Hartford Business Journal

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 FEBRUARY 29, 2016 Volume 24, Number 13 $3.00 Subscribe online Friday, March 18th, 2016 8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Hartford Hilton 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 Index ■ Reporter's Notebook: PG. 5 ■ Q&A: PG. 8 ■ The List: PG. 9 ■ Deal Watch: PG. 14 ■ Movers & Shakers: PG. 18 ■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 20 Fee Fight A recent Connecticut Supreme Court ruling affirming the state's imposition of higher realty-recording fees on an electronic mortgage registry will preserve a vital revenue stream for the state and its municipalities, but also maintains higher closing costs for many borrowers. PG. 3 Taxing Times Last-minute legislative changes and additional reporting requirements from the Affordable Care Act, among other factors, are shortening the tax season, forcing accounting firms to scramble for extra help. PG. 8 Obamacare shift could mean lower rates for CT biz By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com C ongress' recent decision to suspend an Obamacare fee levied on health insur- ers could lower insurance rates for Connecticut companies and their employees next year, experts say. In December, Congress passed a federal budget that included a one-year moratorium on $13.9 billion worth of so-called health insurance provider (HIP) fees that were to be paid by insurers in 2017. The fees have been levied since 2014 to help fund health insurance coverage sub- sidies for individuals who fall beneath certain income thresholds. The federal spending bill, which also included two-year delays of the impending Cadillac tax on high-value health plans and the existing 2.3 percent tax Continued on page 12 Continued on page 14 By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com C onnecticut's coordinated recruiting efforts to lure more international firms to the state are resonating loud- est among nascent technology firms in Isra- el, observers say. At least two Israeli technology firms have opened doors in this state in recent years, and dozens more are exploring opportuni- ties to lease or buy real estate and employ workers to ply the broader U.S. market with their products and services. One, Biological Industries, last fall opened in Cromwell, where it stores and distributes cultures used to grow stem cells. In March 2014, Israeli software developer Applango opened its U.S. headquarters in Stamford, with financial backing from the state Department of Eco- nomic and Community Development (DECD). Their arrival, says the state's top eco- nomic-development promoter and others, illustrates Connecticut's successful efforts at taking its message to commercial corners around the globe. Along with job prospects, the Israeli trans- plants' heavy technology focus — biopharma, medical devices and software development — augments Connecticut's deep technology and manufacturing roots, observers say. Con- necticut, in return, offers them a gateway into the vast, lucrative U.S. marketplace. "They're a country that doesn't have a big marketplace,'' said Jason Giulietti, vice president for business recruitment with the nonprofit Connecticut Economic Resource Center Inc. (CERC). "What they're looking to do is get into the largest marketplace, and that's the United States.'' Giulietti said he expects that one of every five of the 50 Israeli firms he is currently pur- suing will eventually establish operations in Connecticut sometime within the next 18 months. Some of those, Giulietti said, are weighing uprooting and relocating entire CULTURED GROWTH CT's economic, cultural siren song attracts Israeli firms In December, Congress passed a federal budget that made significant changes to the Affordable Care Act, including putting a moratorium on an insurer fee and delaying implementation of the Cadillac tax. P H O T O I L L U S T R A T I O N | H B J F I L E P H O T O | S T E V E L A S C H E V E R Israel's Biological Industries last fall opened a distribution- storage depot in Cromwell for its line of cell-culture media in which human and animal stem cells are grown.

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