Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com June 6, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 21 Honor your Chief Financial Officer for their outstanding performance and commitment. The CFO of an organization is a vital and often overlooked position in creating business success. The CFO of the Year Luncheon honors these financial professionals for their commitment to excellence and outstanding performance. In addition to an awards event, winners will be recognized in a special issue of the Hartford Business Journal. Finalists will be recognized at an AWARDS EVENT on: September 8, 2016 at FARMINGTON GARDENS in Farmington, and in a SPECIAL ISSUE of the HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL publishing September 12, 2016. Presented By: Event Sponsors: Event Partners: #HBJCFO want to preserve the remaining farmland as much as possible.'' Growth spurt Since Jan. 2015 — the same month Edge, a former real estate agent, arrived as Berlin's new economic development director — the town has had 22 businesses start up or relo- cate within its borders, he said. It's not just retail that's growing in town, Edge said. Four Berlin companies have expanded, with more than 18,000 square feet of new construction. All that activity, Edge said, has filled more than 150,000 square feet of space and brought more than 160 jobs to town. The employers are in industries as var- ied as retail, commercial and health services, restaurants, distribution and manufacturing. The fresh development, too, has lifted the town's coffers. In recent years, the bulk of the climb in the town's grand list can be attributed to upgrades to and re-tenanting of Brickyard Plaza, which has seen its assess- ment increase by $3 million, Edge said. All that activity hasn't gone unnoticed by another of Berlin's biggest employers and larg- est property taxpayers — Eversource. The electric utility has had a hilltop campus at 107 Selden Street, overlooking the turnpike, since 1952. Over the years, the campus has been expanded to 868,000 square feet under roof on 145 acres, said spokesman Mitch Gross. Gross said the utility has been approached at various times by developers wanting to acquire portions of its Berlin campus, but they were rebuffed. However, Eversource has on the mar- ket for an unspecified price a 94,000-square-foot building on 18 acres a few hundred yards north, at 3333 Berlin Turnpike in Newington. "Many of our Berlin-based employees often do business on the turnpike,'' Gross said via email, "so we welcome additional retail choices and this boost for the area." Neighboring Newington, too, has taken note. Economic Development Director Andrew Brecher said his town's efforts some years ago specifying commercial setbacks and other zoning rules have made Newington popular with a number of national retailers, like Target, Lowe's and Wal-Mart. Berlin's turnpike devel- opment is an extension of that, Brecher said. "I believe that all of that benefits every- one,'' he said. 'Team sport' According to Edge, many of Berlin's busi- nesses are family owned, most with 20 to 100 workers engaged in or supporting mainly advanced manufacturing. Some are suppliers to jet-engine maker Pratt & Whitney, with others supporting companies in the U.S. and abroad. Beyond the turnpike, Berlin counts a half dozen areas set aside for industrial and com- mercial activity: one is on New Park Drive; a second on White Oak Drive; a third on Four Rod Road; the fourth on Old Brickyard Lane; Christian Lane; and Woodlawn Road. Depot Crossing, a 16-unit apartment build- ing with ground-floor retail adjacent to the train station on heavily traveled Farmington Avenue, is the town's first transit-oriented development. Completed last year, Depot Crossing's housing is fully occupied, Edge said. A former tool factory in the Kensington section converted to 71 condos that opened a few years ago, The Lofts At Sherwood Falls, has sold out. "I love Berlin,'' Edge said, "for the fact that you have industrial, the turnpike, Farming- ton Avenue and the train station, for a diversi- ty of [economic-development] opportunities.'' The Corporation for Independent Living (CIL), the Hartford nonprofit developer of afford- able and supportive housing that built both Depot Crossing and The Lofts — investing a combined $24 million — has found the town more than accommodating, said CEO Kent Schwendy. Berlin granted CIL a tax-abatement vehicle that allowed the nonprofit to perform environmental cleanup of The Lofts' former factory site. As a result, CIL plans to exercise an option with the town and, if funding allows, erect 14 townhomes directly across from Depot Crossing on Farmington Avenue in spring 2017 — another potential $4 million invest- ment in the town, Schwendy said. "They seem to be like-minded that devel- opment is a team sport,'' he said. Some Berlin business owners, too, say they have found their town accommodating to their needs. Berlin native Carol Calvo and husband Sal launched their business, MidState Air Compres- sor Inc., on Deming Road in 2010. Rapid growth prompted them to search central Connecticut for larger quarters, but their ties to Berlin — Sal is a volunteer firefighter — kept them in town. Ultimately, they located and acquired a 13,000-square-foot, former car-dealership build- ing on the turnpike, that later housed offices for a building-trades organization. The Calvos are renovating it to consolidate their expand- ing business' three separate locations, totaling about 5,000 square feet in town, into one. "It's a small town. It's a great town,'' Carol said. "We just try to give back to the commu- nity. I feel very connected to it.'' Another Berlin resident, Euro-American founder-owner Maggie Drag, said the town helped her when she ran into resistance from the state about placing her business sign close to the turnpike right-of-way. "The town,'' said Euro-American Chief Operating Officer Tom Falik, "has been very good to us.'' n Berlin-based MidState Air Compressor Inc. acquired a larger building on the Berlin Turnpike to house the family owned company's expanding operations. Maggie Drag, owner of Euro-American Connections & Homecare, bought a former Berlin Turnpike retail building as her headquarters. With Drag is CFO Tom Falik. P H O T O S | P A B L O R O B L E S

• Cover