Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com August 24, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 5 CORRECTIONS & AMPLIFICATIONS Timely filings of state and federal income-tax returns are a requirement only for workers to remain employed with the state Department of Revenue Services. A Page 1 story on Aug. 17 incorrectly reported the requirement applies to all state workers. PDS has been meeting the needs of the construction industry since 1965. Our dedicated team of design and construction professionals welcomes the challenge of serving its past and future customers on their most demanding projects. Gymnastics Express | Glastonbury, Connecticut PDS acted as General Contractor to complete an addition of 3,500 square feet to this occupied fitness facility. PDS built the original building and were asked to perform their services again for an expansion. The entire building is now 14,000 square feet in which both projects were completed on time and within budget. Girls and Boys from all over Connecticut compete and exercise in this gymnastics building. Total Project Size: 14,000 SF 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com DESIGN BUILDERS • GENERAL CONTRACTORS • CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS SPOTLIGHT ON: Retail PDS ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. THINK • PLAN • BUILD REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK This 'shooter' eyes a brighter Hartford For decades, renowned Connecticut photographer-artist Jack McConnell has relied on his talented eye, photo lenses and the use of natural and artificial light to build his name and an extensive portfolio of com- mercial and artistic images. On opening night Aug. 13 for his "Paral- lax'' exhibit at the 100 Pearl St. Gallery of extremely colorful and up-close portraits of many of downtown's most recognizable buildings and landmarks, the Wethersfield resident shared what he says is his next big idea to benefit downtown Hartford. McConnell wants to light up downtown. Or, more precisely he wants to mount a campaign to urge as many of downtown Hartford's commercial landlords as pos- sible to uplight their buildings. He also wants to see strands of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) stretched overhead across streets and pedestrian crossings, or wrapped around tree trunks or strung through branches — a la the light- ed streetscapes of cosmopolitan cities like Paris and New York's Times Square. Doing so, he says, would not only show- case much of the unique and eye-catching architecture and façade layouts along Main, Trumbull, Pearl and other downtown streets, but would make those streets safer by reducing shadows and dark spots and encouraging more pedestrian traffic. He points to the high visibility at night for the up-lit State Capitol overlooking Bushnell Park, along with the Connecticut Conven- tion Center on Columbus Boulevard, and the Hartford Marriott Hotel next door. — Gregory Seay CT also ferreting out insider tax scofflaws Connecticut's top tax collector confirms his agency has identified about a thousand state workers who appear uncompliant on their state and fed- eral income taxes. State Depart- ment of Revenue Ser- vices Commissioner Kevin B. Sullivan said the state annu- ally reviews all of its DRS staff, along with employees at the state's other agencies, for tax-fil- ing compliance. The tax-filing review, Sullivan said, is separate from an ongoing probe by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service — in which his agency also is cooperating — into a tax- withholding scheme that so far has netted at least 80 current and former state workers. The Hartford Business Journal previ- ously reported (Aug. 17) on the IRS probe that investigators say has now widened to an unspecified number of other states in New England and nationwide. One of those snared in that probe, a state worker at the Connecticut Valley Hos- pital in Middletown, was sentenced Aug. 14 to 16 months in prison and ordered to repay the IRS $105,697.22 in unpaid taxes, penal- ties and interest. Sullivan said the state regularly tries to identify potential tax deadbeats on its pay- roll by cross-indexing state and federal tax files with state workers' withholding records. It's unfair, he said, for the state to insist taxpayers pay their fair share fully and on time if state workers, whose salaries depend on taxpayers' honesty and fairness, themselves aren't. — Gregory Seay Kevin B. Sullivan, Commissioner, State Department of Revenue Services Hartford's Marriott, left, and science center, right. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D Order today and get 20% off! Subscribe online: www.HartfordBusiness.com/hbjdelivers or call: 845-267-3008 and provide discount code HH15DB Offer expires 8/31/15 Delivering Business. When you need information to grow your business, we deliver! Subscribe today to receive weekly issues in print and digital, plus special publications and full online access! 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 March 31, 2014 Volume 22, number 19 $3.00 subscribe online June 5, 2014 Only 10 weeks until C T B E x p o . c o m Index ■ Reporter's Notebook: PG. 5 ■ Week in Review: PG. 6 ■ The List: PG. 10 ■ Deal Watch: PG. 11 ■ Nonprofit Notebook: PG. 19 ■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 20 Faces oF Business Main Street Mainstay Manchester's Bray Jewelers has survived for almost 100 years. Read about the family business' secrets to success and what makes customers keep coming back. PG. 3 Focus: economic DeveloPment Social Entrepreneurship Hartford business accelerator aims to nurture socially conscious businesses. PG. 8 Music copyright lawsuits cost restaurants unexpected thousands By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com A few years ago, nine songs were played inside Shelton's Vazzy's Cucina restaurant that ended up costing owners John Vazzano and Vincent L. Noce $18,000. That's because an agent of licensing giant Broadcast Music Inc., which represents the artists who owned the tracks, attested to being present when the tunes were played and sued Vazzano and Noce for copyright infringement, claiming the restaurant's music qualified as a public per- formance. Under federal copyright law, that meant the restaurant had to pay for the rights to play the songs, BMI said. Vazzano said he thinks a private party actually played the tunes. Broadcast Music Inc. • Founded in 1939 • Represents more than 600,000 songwriters and publishers with more than 8.5 million songs. • Distributed 85 cents of every dollar in licensing revenue in royalties — that amounted to $814 million in fiscal 2013. By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com B y late May, the Corporation For Independent Living (CIL) expects to have in its hands title to the derelict Capewell Horse- nails factory in Hartford's South End in a bid to convert the idle eyesore into 72 apartments and an adjacent parcel into 24 affordable townhomes. If it does, it will open another fruit- ful chapter for a South End nonprofit that has leveraged — and exported — its talent as a group-home developer to shelter a diverse swath of central Connecticut's population. It, too, will be one of the final swan songs before the yearend retirement of its first and only chief executive. Since its launch in 1979 to finance, build, lease out — then ultimately give away — supportive shelter for thou- sands of the state's physically and mentally disabled, CIL has invested $458 million to construct or convert 2,205 dwelling units into shelter for 7,200 residents in Connecticut and Massachusetts. For at least a dozen years, CIL has applied that same skill set to its expand- ing for-profit realty development opera- tions that include Capewell, and a neigh- boring nonprofit-office-space cluster. In February, CIL announced it bought and will resume work on the $3.34 mil- lion Depot Crossing mixed-use project John Vazzano, owner of Vazzy's Cucina in Shelton, was upset when his restaurant had to pay $18,000 to settle a music copyright lawsuit. P h O t O | P a b l O R O b l e s Continued on page 16 Continued on page 15 Martin "Marty'' Legault, president and CEO, Corporation For Independent Living (CIL) With Legault, developer CIL soars as landlord Sued for a ong

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