Hartford Business Journal Special Editions

Business Champions 2015 — June 8, 2015

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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 JUNE 8, 2015 Volume 23, Number 28 $3.00 Subscribe online 2 0 1 5 P U B L I S H I N G J U LY 2 0 Visit HartfordBusiness.com for more information L o o k f o r t h i s s p e c i a l i s s u e Awards event, Sept. 30 Index ■ Week in Review: PG. 6 ■ Focus: PG. 8 ■ The Lists: PGS. 18–19 ■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 36 ■ Accolades: PG. 38 JCJ Relocation One of the region's largest, most iconic architecture firms is looking for a new home after selling its downtown Hartford headquarters to UConn last week. Find out why JCJ Architecture is considering locations outside Hartford and Connecticut. PG. 5 Decision 2015 This week Hartford Business Journal sits down with Hartford Democratic mayoral candidate Robert Killian Jr., a recently retired probate judge who discusses his business and economic development policy ideas. PG. 3 H A R T F O R D MAYORAL RACE 2015 Recognizing the Achievements of the Hartford Region's Privately Held Companies 2015 PGS. 14–34 State pension fund eyes $145M bet on CT Inc. By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com C onnecticut's pension fund is joining a number of other states in placing bets on in-state businesses, as part of an effort to jump-start the economy and diver- sify its investment portfolio. Over the next four years, leaders of the Connecticut Retire- ment Plans and Trust Funds (CRPTF) hope to invest as much as $145 million in Con- necticut middle-mar- ket loans and private equity and venture financing. The initiative would quicken the pace and scope of the pension fund's Con- necticut investments — which so far have included a modest amount of private equity bets — and represents the first time the public retirement system has dipped its toe direct- ly into venture capital and middle-market Continued on page 12 State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier Legislature largely ignores businesses' demands By Brad Kane bkane@HartfordBusiness.com T he state's business community did not get what it wanted this legislative ses- sion. Not even close. When the session's marquee legisla- tion — the two-year, $40.3 billion budget — was approved by the House and Senate last week, the business community was left feeling burned. "Maybe it is our inability to communi- cate fully, or it is people at the Capitol who have agendas that don't align with ours … but the legislature thinks growing govern- ment is better than growing the economy," said Joe Brennan, president and CEO of the Connecticut Busi- ness & Industry Association. "I was very disappointed, and I don't think the legislators fully heard our message." Heading into a legislative session in which CBIA and other industry lob- bying groups were expecting no tax increases, compa- nies and hospitals will end up paying about $1 billion more in taxes over the next two years. The bud- get includes a new law taxing multi-state companies' revenues, stricter limits on tax credits, continuation of the corporate tax Continued on page 10 (Above) State Sen. John Kissel (R-Enfield) debates legislation June 2 during a marathon session by the House and Senate to finalize a budget agreement, which ultimately passed without Republican support. P H O T O | S T E V E L A S C H E V E R PLEAS

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