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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 NOVEMBER 2, 2015 Volume 23, Number 49 $3.00 Subscribe online Reinvented and reinvigorated. Book of Lists 2 0 1 5 / 2 0 1 6 Reserve Your Space Today! Ad Space Closing: 11/30/15 Release Date: 12/28/15 Index ■ Week in Review: PG. 6 ■ The List: PG. 9 ■ Deal Watch: PG. 10 ■ Nonprofit Notebook: PG. 16 ■ Corporate Profile: PG. 17 ■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 20 EXECUTIVE PROFILE Customer Focus Find out how former marine Michael Parker, the newly appointed head of Comcast's western New England region, plans to improve the cable giant's customer service. PG: 5 River Preservation Construction is expected to begin next year on a $500 million Hartford-West Hartford tunnel that's been called one of the largest wastewater storage and conveyance projects in North America. PG: 3 IMAGE: ©SHUTTERSTOCK.COM | CIGDEM; ILLUSTRATION | LYNN MIKA Casino pits area communities in chase for jobs, fresh revenue By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com C ompetition is heat- ing up among sev- eral Hartford area towns chasing a "satel- lite'' casino that they say can bring jobs and other economic opportunities to their borders. With Windsor Locks sidelined after city leaders shot down a pro- posal to host a casino at Bradley International Airport, East Hartford and East Windsor, so far, are the only two publicly preparing to submit a casino proposal before this week's deadline. The mayor of a third municipal- ity, New Britain, says she welcomes overtures for private development of a casino in her city. "My door is wide open to talking about it,'' Mayor Erin E. Stewart said last week. Three other municipalities — Enfield, Hartford and West Hartford — so far say they Development Jackpot Kaman CEO invested in sidelined soccer franchise By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com T he chief executive of one of the state's major aerospace manufacturers made a personal investment in the effort to bring a pro soccer team back to Hartford, the Hartford Business Journal has learned. Neal Keating, CEO of publicly traded Bloomfield aerospace manufacturer Kaman Corp., confirmed in an interview that he invested in the minor league soccer fran- chise, Hartford City FC, which has now been sidelined after the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) booted the team from the league following news of a federal probe into the team's founders. "I became involved with Hartford City Football Club LLC in March 2015 in a passive role as a 5-percent minority investor because I believed then as I do now that a professional soccer team would be great for Hartford and good for the region," said Keating, who was not involved in the team's management. Keating would not reveal the dollar amount of his investment, but Dillon Sta- dium developer Mitchell Anderson of Pre- mier Sports Management Group (PSMG), who he knew "from the soccer community," convinced him to invest in the team, Keating said. Anderson, a Farmington resident, has been a coach for various local youth teams. He and his business partner, James Duckett of Black Diamond Consulting Group, are now under scrutiny as part of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office into missing funds allocated by the city to the developers, who won the rights last year to build a $40 million soccer stadium in Hartford. No charges have been filed. Duckett was listed as majority owner and Anderson president and general manager of the indoor soccer team Hartford City FC, which was slated to play its first game Nov. 8 at the XL Center, before the MASL removed the team from its 2015-2016 schedule. Ander- son and Duckett hoped to eventually earn the team entry into the more prestigious out- door North American Soccer League (NASL), which has higher startup costs, once Dillon Stadium was complete. But the city council refused to sign a long- term stadium lease with Duckett and Ander- son, and the city has indicated it will cancel its development contract for Dillon. Continued on page 14 Continued on page 12 Neal J. Keating, chairman, president and CEO of Kaman Corp., said he invested an undisclosed sum of his own money in a now-sidelined pro soccer team in Hartford.