naugatuck Val- ley as president and CEO, insisted that the bank's financial difficulties were behind it. "It wasn't a distress sale,'' he said. As for his post-merger future with Liberty, Calderara said, "We're still going to have some discussions about that.'' BY THE NUMBERS $62.3M The new state tax revenues that will be raised through a controversial unitary tax on Connecticut corporations with multi-state operations. 24.8% The percent Connecticut's home prices still must increase before they return to their July 2006 peak, according to Corelogic. $33B The reconstruction value of the nearly 98,000 Connecticut homes that are at risk of storm damage from hurricanes this year, according to Corelogic. TOP 5 MOST READ on HartfordBusiness.com ■ The Linden to again house a restaurant ■ UConn buys JCJ's Hartford office home ■ Hooker Brewery's DoNo move in jeopardy ■ Sikorsky laying off 1,400, including 180 in CT ■ House agrees on CT budget that includes unitary biz tax programs STAY CONNECTED For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to www.HartfordBusi- ness.com. HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ HartfordBiz HBJ on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/: WEEK IN REVIEW P.O. 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