Hartford Business Journal Special Editions

OCTOBER 2, 2017 • HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL | 53 25 Newsmakers Adams' advertising agency was in its infancy when HBJ began publishing 25 years ago. Today, the Avon agency she co-founded with Bill Knight is one of the largest ad firms in Greater Hartford, boasting many of the region's largest firms as clients — The Hartford, Fidelity Investments, ING, Prudential, Sun Life Financial, Mass Mutual, Hartford HealthCare, Mystic Seaport and the list goes on. She and her award-winning agency's strategic services are in demand, recording nearly $80 million in gross billings in 2016. Adams learned the business at agencies in Boston and Hartford, at Connecticut Mutual and as vice president of communications at Monarch Financial Services. She has served as president of the board of directors at Hartford Stage and led the search committee that landed artistic director Darko Tresnjak. She also has been a board member at Mercy Community Health. She also received HBJ's Women in Business award in 2008. Ayer was perceived by most as a brilliant young executive when he ascended to the presidency of The Hartford in 1997. Yet it was during his tenure that the company would suffer some of its worst losses. Ayer, who was at The Hartford for 30 years and spent 12 years as chief executive, left in Oct. 2009 as the insurer faced pressure from shareholders over record losses. Ayer was responsible for the company's push into riskier versions of variable annuities — life insurance contracts whose value fluctuates with that of underlying securities. At one point Moody's Investors Services downgraded The Hartford's long-term senior debt to one level above junk status. In doing so, Moody's cited the company's exposure to these products. The company later received $3.4 from the federal government's controversial Troubled Asset Relief Program. As executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Travelers, Bessette's duties run the gamut from corporate real estate and administrative services to community relations and sports sponsorships, including the Travelers PGA Championship. He serves on the boards of Hartford Hospital, UConn, UConn Health Center and the Capital Region Development Authority. It's a role that comes naturally for Bessette, who became an Olympic caliber athlete in the 1980s with the help of work-compete programs run by Sheraton and Travelers. In 1980, Bessette won the Olympic Trials in the hammer throw. He never got to compete when President Carter ordered a boycott of the Moscow Olympics. He worked in human resources and facilities then, ultimately taking charge of Travelers' infrastructure. He is credited with raising more than $13 million for charity through the golf tournament and with helping build 1,100 housing units through CRDA. In 2017, Bessette received HBJ's Lifetime Achievement Award. Chase has been known as much for her business skills in the family business, Chase Enterprises, as she has for her philanthropy. Co-president and general counsel for Chase Enterprises, a real estate development firm with ties all over the world, Chase has won acclaim for her nonprofit work as well. She was chairman of the Connecticut Science Center's board of trustees when the museum faced opposition for state funding from Gov. Rell, who wanted to give the center less than the Democrat-controlled General Assembly. Chase prevailed in getting the necessary state assistance levels to get the museum opened in the style it felt it needed. In 2017, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hartford Business Journal. Cordani, a triathlete, has had Cigna Corp. on the run since he became president and CEO in 2009. He is credited with doubling the size of the company in his first five years in the dual roles. Much of the growth has come in aggressive overseas expansion, particularly into India and South Korea. But Cordani has been busy on the domestic front too. He approved the $3.8 billion purchase of HealthSpring in 2011 and was well down the road to selling Cigna to Anthem for $47 billion when the federal government objected. That deal was called off in February. Cigna claims 40,000 employees and 95 million customers in 37 countries. Cordani has been a prominent voice on healthcare policy, favoring innovative approaches that stress wellness, empowering individuals to manage their own health, building new cooperative relationships with physicians and improving clinical quality. Cordani works with March of Dimes, The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and ChildObesity180. Ramani Ayer Cheryl Chase Jill Adams Andy Bessette David Cordani By Norm Bell Special to the Hartford Business Journal

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