Hartford Business Journal

January 9, 2017

Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/769821

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 0 of 23

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 JANUARY 9, 2017 Volume 25, Number 5 $3.00 Subscribe online Who will rank #1? Find out on Feb.15th! Index ■ Executive Profile: PG. 5 ■ Week in Review: PG. 6 ■ The Lists: PGs. 9, 11, 12 ■ Deal Watch: PG. 14 ■ Nonprofit Notebook: PG. 18 ■ Movers & Shakers: PG. 18 ■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 20 FOCUS: PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Women's Influence In a profession long-dominated by men, women operate three of the five largest lobbying firms in Connecticut and their presence in and around the State Capitol is growing. PG. 8 Preventing Abuse Insurance companies and doctors in Connecticut are trying to combat a main driver fueling the opioid crisis: overprescription of unnecessary drugs. PG. 3 CT attorneys, businesses seek legal payday with junk faxes By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com E ver get to work and find a stack of unso- licited advertisements waiting in the fax machine? Most office dwellers likely toss them into the recycling bin without a second thought. But an increasing number of companies, including some in Connecticut, are trying to turn the annoyances into a legal payday. Under federal law, it is illegal in most circumstances to send an unsolicited fax advertising commercial products or ser- vices. There are similar rules governing text messages, robocalls and other advertising communications, and each pestersome pitch could be costly to the sender. The 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which established the national do-not-call registry, allows for damages of $500 per fax, call or text. Penalties can spike as high as $1,500, if an aggrieved party can prove in court that the sender "willfully or knowingly" violated the law. Additional consumer-friendly provi- sions enacted by Congress in 2005 have helped spur an increasing number of lawsuits — and some multimillion-dollar judgements and settlements — in federal courts across the country. By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com I n Connecticut's crowded business high- er education field, the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford is looking for a way to stand out. Rhona Free, an economist and administra- tor who became USJ's president in 2015 after more than 30 years at Eastern Connecticut State University, says she may have found one. Starting this fall, USJ will dangle a unique incentive to incoming accounting and man- agement majors: Earn a bachelor's degree with an adequate GPA and receive free entry into USJ's management master's degree pro- gram. The 24-credit master's degree usually costs more than $17,000 in tuition, USJ said. The new offering is part of a broader effort led by Free to grow the school's stu- dent population, which could also include expanding undergraduate enrollment at the private women's college to men. "All colleges and universities are looking at innovative changes to meet student needs and make college and master's degrees affordable," FREE DEGREE USJ aims to boost business program with free master's degree Continued on page 15 Continued on page 16 University of St. Joseph President Rhona Free wants to build up the school's business program and is dangling a unique incentive to do it. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D P H O T O - I L L U S T R A T I O N | F A B R I K A S I M F, S H U T T E R S T O C K . C O M A N D C !

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Hartford Business Journal - January 9, 2017