Hartford Business Journal

June 29, 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 29, 2015 Volume 23, Number 31 $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 No Easy Rider No Easy Rider Business adviser- consultant Suzanne Hopgood has embraced Hartford as her adopted home for nearly four decades. So much so, Hopgood and husband Frank Lord have rarely lived outside the city. Index ■ Executive Profile: PG. 5 ■ Week in Review: PG. 6 ■ Focus: PG. 8 ■ The List: PG. 10 ■ Deal Watch: PG. 11 ■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 20 Decision 2015 This week Hartford Business Journal sits down with mayoral candidate Luke Bronin, the former general counsel to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Bronin said he wants to become Hartford's chief economic development officer. PG. 3 FOCUS: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS Education Perks Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield has added a free tuition option to its education benefits package for its 1,400 Connecticut employees. Find out how the move is part of a broader trend of companies reinstating their tuition reimbursement programs as the economy improves and labor market tightens. PG. 8 CRDA chair Hopgood peddles the city she pedals By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com I n Suzanne Hopgood's world, everything she does is about mak- ing an impact. That goes for her full-time vocation as a business adviser and crisis consultant in the U.S. and abroad, to her daily bicycle rides throughout Hartford and, especially, to her equally full-time vol- unteer — some say powerful — role as chair of the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA). The quasi-public body charged with reinvigorating Greater Hart- ford's commercial and residential infrastructure and amenities so far has cleared way for some 1,100 new apartments and helped lure UConn back to the center city, among other accomplishments. But the next big challenge awaiting Hopgood and her CRDA col- leagues is what to do with the aging XL Center sports arena-exhibition Continued on page 12 P H O T O | S T E V E L A S C H E V E R By Greg Bordonaro gbordonaro@HartfordBusiness.com C onnecticut's small employers, which have long felt the brunt of ever-increasing healthcare costs, could get some relief in 2016. One major insurer, Anthem, has requested an average 7.5 percent rate decrease for small business health plans it will sell on and off Connecticut's insurance exchange next year. Meanwhile, Aetna is asking state regula- tors to essentially keep its small group rates flat for 2016. Four other small group insurers — Har- vard Pilgrim, HealthyCT, Connecticare and Oxford Health Plans — are asking, on average, Continued on page 14 Health insurers rein in small group rate hikes P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D H A R T F O R D MAYORAL RACE 2015

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