Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • August 29, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com TRAVELERS Travelers' Jay Fishman dies of ALS Jay S. Fishman, the longtime former CEO and executive chairman of the Travelers Cos., who was diagnosed with ALS about a year ago, died from the disease Aug.19. Fishman served as the executive chairman of Travelers' board from Dec. 2015 until Aug. 2016. He previously held the position of CEO from the April 2004 merger of The St. Paul Cos. Inc. with Travelers Property Casualty Corp., and he assumed the ad- ditional role of chairman in Sept. 2005. From Oct. 2001 until April 2004, Fishman was chairman, CEO and president of The St. Paul Cos. HEALTH CARE CT hospitals received $24.4M from Medicare settlement The majority of the state's hospitals received money last year from a settle- ment with Medicare administrators, newly disclosed data shows. A total of 22 Connecticut hospitals divvied up $24.4 million in the settlement, which was paid out in June. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released detailed data on the settlement in response to a Free- dom of Information request filed by Kaiser Health News. The nearly $1.5 billion settlement was designed to clear a mounting backlog of appeals filed by hospitals over denied inpatient claims, according to Kaiser Health News. Hartford HealthCare was the largest recipient of funds in Con- necticut, according to the CMS data, receiving nearly $9 million across its five hospitals. UConn Health's John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington received the largest single payout in Connecticut, $4 million. BANKING & FINANCE Bioscience deals boost CI's FY16 investment output Connecticut Innovations (CI) invested $30.9 million in businesses during fiscal year 2016, the organization reported last week, largely in the bioscience arena. The unaudited $30.9 million figure represents CI's full traditional equity pro- gram plus any deals done through the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund, which is just one of several funding sources. The comparable number for fiscal 2015 was about $21.3 million, said David Wurzer, CI's executive vice president and chief investment officer. Of the funding invested, 68 percent was in bioscience, and the remaining 32 per- cent supported both information and clean-energy technology, said Wurzer. GOVERNMENT, POLITICS & LAW Liquor company sues CT over mandatory minimum pricing laws Total Wine & More last week filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Con- necticut over the state's mandatory minimum pricing laws and alleged restraint of trade and federal antitrust violations. The Maryland-based company claims in the lawsuit that it "has been pre- vented from offering the best prices by an anticompetitive regime of statutes and regulations that intentionally promotes horizontal and vertical price-fixing by Connecticut wholesalers of alcoholic beverages." The result, Total Wine states, are Connecticut retail prices for wines and spir- its that may be more than 25 percent higher than prices for identical products offered in nearby states. The situation constitutes restraint of trade and a viola- tion of the federal Sherman Anti-trust Act, the company says. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has proposed in recent legislative sessions eliminating minimum pricing laws, which require alcoholic-beverage retailers to sell their products at a minimum price set by the wholesaler industry. But Malloy's efforts have been rebuffed in the face of intense opposition from small mom-and-pop liquor stores. Bronin rejects Yard Goats owner's offer to finance Hartford ballpark completion The owner of the Hartford Yard Goats told the city of Hartford in writing last week that he would help finance completion of Dunkin' Donuts Park so the team can have a home next season. But Mayor Luke Bronin rebuffed the offer, saying he wants Arch Insurance, the firm that guaranteed completion of the stadium, to continue its investigation of the ball- park construction and provide the remaining funds needed to complete the project. The loan team owner Josh Solomon told the Hartford Business Journal he'd make is based on an estimate that the city has about $4 million in capital re- maining and may need several million more to finish the work. Solomon says he's offered to loan the remainder necessary and do "whatever it takes" to finish building the ballpark so it is ready for the 2017 season. EDUCATION UConn freshman class diverse, high-performing, university says UConn is welcoming its most diverse ever freshman class of 5,100 students this semester, including a record number of about 3,800 pupils at the Storrs campus. When it comes to diversity, 37 percent of the new freshmen come from mi- nority backgrounds, a record high for the school, the university said. The class also has the highest number of valedictorians and salutatorians (181) of any previous freshman class. A record high of 156 of those top students are enrolled at the main campus, with 25 more at the university's regional campuses. BY THE NUMBERS 3,759 The number of Connecticut jobs created by the state's First Five Plus economic development initiative since it launched in 2011, according to a government audit of the program. $30.9M The amount of money Connecticut Innovations invested in Nutmeg State startups in fiscal 2016, up from $21.3 million a year earlier. $200,000 Connecticut's early projected budget surplus for fiscal year 2017, which began July 1, according to the state Office of Policy and Management. 41.7 cents The per-gallon diesel fuel tax in Connecticut this summer, which is down from 50.3 cents from a year earlier, according to the CT Mirror. TOP 5 MOST READ on HartfordBusiness.com ■ Yard Goats owner offers to finance completion of Hartford ballpark ■ State analysis: First Five Plus has created nearly 3,800 jobs ■ Bronin rejects Yard Goats owner's offer to finance Hartford ballpark completion ■ New UConn residence hall opens Wednesday ■ Malloy's low approval rating linked to state economic woes 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 P H O T O S | C O N T R I B U T E D TOP STORY UConn is now Amazon's delivery doorstep The resolve of the world's largest e-tailer for super-fast, convenient order deliveries and the need-it-now demands of online shoppers has prompted Amazon to open its first campus delivery-pickup depot in Connecticut, at UConn's front doorstep. Last week, Amazon, UConn and state and local officials formally dedicated its "campus pickup point,'' or CPP, located in Storrs Cen- ter, across the road from UConn's main Mans- field campus. The 4,000-square-foot facility is only Ama- zon's 11th CPP since the first opened at Purdue University in Jan. 2015, Phillips said. "College students are very important custom- ers for us,'' he said. "Sometimes students don't have the opportunity to get to one of our stores. In general, it makes their lives easier.'' Moreover, he said, customers with orders delivered to the Amazon CPP avoid concerns over the safety of packages dropped off but unattended at offices and home doorsteps. Site Manager J.C. DeJesus with a package stored in a pickup locker at Amazon's new Storrs delivery depot. WEEK IN REVIEW

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