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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 16, 2015 Volume 23, Number 51 $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 Lists: PG. 11 ■ Deal Watch: PG. 12 ■ Nonprofit Notebook: PG. 16 ■ Movers & Shakers: PG. 16 ■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 18 FOCUS: TRANSPORTATION Commuter Psychology State officials say two key factors keep people from riding public transportation. Find out what they are and how the state is trying to overcome them to boost ridership on CTfastrak and other public transportation options. PG. 10 Executive Profile Kurt Mayr was recently named managing partner of Bracewell & Giuliani LLP's Connecticut office. Find out how a childhood tragedy influenced him to become a lawyer. PG. 8 New pay rules force homecare agencies to re-think business model By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com A new federal rule extending greater workplace pay pro- tections to home health and personal care workers is forcing homecare agencies to raise rates, re-think their business models, and could lead to consolidation across the industry, experts say. The U.S. Labor Department's so-called Home Care Final Rule officially took effect Nov. 12, requiring third-party homecare employers, commonly known as homecare agencies, to pay their live-in and hourly employees Fewer fed dollars may slow CT's farm-preservation efforts By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com C onnecticut practically invented the concept of permanently setting aside its best soils for farming, with its 1978 law allow- ing taxpayers to pay farmowners for the development rights to their most arable land. This year, the state has preserved eight more farms through its farm-preservation program. But as participation rises among farm- ers in Connecticut and across the U.S., the pot of federal dollars to buy farm rights is shrinking, federal agriculture officials say. That means, this year's robust cycle in which at least eight more Con- necticut farmowners collected $5.5 million to preserve their farm acre- age may be the last for a while, increasing the likelihood some farmers Continued on page 13 Continued on page 14 FARMLAND PROTECTORS Lebanon grower Robin Chesmer (center) says Connecticut's farm- preservation program enabled him to purchase his Graywall Farms and expand it over the years. It also may allow him to pass his farm to his son Lincoln (standing) and son-in-law David Hevner (kneeling). P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D New pay rules are disrupting the homecare industry, but Berlin's Euro-American Connections & Homecare hopes the rules could lead to more growth. Pictured here are COO Tom Falik and owner Maggie Drag in the new headquarters they just bought and are renovating. H B J P H O T O | M A T T P I L O N