www.HartfordBusiness.com • January 8, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 3
Newsmakers
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Nappier declares last act
"For nearly 19 years, this office
has promoted the protection of
shareholder value and the rights
of consumers and workers by
strengthening accountability and
pursuing prudent and responsible
business practices."
State Treasurer
Denise
Nappier reflecting on her nearly two decades in office
following her decision not to seek re-election.
Heralding tax reform
"The relief that this tax bill
provides to business should
help to spur our economy, and is
important to building meaningful,
long-term growth in Connecticut,
and beyond."
Windsor Federal Savings
President and CEO
George
Hermann on his company's decision to provide
employee bonuses and increase its minimum wage
to $15 following passage of federal tax reform.
Mary Kay Fenton | Chair, CBIA
By John Stearns
Mary Kay Fenton, CFO at New Haven-based Achil-
lion Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on developing
drugs to help people with serious diseases, is stepping
in as chair of the Connecticut Business & Industry As-
sociation (CBIA) board of directors when the state could
use a strong dose of medicine to cure its chronic fiscal
and economic ills.
Fenton, who joined Achillion
when it began operations in
2000, has had a front-row seat
in what it takes to grow a com-
pany in an industry the state
has invested heavily in. Fenton
has been a CBIA board member
since 2011 and will be chair for
the next year at a pivotal time
for the state's economy.
How would you rate Connecticut's business climate?
We have some important advantages that give
Connecticut a potentially very strong business cli-
mate, but it is critical that we pull those advantages
together for best use. For example, we have world-
class universities and an educated workforce similar
to Massachusetts, but our comparatively slow rate of
technology transfer and limited venture capital leave
that advantage unrealized. The more we can create an
ecosystem with critical mass that includes tech trans-
fer, venture capital, workforce training, etc., the more
robust the business climate can become.
What's the state's biggest Achilles heel?
One important business challenge is uncertainty
caused by financial instability. Without the ability to plan,
business cannot function optimally. Uncertainty caused
by perpetual budget deficits and long-term debt makes
Connecticut a challenging place for business to grow.
What would you consider the top priority of CBIA?
CBIA needs to be the first voice of business, leading
and collaborating with industry-specific and regional
groups. As we see in the biosciences, an ecosystem is
necessary for success and no one group can create it
alone. But CBIA can help to facilitate it.
CBIA, for example, can and should be the voice of
the newly formed Commission on Fiscal Stability and
Economic Growth. We are a small state and the busi-
ness community needs to be speaking with one voice
to achieve results.
When your term as chair concludes, what do you hope
CBIA will have accomplished?
I'd like the broader community to appreciate that
"how goes business health, so goes the state's health."
We need to make that point clear and encourage poli-
cies and legislators who understand that.
In addition, I have a personal goal to establish relation-
ships for CBIA with other organizations to bring the bio-
science industry in Connecticut together to be a cohesive
and important force in the Connecticut economy.
What policy changes would benefit the state's biosci-
ence industry?
Collaboration across constituencies is critical for bio-
science success — universities, investors who provide
capital, real estate developers, workforce, etc. Once the
combined industry develops a plan, support it with liv-
able, workable cities and a transportation network that
connects them.
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