Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • April 10, 2017 www.HartfordBusiness.com ADVERTISING, MEDIA & MARKETING Long-time ad exec Knopf retires from Mintz + Hoke After 41 years in the Connecticut advertising scene, Chris Knopf, CEO of Mintz + Hoke, has announced he will retire from the agency to pursue his writing career, effective immediately. Replacing Knopf, a novelist, editor and publisher who has already published 14 books, will be a management team that includes President Ron Perine and principals Andrew Wood, Sara-Beth Donovan and Kara Mitchell. Knopf first joined Mintz + Hoke in 1980 as a public relations account execu- tive, working with Mary Farrell, who later became his wife and co-owner of the agency. Farrell will continue as a shareholder and member of the senior staff. During this tenure, Knopf rose to assistant creative director, then creative director, president, and on the retirement of Joe Hoke in 2000, chairman and CEO of the agency. Named a "creative all-star" by Adweek in 1990, Knopf won several top cre- ative awards in the New England region over the years. GOVERNMENT Bill supporting farm breweries takes step forward The state House of Representatives passed a bill last week that would create a manufacturer's permit for farm breweries and allow permittees to advertise their product as "Connecticut Craft Beer." The bill, which still needs approval from the Senate and governor, would al- low farm-based permittees who pay a $300 fee to make, store, bottle, distribute and sell up to 50,000 gallons of beer a year. Brett Broesder, co-founder and vice president of Campaign for Tomorrow's Jobs, hailed the legislative support for the bill as a path to helping revitalize the state's economy. In order for Connecticut to compete in supporting good-paying craft brewery jobs, business-friendly measures like the manufacturer's permit for farm brewers are necessary, he said. Analysis: CT's equal pay gap costs women $15B a year Connecticut women working full time earn 82 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to a yearly gap of $10,864 per person, a fresh analysis from a national interest group shows. The National Partnership for Women & Families, which analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau, said the difference in pay parity means women in Connecti- cut lose a combined total of nearly $15 billion a year. That money could strengthen an economy in which more than 170,000 households in the state are headed by women, and nearly a quarter of those are in poverty, the organization said. If the gap between women's and men's wages in Connecticut were eliminated, the analysis shows, a woman in the state who holds a full-time, year-round job would have enough money for 1.6 more years of food, more than five additional months of mortgage and utilities payments, nearly 10 more months of rent, more than 11 additional months of child care and have money for education as well. Release of the report was timed for national Equal Pay Day. Meantime, the state legislature is considering a bill that aims to close the wage gap by pro- hibiting employers from asking job seekers how much they make or using an employee's previous wage as a defense in an equal pay lawsuit. INSURANCE The Hartford training new apprentices for jobs The Hartford has launched an apprenticeship program to prepare students for careers in the property and casualty insurance industry and aims to hire 200 of those apprentices by 2020. The program will offer an insurance-specific curriculum, paid on-the-job training and mentoring to equip students for key customer-facing roles in The Hartford's claims operation. The Hartford is launching the program in partnership with Capital Community College in Hartford and Rio Salado College in metro Phoenix, with classes begin- ning in June. Students completing the two-year program will be eligible for full-time em- ployment with The Hartford, in addition to earning their associate's degree from their respective college. LEGAL 3M sues Wallingford's Amphenol over alleged patent infringement St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M Co. and 3M Innovative Properties Co. have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Wallingford-based Amphenol Corp. The lawsuit, filed in the district of Delaware, alleges that certain Amphe- nol data transmission cable products infringe on two 3M patents, both labeled "Shielded Electrical Cable." The 3M products are high-speed data transmission cables that the company says improve the reliability and efficiency of energy delivery in high-perfor- mance computing environments. According to the complaint, "Amphenol is now manufacturing, using, offering for sale and/or importing shielded ribbon cables into the United States that use 3M's technology in direct competition with 3M." The advantage of the 3M cables, the complaint states, are that they can be "bent at various angles without losing the integrity of the electrical signal." 3M is seeking an injunction to prevent Amphenol from continuing the alleged patent infringement along with unspecified damages. Attorneys form first CT group to resolve business disputes Fifteen Connecticut attorneys from separate law firms have formed the state's first business dispute resolution group. Dubbed Collaborative Business Dispute Resolution, the group provides an alternative to litigation, arbitration and mediation by having both parties' at- torneys advocate on their behalf while working collaboratively toward a mutual resolution without going to court. The model is based on a similar approach to family disputes litigation known as Collaborative Divorce. Although parties have the option to litigate if the collaborative process is not successful, having to retain a new lawyer to handle the lawsuit creates a finan- cial incentive for all parties to work toward a fair settlement. "Our goal is to avoid litigation, save time and money by working together to reach a fair result to both parties," said Attorney Nicholas Paindiris, managing partner of Brown Paindiris & Scott. All members have been specifically trained in the collaborative process and have at least 10 years of experience in the practice of law. BY THE NUMBERS $220,000 The median sales price for a Connecticut single-family home sold in February, down 2.2 percent from the year-ago period, according to the Warren Group. $13.5B The total economic value produced by the state's tech sector in 2016, which represented 5.3 percent of Connecticut's total gross state product. $44.6M The projected deficit for the state's current fiscal year, which is being impacted by lower-than-expected income tax withholding revenue, according to Comptroller Kevin Lembo. $41M The amount of annual savings being projected from a sweeping consolidation of the state's Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system. TOP 5 MOST READ on HartfordBusiness.com ■ 3M sues Wallingford's Amphenol over alleged patent infringement ■ Attorneys form first CT group to resolve business disputes ■ The Hartford training new apprentices for jobs ■ Feb. slump for CT house, condo sales, prices ■ Lembo: Slow income tax revenue contributes to $44.6M projected deficit 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 WEEK IN REVIEW CSCU President Mark Ojakian has faced major budget constraints in recent years. TOP STORY Ojakian pitches sweeping consolidations to keep CSCU 'viable' Mark Ojakian, president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universi- ties system, pitched a plan last week that would save at least $41 mil- lion annually through the administrative and operational consolidations of institutions that have remained autonomous since the merger in 2011 of the state's 12 community colleges, four regional state universities and the online college, Charter Oak. Facing a shrinking college-age population and growing budget gaps, Oja- kian released an outline for an "operational consolidation" unifying the com- munity colleges into a centrally managed institution that would retain its dozen campuses while shedding administrators at an annual savings of $28 million. An additional "administrative consolidation" across all 17 colleges and universities would streamline functions such as purchasing, information technology and human resources to save an additional annual savings of $13 million — efficiencies envisioned, but never realized when the schools were forged into the new Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system. – Mark Pazniokas | CT Mirror P H O T O | H B J F I L E

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