Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • September 4, 2017 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Consensus Builder Serial-entrepreneur Patricelli's next act: A return to politics By Scott Whipple Special to the Hartford Business Journal W hen Robert E. Patricelli sold his majority stake in Avon-based Women's Health USA people wondered what's next for the 77-year-old serial-entrepreneur? Patri- celli had launched three successful startup health ventures since leaving Cigna in 1986. In August, Sverica Capital Management LLC of San Francisco and Boston acquired a majority interest in Women's Health USA (Whusa), a national physician practice man- agement organization. So where did that leave Patricelli, its founder and CEO? "Come September I'll no longer be chief ex- ecutive officer and happily so," said Patricelli, who did not disclose financial terms of the deal. "The future of the company is in good hands. Sverica can add new capital and help fuel the national expansion we started." Sverica, a private equity firm, has raised more than $700 million of investment capital, acquiring and building companies that can become leaders in their industries. They'll take over a company with 140 full-time employees that generates an esti- mated $25.2 million in annual revenue. Approximately 75 percent of Whusa employees are com- pany shareholders. "Three-fourths of our employees benefit from the value they have built over 20 years," he said. "It's the first ex- perience of owning company shares for a lot of these folks." Nancy Bernstein, who will continue as Whusa's president, said the new ar- rangement "will be an absolute partner- ship; the economics will be more aligned. We can now invest more in actual healthcare services that affect physi- cians economically." Bernstein said some physicians fear the more professional they become, the less time they can spend with their patients. This can lead to lower morale and less ca- reer satisfaction. For Patricelli this concern may soon become a memory. Though he will retain an equity stake in Whusa and serve on its board, he said his interests will take a differ- ent direction. "I've been a chief executive for over 30 years in both the business and not-for- profit sectors," Patricelli said. "Now I'd like to return to government." Patricelli said he's not planning to run for office, but to become involved in policy, focus- ing on the "dysfunctionality" in Connecticut — including the state's finances, public infra- structure and "poor business climate" — to help create a moderate, bi-partisan consensus in the state House and Senate. Hopefully, he said, his efforts will extend to local levels. He also wants to encourage more civic education/engagement in the state and be- come more active in "No Labels," a bi-par- tisan government/private-sector initiative that focuses on areas of consensus rather than difference. "We in the private sector haven't been as engaging as we should be," he said. "I want us to get off our butts and help fix what's going on in the public sector. It's become intolerable and it's our responsibility. "Over the years, I have supported politi- cians in both parties. I'm a moderate who believes we aren't being well served by either major party." Patricelli actually has a long history in politics. After graduating from Harvard Law School and winning a Fulbright scholarship he intended to become a Wall Street lawyer, but instead decided to join the White House Fellows, a prestigious program of leader- ship and public service for young men and women. The program was founded in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. "Through the White House Fellowship I was exposed to top people in Johnson's administration," Patricelli said. He remembers his one-year fellow stint being "a whirlwind." He did various projects for Secretary of State Dean Rusk. Much of Patricelli's work focused on the Vietnam war. "Probably my big- gest single assign- ment," he said, "was staffing Secretary Rusk, coordinat- ing meetings and briefings, attending hearings held by Sen. [William] Ful- bright on the war." Patricelli also worked with the legendary Dean Acheson, whom Rusk had brought in as counselor to the Secretary, and with a young foreign service officer, Larry Eagle- burger, who later became Secretary of State. "This experience changed my life path; public policy has been my major interest ever since," Patricelli said. The program inspired him to work in the private sector in Greater Hartford and oper- ate as a public citizen. "Our Founding Fathers were not politi- cians," Patricelli said. "They were farmers, planters and printers, businesspeople and lawyers who were in and out of govern- ment. That's the sense of obligation all of us in the Fellows program felt." In 1965, when Patricelli was a White House Fellow, his mentor was John W. Gard- ner, then president of Carnegie Corp. "John used to say that some of life's busi- ness opportunities are disguised as insur- mountable risks," Patricelli said. "That's how I have approached my business life. Now it's time for me to get back to civic engagement. Our future as a nation is at stake." After spending most of his professional career as an entrepreneur and CEO, Bob Patricelli said his next assignment will be getting into public policy to lend his expertise in solving the state's fiscal and economic crisis. Nancy Bernstein, President, Whusa Women's Health USA's corporate headquarters (shown above) is located at 22 Waterville Road in Avon. PHOTO | HBJ FILE PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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