Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • December 19, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN take a moment to nominate a remarkable woman you know! 2017 15th Anniversary Celebrating 120 Outstanding WOmen in business! We are looking for eight REMARKABLE BUSINESS WOMEN in Greater Hartford! V I E W P A S T W I N N E R S A N D F I L L O U T N O M I N A T I O N F O R M O N L I N E A T WWW.hARTFORDbUSINESS.cOM AND cLIck ON "OUR EVENTS" This Spring, the Hartford Business Journal will recognize the achievements of 8 remarkable women who are making their mark in Greater Hartford. These women are senior-level executives, CEOs and/or entrepreneurs who have mastered their business. These are remarkable, noteworthy women who are admired in the business community. The celebration will include an awards luncheon on May 10th to honor the 8 Remarkable Women. Winners will be announced in a special issue of the Hartford Business Journal on April 3, 2017. Publishing This April In Print and Online as a Digital Edition! Contact AMY ORSINI at 860-236-9998 ext. 134 or email aorsini@HartfordBusiness.com with questions Nominations close: February 7, 2017 Issue Date: April 3, 2017 Event Date: May 10, 2017 Presented by: Media Partner: Event Partners: www.HartfordBusiness.com In Print. Online. In Person. Delivering Business. REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK Webster CEO urges lawmakers to adopt spending cap As a regional busi- ness audience and Gov. Dannel P. Mal- loy listened, Webster Bank CEO Jim Smith last week called on lawmakers to comply with a 1992 voter edict to implement a consti- tutional spending cap. Smith said busi- nesses will be watch- ing the upcoming legislative session closely for action on the cap, which aims to limit budget expen- ditures by tying the spending growth rate to inflation and personal income. The cap, how- ever, was deemed unenforceable by the state Attorney General two years ago. Enforcing the cap would "send a very strong message about [lawmakers'] commit- ment to fiscal responsibility," Smith said at the MetroHartford Alliance breakfast held in downtown Hartford. "No discipline means no confidence, and it affects investment choices and economic growth and job growth and revenue growth, … which the state desperately needs," he added. In calling for stricter definitions of what is and isn't exempt from the spending cap, Smith was echoing a position long held by many business leaders. In a novel and controversial move two years ago, lawmakers approved exempting $1.8 billion in unfunded pension liabilities from the cap calculation in fiscal 2016. Lawmakers would need to pass another law in the upcoming session if they wanted to allow a similar exemption in fiscal 2018 or beyond. But there's a deep political divide over how to proceed. A legislature-created Spending Cap Com- mission wrapped a year of work last week without reaching consensus on any official recommendations to lawmakers. The legislature would need a three-fifths supermajority to change key definitions relat- ed to the spending cap. And with an evenly divided Senate, and Democrats holding the House by just a handful of seats, that could prove difficult. After the Spending Cap Commission failed to reach an accord last week, Co-Chair Patricia Widlitz, a former Democratic state representative, said: "Good luck to the legis- lators giving it a second try." – Matt Pilon Hartford upbeat on development prospects As Hartford prepares to close the books on an eventful 2016, key leaders of the city's eco- nomic-development and land-use departments say several positive indicators have emerged that signal encouraging improvements lie ahead for 2017. Jamie Bratt, city director of planning and economic development, and Sean Fitzpat- rick, its director of development services, laid out a few recently at a meeting of Business for Downtown Hartford at City Steam Brewery. • Out-of-towners: Bratt said that in recent weeks she has met with investors from New York, New Jersey and Japan, who are eager to acquire Hartford properties. One, she said, has purchased 10 city apartment buildings this year alone because, she said he told her, he found Hartford's property market more affordable than markets in Manhattan and Boston. Others, she said, are lured by the pros- pect of the spring opening of Dunkin' Donuts Park, more restaurant/entertainment venues and UConn's downtown campus, moving Hartford closer to being an 18-hour city. Meantime, the cloud over redevelopment of the city's Downtown North (DoNo) quadrant by Centerplan and partners has prompted a flurry of developer inquiries, Bratt said, as to whether those parcels will be redistributed. The city has not yet made a decision on DoNo's fate. • More city/realty broker collabora- tion: To attract more outside investment, Bratt said her office has a goal to engage more with the local broker community, which, she says, can help spread the city's positive mes- sage about Hartford's downtown-develop- ment reset to potential investors. • 525 Main St. for sale: Fitzpatrick said that the city in coming weeks will issue a "request for quote" (RFQ) for the city-owned building that is largely empty, except for some lingering city offices. The building, directly across from city hall, has drawn inquiries from a number of eager redevelopers, he said. "We're excited about the potential for that property," Fitzpatrick said. • Mobility/infrastructure improve- ments: Among the city's staffing upgrades this year was the addition of a traffic engineer, the result of which has been a noticeable reduction in the number of one-way streets downtown, Fitzpatrick said. The city, too, is working closely with the state transportation department about infrastructure improvements ahead of redesign and reconstruction of the I-84 viaduct. – Gregory Seay Webster Bank CEO Jim Smith speaking at a MetroHartford Alliance event in Hartford. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D

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