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14 | HARTFORD BUSINESS JOURNAL • DECEMBER 26, 2017 Agwunobi leads search for UConn Health's dance partner By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com T he year 2018 could be a decisive one for the future of Farmington-based UConn Health, according to its CEO Dr. Andrew Agwunobi. "I think it's going to be a pivotal year because that's the year we're going to decide what kind of partner- ship we will establish and with whom," Agwunobi said in a recent interview. Agwunobi, a 52-year-old pediatrician and seasoned hospital and health system leader who has been at UConn since late 2014, said he and his team have been in talks with other health systems and hospitals about potential partnerships. What that means exactly isn't clear (Agwunobi was reluctant to talk details) but options could include a merger or a spin out of the hospital from the univer- sity. UConn Health's search for a partner comes as the Ciulla has 'big shoes' to fill as Webster Bank's new CEO By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com O nce John R. Ciulla formally takes on his du- ties New Year's Day as chief executive officer of Webster Financial Inc. and its flagship bank, not much will change in focus and regimen running the $29 billion-asset regional lender. "It's really continued execution on our state strat- egies,'' said Ciulla, a 13-year Webster executive who's been president since 2015. He will succeed retiring CEO James C. Smith, becoming only the third CEO in the bank's 82-year history and the first outside the family of founder Harold Webster Smith. Those strategies include, Ciulla said, growing Web- ster's HSA Bank unit, a leading U.S. fiduciary for more than $6 billion deposited by Americans to cover their out-of-pocket medical expenses. Webster Bank, too, will continue to expand its depositor-borrower products and services, aligning them with more of its offerings for building customer wealth, Ciulla said. "You'll continue to see us execute at a high level in those strategies," he said. "People will see consistency in strategy.'' Mark T. Fitzgibbon, principal and research director for New York bank-industry analyst Sandler O'Neill + Partners, said Ciulla faces the challenge of "filling the big shoes'' of Smith, including "finding ways to keep Webster nimble and responsive to customers.'' Ciulla said he feels no pressure stepping into the role held by his predecessor who was more like a mentor than a boss. "I feel like it's the exact opposite,'' he said in an in- terview with Smith at his side, "because of the legacy Webster and Jim Smith created … actually provides a competitive advantage for a new CEO. Rather than creating pressures to live up to the previous CEO … I feel like I got a chance to learn from the best.'' Outside Webster, Ciulla said he will continue spending time talking to Webster's customers and his bankers "to hear what they need and want.'' Successfully accomplishing those aims, he said, provide Webster with the best opportunity to expand the bank organically and provide outsized returns to Webster Financial's stockholders. Ciulla started in banking in Connecticut in 1987 as a loan officer at former Connecticut National Bank in downtown Hartford. He later worked at a predeces- sor of People's United Bank before going to New York City's Fordham University to earn his law degree. After working at several New York law firms, he resumed banking in 1997. Seven years later, he joined Webster's commercial-loan unit. He commutes daily to Webster's Waterbury headquarters and Stamford office from his Westchester County, N.Y., home. Ciulla ended in December a one-year term as chair of the state's leading business lobby, the Connecticut Business & Industry Association. He offers a measured tone about the state's ongo- ing budget woes and its slow economic growth. "We are cautiously optimistic that we're seeing better dialogue and approaches to Connecticut's structural problems,'' Ciulla said of CBIA's discussions with state policymakers. FIVE TO WATCH 2018 UP & COMING A brief look at five leaders in various professions to watch out for in 2018 Andrew Agwunobi is the CEO and executive vice president for health affairs at UConn Health in Farmington. John R. Ciulla is the incoming CEO of Waterbury-based Webster Bank and Webster Financial Corp.