Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/881000
OCTOBER 2, 2017 • HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL | 55 For more than 16 years, Fay has been at the center of the arts in the capital region. As president and CEO of The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, he has managed a $20-million budget and kept quality acts coming on stage. But when he was named executive director of the Hartford Symphony in 2014, unionized musicians cried foul. It was a conflict of interest, they argued, to lead both, since the symphony is a client of the Bushnell. The move was part of a management contract designed to stabilize the symphony's finances. A new contract with the musicians accomplished that goal and allowed Fay to shed the extra role. Fay arrived at The Bushnell in June 2001 after serving as president of the Canadian Producing Division of SFX Theatrical Group and executive director of the Pantages Theatre in Toronto. A year later, The Bushnell opened the Belding Theater. Fiondella entered the Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Co. after completing the UConn School of Law in 1968. He rose through the ranks and became president of the company in 1987. While at the helm, he steered the company into a merger in 1992 that formed Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Co. He would be elected chairman, principal and CEO in 1994, positions he held until his 2001 retirement. Fiondella was a key player in the development of Adriaen's Landing, an honorary chairman of the Canon GHO Golf Tournament (now known as the Travelers Championship), and chairman of the successful effort to build the Eastern Regional Little League Center in his hometown of Bristol. He was also instrumental in Connecticut Public Television broadcasting the UConn Women's basketball games. As CEO of the MetroHartford Alliance, Griebel built a reputation as a relentless cheerleader for Hartford. He fought to keep the city's status as the capital of the insurance industry, fought to fulfill the promise inherent in his "Hartford: New England's Rising Star" slogan, fought to improve life — and governance — across the region. That latter fight led him to an unsuccessful 2010 run for governor, losing the Republican primary to Tom Foley. On his watch, Hartford wins included the Connecticut Convention Center, the Connecticut Science Center, Dunkin' Donuts Park and the opening of Capital Community College in the old G. Fox building. Still, leading MetroHartford was Griebel's second career. A lawyer by training, he was named CEO of the Bank of Boston Connecticut in 1993. It wasn't until the start of the new century that he became the voice of Hartford. Griebel is exiting the role Dec. 31. He was named HBJ's Business Person of the Year in 2001. He plans to leave his CEO post at the end of the year, possibly to pursue another gubernatorial run. Gottesdiener, the head of Northland Investment Corp., was a driving force behind many of downtown Hartford's biggest developments, among them Hartford 21, the luxury apartment building that rises above the Hartford Civic Center. According to his official bio, "Gottesdiener spearheaded Northland's contrarian market and valued-added investment strategy. Over a 24-year career, he has been responsible for more than $3.5 billion of real estate acquisitions and developments." Northland was at one time Hartford's largest private property owner. In a 2007 New York Times article, Gottesdiener was described as "a glass-half-full kind of guy. [In 1997], with a recession hanging like smog over the city's downtown, he saw opportunity." Northland's and Gottesdiener's Hartford real estate empire, however, didn't last long. He eventually lost three key properties to foreclosure: the 280,000-square-foot Metro Center on Church Street; Goodwin Square on Asylum Street; and the 18-story CityPlace II office tower on Asylum. Northland still owns the Hartford 21 apartment tower, which remains a downtown gem. Robert Fiondella David Fay Richard Nelson 'Oz' Griebel Lawrence Gottesdiener 25 Newsmakers