Hartford Business Journal

January 30, 2017

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For more B2B news visit JANUARY 30, 2017 Volume 25, Number 7 $3.00 Subscribe online Who will rank #1? Find out on Feb.15th! 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 Index ■ Week in Review: PG. 6 ■ The List: PG. 9 ■ Deal Watch: PG. 12 ■ Capitol Biz: PG. 12 ■ Nonprofit Notebook: PG. 18 ■ Movers & Shakers: PG. 18 ■ Opinion & Commentary: PG. 20 Wage Dichotomy Connecticut added 1,000 manufacturing jobs in 2016, representing the first time the industry grew its annual workforce since the 1980s, but workers' hourly wages fell by 8.2 percent. Find out what's driving down hourly pay. PG. 5 Budget Prep Gov. Malloy is setting expectations for a lean state budget that avoids tax hikes. PG. 12 FOCUS: MEDIA & ADVERTING Visitor Attraction A move is afoot to restore regional tourism district funding, but in Connecticut's uncertain fiscal climate attraction owners and tourism officials have devised other ways to draw visitors. PG. 8 Slow-selling 'jumbo' homes drag Hartford's housing values By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com R ecent news indicating signif- icant growth in Hartford's overall grand list masks a disheartening reality for one of the city's property segments: Sluggish sales and declining values of larger houses and mansions. Area brokers specializing in the marketing and sales of "jumbo" UNEASY TRANSITION More sellers, fewer buyers threaten CT's M&A market By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com W ith the calendar's turn to a new year, aging heads of family-owned and other small businesses in Connecticut are looking forward to cashing out to retirement. Some area banks say they are seeing a flood of credit applications from individual and institutional borrowers eager to buy out all or part of an owner's business stake. Many of the loans come with guarantees from the U.S. Small Business Administration. However, an unusual wrinkle is emerging that, over time, threatens to delay or dislodge those sale ambitions: The pool of willing busi- ness buyers is the lowest in at least two gen- erations — and getting smaller every year as Connecticut's population ages and shrinks. According to the Connecticut State Data Center, the state is home to an estimated 84,472 business owners, of which 47 percent will be age 55 and older by 2025. Another 27 percent will be age 45 to 54 in the next eight years. The widening gap between Baby Boom- er business owners — those born from 1946 to 1964 — seeking to sell and eligible Broker John Lepore has seen sales slow for larger homes in Hartford's West End. Continued on page 14 H B J P H O T O | J O H N S T E A R N S Continued on page 16 Capri Frank (left) second- generation family owner of Avon's Miller Foods, and her cousin, Tanner, who represents the third generation and oversees operations. P H O T O | S T E V E L A S C H E V E R

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