Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • December 14, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com HEALTH CARE Interim CEO of UConn Health gets permanent appointment Andrew Agwunobi, who has served as UConn's interim executive vice presi- dent for health affairs and CEO of UConn Health for the past year, will be perma- nently appointed to the role, effective Dec. 31. Agwunobi, a pediatrician, is a nationally recognized leader in healthcare ad- ministration and performance improvement, according to a UConn news re- lease. His responsibilities include oversight of all operations on UConn Health's Farmington campus and at clinical locations statewide — a $950 million enter- prise employing more than 5,000 clinicians, faculty, and staff, and encompass- ing UConn's medical and dental schools. He will report directly to UConn President Susan Herbst. Before joining UConn Health, Agwunobi most recently served as a director with the Berkeley Research Group. He previously was chief executive of Providence Health Care, a five-hospital region of Providence Health & Services in Spokane, Wash. MANUFACTURING Stanadyne plans Dubai facility Windsor-based Stanadyne last week announced plans to open a facility in Dubai in spring 2016. It comes on the heels of Stanadyne's recent agreement to supply fuel-injection systems to a Pakistani tractor and agricultural machine manufacturer. The facility will support growing sales in the region and provide technology to meet the requirements for upcoming emissions standards. The new facility is planned to open in April 2016 with its Pakistani partner Millat Tractors Ltd. as one of the first customers. Millat Tractors will use Stanadyne's mechanical rotary pump technology in their 50 to 85 horsepower tractor and genset models. ENERGY & UTILITIES CT Water tries new conservation approach Utility companies and municipalities have long struggled with customers conserving water because, in general, the more water their customers use, the more revenue companies and public-works departments make. Clinton-based water utility Connecticut Water, which serves nearly 300,000 people in 60 cities and towns, has decided to take a stab at a different approach. Under the company's recently launched 2016 Water Drop Challenge, which it says could be the first of its kind in the country, customers who reduce their con- sumption in the coming year by 10 percent or more will receive a $30 rate credit. The company said it will absorb the cost of the customer credits, which could cost as much as $300,000, but it hopes to eventually convince utilities regula- tors to consider such programs in future rate case filings. CT Water's average customer household uses 170 gallons of water per day. A daily reduction of 17 gallons next year will be enough for the average customer to earn the credit, the company said. PURA gives final OK to UIL-Iberdrola merger The state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority gave final approval last week to the $3 billion merger of UIL Holdings Corp. and a U.S. subsidiary of Spanish utility giant Iberdrola. PURA commissioners voted 2-1 in favor of approving a draft decision issued last month. The companies have said they hope to close the deal by the end of this month. Iberdrola said the deal will create a diversified power and utility company with seven regulated utilities operating in four Northeast states and combined revenue of approximately $2 billion. The combined entity will also have the sec- ond largest wind-generation portfolio in the United States, the company said. PURA's final signoff comes after the regulator negotiated a series of conces- sions with UIL in September. That settlement followed an initial PURA ruling over the summer that found Iberdrola had not met public interest standards. The combined entity, which will be 85-percent owned by Iberdrola USA, has committed to $40 million in ratepayer credits, $45 million in potential avoided cost recoveries related to infrastructure improvements, and $39 million in chari- table contributions. TECHNOLOGY Hartford's broadband adoption outpaces national average A new report shows Hartford's adoption of broadband Internet beats the national average. The same applies to the state's other leading metropolitan areas as well. Broadband access is considered a strong economic driver, according to The Brookings Institute report. It said in 2014, more than 87 million households — or three-quarters of all households nationally — had a broadband Internet subscription. Connecticut's three major metropolitan areas all exceed 80 percent adop- tion. In the Hartford/West Hartford/East Hartford area, 377,635 homes had broadband Internet access in 2014, which represents 80.1 percent of the area's 467,715 households. Overall, that is a 3.8 percent improvement over 2013. The Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk metropolitan area had the greatest pen- etration in Connecticut in 2014. Broadband access there is in 285,829 of the area's 338,421 homes for a rate of 84.3 percent. That is a 1.4 percent improve- ment over 2013. The metropolitan area with the highest adoption of broadband Internet is San Jose, Calif., at 88.2 percent. Laredo, Texas, is the lowest at 56.2 percent. CÜR Media scores $1.75M in funding Glastonbury-based CÜR Media has raised $1.75 million from members of the company's management and board of directors. Other key music industry professionals participating in the financing round were Hector "Tico" Torres, drummer for the rock band Bon Jovi, and Robert Fer- nandez, president of Mr. 305 Inc., the independent record label founded by Pitbull. The company intends to use the money for working capital and general cor- porate purposes as it gears up for the anticipated launch of CÜR Music, a social, mobile and web-streaming music application that is being designed to enable users to go beyond the limitations of traditional music streaming services. ARTS Hartford Stage receives $200K grant for renovations The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving has awarded a $200,000 grant to Hartford Stage to leverage a $2.5 million challenge grant from the state Depart- ment of Economic and Community Development. The funds will be used to complete major renovations at the downtown the- ater company. In addition to the foundation and state funding, Hartford Stage has raised approximately $2 million in cash or pledges and has $404,961 from a previous endowment campaign to pay for the renovation project. Improvements made to the theater include: installation of an elevator; com- pletion of electrical, plumbing and HVAC improvements; renovation of the lower lobby and the bar/food service areas; relocation of the box office and house manager's office; improvements to the exterior of the building, including re- pointing of the brick and roof repairs; and installation of a new digital marquee, new lighting, signage and landscaping. BY THE NUMBERS $543.3M The amount of budget cuts for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 approved by the legislature in a special session last week. $358.7M The remaining budget deficit projected for next fiscal year, after last week's cuts. 0.08% The interest rate Connecticut will require landlords to pay on rent security deposits next year, flat from 2015. $249,000 Connecticut's median home sales price through the first 10 months of the year, down 1.9 percent over the same time last year. TOP 5 MOST READ on HartfordBusiness.com ■ Church pays $1.45M for La Renaissance ■ Fishman's last day as Travelers CEO ■ Amtrak, state reach agreement on $570M Hartford line ■ Hartford ranked worst in nation for projected 1Q job growth ■ State worker fined for revolving door violation STAY CONNECTED For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to www.HartfordBusiness.com. HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ the-Hartford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend www.HartfordBusiness.com/subscribe Weekly e-newsletters: CT Green Guide Weekly, CT Health Care Weekly www.HartfordBusiness.com/subscribe WEEK IN REVIEW TOP STORY Legislature makes budget cuts, tweaks business taxes The General Assembly, voting along party lines, passed $350 million in budget savings last week that aimed to close a mid-year budget deficit. The bill also changes the taxes applied to hospitals and other businesses. The bill makes $195.8 million in spending cuts and $135.7 million in revenue adjustments to the FY 2016 budget totaling $331.5 million in savings. Lawmak- ers also expect to save an additional $18.5 million through other administrative cost reductions. The deficit-mitigation plan also makes various changes to the unitary re- porting system for corporation business taxes, including implementing a $2.5 million cap on the tax increase any filer experiences as a result of unitary reporting. Other changes were made to income, property, the petroleum prod- ucts gross earnings, and hospital taxes. The budget also restores to 70 percent the cap on the amount of certain tax credits corporations may claim each year. P H O T O | P A B L O R O B L E S

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