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FEBRUARY 1, 2016
Volume 24, Number 9
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L E A R N I N N O V A T E C O L L A B O R A T E S A V E
SUMMIT
ANNUAL
's
Legislative
Preview
Focus
Check out numerous
business-related issues
likely to be debated during
this year's legislative
session. PG. 8
By Matt Pilon
mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com
T
ax increases may be off the table during the legis-
lative session that begins this week, but the busi-
ness community will remain on the defensive,
lobbyists say, working to fend off proposed mandates
that have gained growing support in recent years,
including a publicly administered retirement plan.
Meanwhile, balancing the budget in the face of
growing deficits will be the main priority for legis-
lators, who just patched a $350-million hole in the
Index
■ Week in Review: PG. 6
■ The List: PG. 10
■ Deal Watch: PG. 12
■ Movers & Shakers: PG. 18
■ Nonprofit Notebook: PG. 18
■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 20
Southern Influence
Francine Austin pairs hairstyling with southern
cooking at her non-traditional Bloomfield salon
and spa. PG. 3
Fresh Start
Q&A talks with Stuart Rosenberg, the recently
named president of Johnson Memorial Medical
Center, which has emerged from bankruptcy and
been acquired by Michigan-based Trinity Health.
PG. 5
Glimmers of light shine among
downtown's retail dark spots
By Gregory Seay
gseay@HartfordBusiness.com
T
hey are downtown Hartford's dark
monuments.
Empty street-level storefronts —
some that way for ages — dot many of the cen-
tral business district's most-traveled thorough-
fares: Asylum, Main, Pearl, State and Trumbull
streets. The north side of Pratt Street alone has
as many vacant spaces as tenants.
But a handful of downtown retail tenants
and landlords — including owners of Stackpole
Moore & Tryon/Tuesday's and the developers
of the decade-old Trumbull On The Park Apart-
ments and 777 Main high-rise apartments —
say filling those vacancies by making the cen-
ter-city more attractive to retail operators and
consumers isn't as difficult as it might seem.
To start, they say, the impending redevelop-
ment of the downtown-north quadrant into a
Continued on page 16
Continued on page 14
Lawmakers push for budget pact; Biz fret over mandates
Eyewear vendors Steven Abbate (left) and Tom Gauthier
have a $250,000 bet on downtown retail.
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