Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • November 28, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com TOP STORY Hartford ballpark surety insurer sues former developer The Arch Insurance Co. has filed a federal lawsuit against the former Hartford ballpark developer to recover what it describes as more than $8.4 million in losses as it pursues completion of the stadium. Arch last week sued Centerplan Development Co. of Middletown, the for- mer developer of the Dunkin' Donuts ballpark, along with a host of related development companies associated with Centerplan CEO Robert Landino, over liability the surety insurer says it has incurred with respect to the ballpark. Centerplan was the original developer of the Hartford minor-league base- ball stadium, which didn't open on time this year, forcing the Yard Goats to play their inaugural 2016 season entirely on the road. Centerplan was eventually fired as the stadium developer by Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin following construction delays and cost overruns. Arch in mid-October signed an agreement with the city of Hartford to complete the stadium, and said it had hired Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. to finish the job. ECONOMY Judge blocks new OT protection rule A federal judge has delayed implementation of a U.S. Department of Labor rule to expand overtime protections to millions of workers. U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant of the Eastern District of Texas decided last week that a rule put forward under the Obama administration to extend mandatory overtime pay to more than 4 million workers is unlawful. In doing so, Mazzant granted 21 states and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce a nationwide temporary injunction, according to published reports. Set to take effect Dec. 1, the rule would have doubled to $47,500 the maxi- mum salary a worker can earn while being eligible for mandatory overtime pay. Connecticut was not part of the lawsuit but would be affected by the change. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat, expressed disappointment over the ac- tion, saying any delay in expanding overtime protections is misguided. If imple- mented, Malloy said, the overtime rule would boost wages for workers by $12 billion over the next decade. Business groups in Connecticut and across the country were largely opposed to the new overtime rule, arguing it would be too costly for employers. Report: 'Temporary' casino could buffer CT from MGM Springfield A report commissioned by a would-be developer of a third casino in Con- necticut indicates a "temporary" casino in Greater Hartford could help stem the losses projected when MGM Springfield opens in the fall of 2018. This past October, an estimate from the state's Office of Fiscal Analysis in- dicated Connecticut could lose as much as $68.3 million a year in revenue starting in fiscal 2019, once the MGM Springfield casino is open for business. In a detailed analysis provided by letter to Tony Ravosa, managing member of Silver Lane Partners, which is proposing an East Hartford casino, CBRE Inc. of Philadelphia estimates that a temporary Hartford-area casino housing 1,250 slot machines would yield a total "year one" slots win of $148.3 million, with $37.1 million being returned to the state through the 25 percent gaming tax. Approximately 83 percent of the $148 million would be displaced revenue from the two existing Tribal casinos, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Ca- sino, with the remainder — 17 percent, or $25.2 million — derived from new "incremental gaming win." The new money would come from new patrons from central and western Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and overnight hotel guests in the Greater Hartford region, CBRE reports. CTNext launches growth company grants program State-backed entrepreneurial program CTNext said it has launched a $25,000 grant program to bolster startups with high growth potential. The Growth Company Grants Program will offer backing for strategic proj- ects and customer acquisition, according to Connecticut Innovations, which oversees CTNext. Project funds of up to $25,000 per company can be used for, but, are not limited to, sales assistance, marketing, strategy, organizational development, technology assistance, bid assistance and beta testing. Recipients will be re- quired to match one-third of the grant with their own funds. HEALTH CARE Cigna seeks pledge from medical groups to help curtail opiod use Bloomfield insurer Cigna is asking medical practices to help lower custom- ers' opioid use by 25 percent within three years by signing a pledge to reduce opioid prescribing and to treat opioid-use disorder as a chronic condition. So far, seven medical groups have signed on, according to the insurer. Initially, the company is asking the large medical groups that participate in its Cigna Collaborative Care arrangements to adopt the Cigna pledge, which dove- tails with the U.S. Surgeon General's "Turn the Tide" pledge and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) opioid prescribing guidelines. The 160 Cigna Collaborative Care medical groups, which collectively en- compass more than 82,000 doctors, will also be asked to commit to taking a specific action to reduce opioid use while improving pain management and substance-use treatment where appropriate. Progress will be tracked as part of the quarterly reviews. REAL ESTATE Greater Hartford cash sales declined in August Cash property sales declined to 20.3 percent of all homes sold in the Greater Hartford region in August, a 4.2 percentage point decrease compared with the same month last year, CoreLogic reported last week. That's well below the 31.1 percent national rate, which fell 1.5 percentage points in August compared with the same time a year ago, the property analytics firm said. Total cash sales include distressed property sales and real-estate-owned sales. Prior to the housing crisis, the cash sales share of total home sales across the U.S. averaged approximately 25 percent. If the cash sales share continues to fall at the same rate it did in Aug. 2016, the share should hit 25 percent by mid-2019. MANUFACTURING East Granby firm lands $96K naval air systems contract An East Granby aerospace company has been awarded a $96,000 contract to make on-board battery power systems to support the Navy's Air Warfare Cen- ter aircraft. Awarded by the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, the contract will require Join- ing Technologies Inc. to deliver prototypes developed using its expertise in metal- lurgy, laser welding, machining and supply chain management, the company said. Joining Technologies' senior program manager, Jay Drew, said the compa- ny's assignment will result in greater efficiencies for U.S. naval aviation opera- tions globally. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS CT, U.S. firms call on Trump to address climate change The Hartford, Trinity Health and Connecticut's pension funds are among more than 400 signers of an online-pitch to President-elect Donald Trump to back the Paris Climate Agreement. Trinity Health is the parent company of Hartford-based St. Francis Hospital. The Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Fund is also on the list. The letter, entitled "Business Backs Low-carbon USA," is also addressed to Congress, global leaders and outgoing President Barack Obama. In affirming the effort to combat climate change, the letter states that those sign- ing it "want the U.S. economy to be energy efficient and powered by low-carbon energy.... Failure to build a low-carbon economy puts American prosperity at risk." The letter writers target a goal of the agreement, which aims to limit the global temperature rising below 2 degrees Celsius. In his campaign and since being elected, Trump has indicated he does not anticipate working toward reversing global warming and in published reports called climate change a "hoax" perpetrated by the Chinese. BY THE NUMBERS 2.2M The number of New Englanders who were expected to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, up 2.4 percent over last year and the largest number of travelers since 2005, according to AAA. $31.5M The price Sacred Heart University has agreed to pay to purchase General Electric's 66-acre former global headquarters in Fairfield. 10% The percentage cut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has told all state agencies to make in discretionary spending as the state grapples with a $1.5 billion deficit for fiscal 2017-18. 20.3% The percentage of Greater Hartford homes sold via cash sale in August, a 4.2 percentage point decrease from the year-ago period, according to CoreLogic. TOP 5 MOST READ on HartfordBusiness.com ■ Hartford ballpark surety insurer sues former developer ■ Sacred Heart to buy former GE HQ for $31.5M ■ Investor sues Alexion in class action case ■ Ten small businesses in Hartford share in $75K grants ■ Mohegan Sun's $139M Earth Tower now open STAY CONNECTED For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to www.HartfordBusiness.com. 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