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www.HartfordBusiness.com July 17, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 5 NONPROFITS Foodshare selects Hospital for Special Care exec as next CEO Bloomfield nonprofit Foodshare has named Ja- son Jakubowski president and CEO effective July 31, following a nationwide search. Jakubowski is vice president of external rela- tions at Hospital for Special Care (HSC) in Hart- ford and New Britain. Before that, he worked as director of corporate and community de- velopment at Charter Oak State College in New Britain. In January, former Foodshare CEO James Arena-DeRosa resigned suddenly for person- al reasons. ECONOMY & LABOR CT climbs in rankings of top states for business Connecticut has climbed 10 spots to rank 33rd in CNBC's 2017 ranking of top states for business. The improved ranking was largely a result of the state's better scores in education and workforce. In fact, the workforce category, where Connecti- cut ranked 7th in 2017 as opposed to 18th a year ago, and infrastructure, where it remained at 47th, are considered major drivers among 10 categories and 66 metrics CNBC uses to rank the 50 U.S. states. Connecticut's improved ranking comes as a bit of a surprise since the state lost GE's corporate head- quarters to Boston last year and is losing Aetna's corporate headquarters to New York City this year. In New England, Massachusetts ranked 10th, Rhode Island 45th, Maine 46th, New Hampshire 18th, and Vermont 35th. S&P downgrades Hartford's debt to 'junk' status S&P Global Ratings has downgraded Hartford's debt to junk bond status. S&P lowered its rating for most of the city's outstand- ing debt to BB from BBB-, a level that's classified as risky non-investment grade, or "junk" status. Bond credit rat- ings represent an institution's creditworthiness. The downgrade comes on the heels of Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin's hiring of a law firm to advise the city on possible municipal finance restructuring, including bankruptcy. The "active" consideration of bankruptcy was a factor in the decision to lower the bond rat- ings, said S&P credit analyst Victor Medeiros. TECHNOLOGY New CT cybersecurity strategy includes focus on biz Connecticut's new cybersecurity strategy re- leased last week outlines principles to protect the state's businesses, as well as residents, organiza- tions and government agencies. The state's Chief Cybersecurity Risk Officer Arthur House and Chief Information Officer Mark Raymond produced the strategy, a priority of Mal- loy's since appointing House to the CRO position last year. With respect to the business community, the 35- page document addresses critical infrastructure, fi- nancial services, insurance and defense. The strategy outlines seven principles that every constituent and state agency should address: leadership, literacy, prep- aration, response, recovery, communication and veri- fication. A concrete action plan will follow, Malloy said. Hartford-based Insurity replaces CEO Hartford insurance software and analytics pro- vider Insurity Inc. said it has appointed Chris Giglio to replace CEO Jeffrey Glazer, who will become ex- ecutive chairman, effective immediately. Giglio has more than 25 years of experience driv- ing growth at software companies, most recently for six years as CEO of Aderant, a provider of business management software for law firms and other pro- fessional services organizations. Glazer last oversaw the acquisition in January of Denver, Colo.,-based Valen Analytics. He had been CEO since 2011, leading the company through a sustained period of growth. Glazer will work closely with Giglio to ensure a smooth transition, the company said. TOP STORY Meriden's Protein Sciences to be acquired by Sanofi Paris pharmaceutical company Sanofi is buy- ing Meriden-based Protein Sciences for up to $750 million, the company announced. The acquisition marks a major milestone for Pro- tein Sciences, a Connecticut homegrown bioscience company best-known for its eggless flu vaccine. Under the terms of the agreement, Sanofi said it will make an upfront payment of $650 million and pay up to $100 million upon achieve- ment of certain milestones. Last October, Protein Sciences received ap- proval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administra- tion for its protein-based flu vaccine Flublok, the only vaccine of its type to be approved by the FDA. Protein Sciences CEO Manon M.J. Cox says she spent a decade chasing companies that might better market its flagship flu vaccine, and finally found one in Sanofi. "We definitely approached them," Cox told Hart- ford Business Journal. "I do think it's a very good fit. Our team is super excited. I was a little nervous this morning, but for me this was the best part- ner around." The company's 105 employees are expected to continue their work in Meriden and at the Pearl River, N.Y., manufacturing site, Cox said. The bulk of those workers are in Meriden, with about 25 in Pearl River, she added. listening to you What better banking's all about sm . making it simple basic respect fast response personal service working together local loan decisions time respecting your Allen Miles Executive Vice President, Senior Lender Richard Hanchett Senior Vice President, Commercial Lender Sean Millane Commercial Lender Christopher Fager Assistant Vice President, Commercial Lender Wayne Webster Vice President, Commercial Lender Are you looking to expand your business, buy or build a new facility, or purchase equipment? Westfield Bank can help your business take flight with our team of local business banking experts. We're just the right size to provide the resources you need with the service you deserve. To learn more, call 800.995.5734 or visit westfieldbank.com/soar. Member FDIC With a $35 million lending limit per business entity, we'll help you soar. WEEK IN REVIEW Manon Cox has finally found a suitor for her company. Jason Jakubowski, presi- dent and CEO, Foodshare P H O T O | H B J F I L E