Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • September 4, 2017 • www.HartfordBusiness.com FOCUS: Business Travel & Hospitality A bout half of Bradley International Airport's pas- sengers — more than 3 million a year at last count — are business travelers, a number airport officials want to boost as they try to make the state's flagship airfield a more powerful economic driver. To help make that happen, Bradley hired a new business relations specialist, Sarah Spencer, who's been working since February to connect with companies large and small. Spencer's main role is to promote domes- tic and international routes, parking ser- vices and amenities like the Escape Lounge, a quiet luxury area for frequent fliers that includes Wi-Fi, food and beverages. But she also wants to discern what busi- nesses need, whether that's an airline route to Germany — a common request — or a flight to Seattle, a proposition the Airport Authority is exploring. "The focus at Bradley is customer service and we want everybody's experience to be the best, but we want to grow our business, and there's growth happening here," said Spencer, 55, who was formerly a longtime sales manager at Mystic Seaport. "If we don't get [corporate] support and continued business, we can't continue to grow." Some of Bradley's newest international offerings include a direct Norwegian Airlines flight to Edinburgh, Scotland — the type of nonstop flight business travelers are increas- ingly asking for — and the ability to clear cus- toms in Dublin, Ireland, while waiting for an Aer Lingus flight back to the U.S., which saves passengers time, according to Kevin Dillon, the Airport Authority's executive director. "What the business traveler wants to see is that they have the airline routes available that work for them," Dillon said. "Second to that, they want their experience to be as convenient as possible. If you focus on those two things, you've gone a long way toward enhancing your passenger numbers." Competition for business travelers is in- tense with larger airport hubs nearby in Bos- ton and New York City, Dillon said. And it's not good enough to simply add new offerings — business travelers must be made aware of them as well, which is Spencer's role. "It's really critical that all of us do every- thing we can to ensure that these services are used, because it's highly competitive and every airport in the country is looking for [the business traveler] to retain and grow economic development," said Oz Griebel, CEO of the MetroHart- ford Alliance, who thinks Bradley is the state's most important economic asset. Domestically, demand for direct seasonal flights to San Francisco, and a "frequent parker program" that rewards repeat travelers with points that can add up to free service, are also the types of routes and amenities Bradley wants its business clien- tele to know about, Dillon said. In 2016, Bradley served 6.1 million passen- gers, Dillon noted, and about 50 percent were business people coming from companies like East Hartford jet-engine maker Pratt & Whit- ney and Bloomfield health insurer Cigna. Cigna is a major Bradley user, said Brett Browchuk, who sits on the Airport Author- ity's board but also has been with Cigna as Women manufacturing summit calling Hartford home Q&A talks with Allison Grealis, president and founder of the Women in Manufacturing Summit, which will take place Sept. 13-15 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. Q. What is the Women in Manufacturing Summit? A. The Women in Manufacturing (WiM) Summit is the only national conference of its kind. The three-day networking and edu- cational event features facility plant tours, knowledge experts, roundtable discussions on key industry issues, breakout sessions, a silent auction and numerous networking opportunities. The inaugural summit was produced in 2011 and more than 130 women attended the one-day program in Cleveland, Ohio. We received an overwhelmingly positive response, and over the past six summits we've hosted nearly 1,300 women from all around the country who represent all levels and industries within manufacturing. Q. How many attendees are you expecting? A. We anticipate that as many as 350 manufacturing professionals (both men and women) will be in attendance at this year's summit. Conference attendance has increased each year and we expect that the 2017 summit will be our largest yet. Q. What made you choose Hartford for the convention? What about the facilities and the region appealed to your organization? A. Hartford was selected as the ideal location for this year's summit for many reasons, the foremost being WiM's strong ties to Hartford and the city's extensive his- tory in our industry. We have a very vibrant Connecticut chapter and the chairperson of our national board of directors — Sheila LaMothe — founded this chapter. The WiM Connecticut chapter has been a huge support as we work to develop and deliver our seventh annual program. We also wanted to highlight the region's robust industrial history and the work being done by Hartford's modern manufacturers to continue to grow American industry. Q. What are some of the factors that go into planning an event geared toward profes- sional women? Are there differences? Do you prefer your hotels concentrated? Does a city's walkability come into play? A. Actually, one of our favorite things about planning the summit year after year is choosing a new city to highlight to our mem- bers, and we're fortunate that America is full of unique places that offer variety, diversity and fresh perspectives for our industry. As an association that strives to bolster the talents and careers of women in manu- facturing across all ages, job levels and walks Allison Grealis President and Founder, Women in Manufacturing Summit Corporate Mileage Bradley International Airport working to boost business travel By Patricia Daddona pdaddona@HartfordBusiness.com Kevin Dillon, Executive Director, CT Airport Authority PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Bradley International Airport sees about 3 million business travelers a year (like the one shown here), but airport officials are trying to boost that number with new routes and amenities.

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