Hartford Business Journal

4 Hartford Business Journal • November 6, 2017 • www.HartfordBusiness.com Briefs SBA lending on the rise in Connecticut The U.S. Small Business Administration backed 819 small business loans in Connecticut totaling more than $284 million in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, helping create and retain more than 6,200 jobs this past fiscal year, the federal agency announced. The number of loans approved was 3 percent higher in the 2017 fiscal year than the 794 loans approved in the year-ago period, the SBA said. Among the top SBA lenders in Connecticut this fiscal year are TD Bank, Webster Bank, Berkshire Bank, Farmington Bank and Liberty Bank for the SBA loan guaranty program. The increased lending activity mirrors a national trend over the past fiscal year, as SBA approved more than 68,000 loans, which provided more than $30 billion to small businesses, the SBA said. Report: Regional transit gives Hartford a leg up in Amazon HQ2 bid Hartford's Amazon bid stands to benefit from recent regional transit innovations in and around Connecticut's capital, according to a study of four Northeast candidates for a second Amazon headquarters. Conducted by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a nonprofit that aims to reduce car dependency in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, the study examines highway driving, road, parking and mass transit issues in four Northeast cities: Hartford, New York City, Newark and Camden/Philadelphia. Hartford has some obvious challenges relating to congestion in the Interstate 84 corridor through the city, said the study's authors, but the 9.4-mile CTfastrak bus rapid transit corridor, a dedicated busway between downtown Hartford and New Britain, and the Hartford Line, a new commuter rail service between New Haven, Hartford and Springfield launching in May, will help get drivers off the road and alleviate parking concerns, the study said. In addition, in 2016, the city adopted a new form-based code known as ZoneHartford, marking a shift in the city's priorities away from driving and toward more walkable development. Malloy signs Millstone bill, then questions its need Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a bill that allows the state to enhance the profitability of Dominion Energy's Millstone nuclear power plant in Waterford, while pointedly asserting that Dominion has not convinced his administration any such help is warranted. The new law permits, but does not require, state energy officials to change the rules for how Dominion Energy sells electricity from Millstone, whose profits fell as energy prices were depressed by competition from electricity generated by relatively cheap and plentiful natural gas. Malloy said in a statement announcing the bill-signing that the preliminary results of an assessment of Millstone's economic viability, which he says was hampered by Dominion's refusal to fully share its financials, is that the plant "is expected to be highly profitable through 2035." — Mark Pazniokas | CT Mirror CT greenlights Eversource's $1.7B Aquarion purchase Eversource Energy got the greenlight from Connecticut regulators to buy Bridgeport- based Aquarion Water Co., the region's largest private water utility, for $1.7 billion. Eversource will pay seller Macquarie Infrastructure Partners $880 million in cash and assume $795 million of Aquarion's debt, according to a regulatory filing from the state's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. Approvals are not necessary from the state of New Hampshire but are pending from the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. The deal adds more than 300 employees to Eversource's 8,000-person workforce across Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and approximately 230,000 more customers in those three states. Access Health kicks off open enrollment on Facebook Live Access Health CT CEO Jim Wadleigh kicked off the start of the Nov. 1 health insurance open enrollment period by taking questions at a forum on Facebook Live. Accompanied by Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, Wadleigh acknowledged that there is "a lot of uncertainty coming out of Washington, D.C." because of truncated marketing funds and a shortened open enrollment period for 2018. He also said, however, that the state healthcare exchange is looking to enroll at least as many people as last year. The exchange had about 100,000 people enrolled as of August. Connecticut residents and businesses can shop for, and enroll in, health insurance coverage through the state's exchange until Dec. 22. Week in Review BY THE NUMBERS $284M The total value of loans backed in Con- necticut by the U.S. Small Business Administration in the federal fiscal year that ended in September. 407 The total number of new Connecticut home permits issued during the month of September, which was down from 541 a year earlier. $336.8M The total rate hike over three years that Eversource intends to request from Connecticut regulators in the coming weeks. $175M The total funds that have been diverted away from state-backed clean energy programs as part of the newly ap- proved $41.3 billion, two-year budget. TOP 5 MOST READ On HartfordBusiness.com • UConn's Herbst warns of layoffs, hiring freeze • Report: CVS eyeing Aetna buyout • Eversource's $1.7B deal to buy Aquarion greenlighted • Henkel bids $485M for Darien haircare lines • CT, 45 states, seek to expand generic drug antitrust probe STAY CONNECTED For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to www.HartfordBusiness.com HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on Linkedln: www.linkedin.com/company/ the-Hartford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend www.HartfordBusiness.com/subscribe Weekly e-newsletters: CT Green Guide Weekly, CT Health Care Weekly www.HartfordBusiness.com/subscribe PHOTO | HBJ FILE Millstone is located in Waterford. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED TOP STORY Malloy rejects hospital tax plan but signs most of CT budget into law G ov. Dannel P. Malloy used his line-item veto to reject a new taxing arrangement on hospitals, but signed into law the bulk of a new, two-year state budget negotiated without direct input from his administration. The governor signed a $41.3 billion, biennial plan that closes major projected deficits while boosting taxes close to $500 million per year; cutting municipal aid, higher education and social services; and sweeping tens of millions of dollars annually from energy conservation programs. It also would provide emergency assistance to keep Hartford out of bankruptcy, implement a stringent spending cap, and enact a new statutory limit on borrowing. The hospital tax is a complex legal and fiscal maneuver designed to increase federal Medicaid reimbursements to the state and to ease burdens on the industry. Technically the state's tax on hospitals would rise from $556 million to $900 million per year. Connecticut would redistribute those funds and return them to the industry — plus about $229 million more — qualifying the state for a big boost in federal aid. — CT Mirror Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a budget last week but also used his line-item veto power.

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