Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • January 15, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 17 to Mattress Firm, with more than 3,500 U.S. stores, including in Connecticut and the Northeast, generating more than $3.5 billion in annual sales. Houston-based Mattress Firm, the nation's No. 1 mattress retailer, acquired Sleepy's for $780 million in 2015. Mattress Firm's stated goal at the time was to eventu- ally offer same-day delivery. The Newington plant, Naboicheck said, would put Cor- sicana much closer to its New England retail accounts, which ultimately should help it rein in transportation-distri- bution costs. Shipping costs aren't as much of a factor for a relatively low-volume, private-label producer like Gold Bond, Naboicheck said. His firm has about 300 retail accounts spread across the U.S. "Shipping always has been costly,'' he said. "Most manu- facturers have plants no more than a day's drive to major mattress customers.'' New England gateway Brian Morrow, Corsicana's execu- tive vice president of operations, said between a dime to 14 cents of each $1 in mattress production-delivery costs is tied to transportation. Corsicana's Newington product will be what the industry calls "value bedding,'' compared to more luxurious models like Tempur-Pedic, Morrow said. "You're shipping a lot of air,'' Morrow said. "A lot of [bedding makers] are trying to do the same thing, get closer to our customers.'' The acquisition of Sleepy's by Mattress Firm, Corsicana's largest customer, prompted development of the Newington factory, he said. Its nearest production plant to Mattress Firm's New England stores is one in Barnesville, Pa., that has been running flat out since the Sleepy's deal, he said. Corsicana evalu- ated a number of regional production sites, from southern Massachusetts to southern Connecti- cut, Morrow said. But the Hartford region's proximity to major interstates as gateways to northern New England was a factor. Ultimately, the Fafnir site afforded Cor- sicana space and amenities "condu- cive to our manu- facturing style," he said. Corsicana executive Tim Sex- ton will manage its Newington plant. Corsicana, which began in 1971 making furniture and bedding for mobile homes, is close to working out a financial-aid package with the state Department of Economic and Community Devel- opment, Morrow said. Neither he nor DECD, which con- firmed it is working with Corsicana, would elaborate. "So far, Connecti- cut has been really up front and not hard to do business with,'' Morrow said. "We're happy with it." News Editor Matt Pilon contributed to this story. Movers & Shakers Peter Gutermann has been appointed senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Bristol-based aeroparts manufacturer Barnes Group Inc. Additionally, Richard J. Hipple has been elected to the board of directors. Prior to joining Barnes Group, Gutermann served as corporate vice president, chief ethics and compliance officer for United Technologies Corp. Hipple was executive chairman of Materion Corp., a publicly traded global manufacturer of advanced materials and coatings used in a broad range of applications and markets, until his retirement at the end of the year. Previously, he served as Materion's chairman and CEO. Ruthann Paulin has been named vice president of client experience for Payrailz, a digital payments company in Glastonbury offering advanced bill payment and money transfer solutions to banks and credit unions. Paulin has more than 10 years in the financial technology industry and brings experience in building and maintaining relationships with clients. She comes to Payrailz from Geezeo, a digital financial management company, where she most recently served as the vice president of client success. Stephanie Bush, who has led small commercial at The Hartford since July 2014, will expand her responsibilities to include oversight for personal lines. She replaces Ray Sprague, who is retiring after 30 years with The Hartford. Bush will continue to report to The Hartford's president, Doug Elliot. Bush returned to The Hartford in 2013 as chief product and underwriting officer for small commercial, and was promoted to head of the business in 2014. Previously, Bush was senior vice president of product management in personal insurance at Travelers, and prior to that she spent 20 years at The Hartford in positions of increasing responsibility in commercial insurance product, underwriting and field operations. Dana D'Auria, Sarah Bauer and Robert Martin have been named managing directors at Glastonbury-based asset management firm Symmetry Partners LLC, while Christina Donnelly has been promoted to chief of staff and Philip McDonald to director of investments. D'Auria, who joined Symmetry in 2006 as a research analyst, was previously director of research. In her new role, she will head the firm's research, investment education/ communication, operations and product strategy departments. D'Auria also serves on the firm's investment committee, which is responsible for setting investment policy, and she regularly delivers educational presentations to Symmetry's adviser network. Bauer joined Symmetry nearly 12 years ago as an internal wholesaler with the adviser services group. She developed and grew Symmetry's national accounts division and will continue to oversee its initiatives in her now role. In addition, Bauer will now oversee Symmetry's marketing and advisers services departments. Martin began his career with Symmetry in 2008. Prior to being named managing director, he was director of strategic initiatives and an adviser services consultant. In his new role, Martin will oversee the firm's accounting and finance departments, while helping to build out Symmetry's technology infrastructure. Donnelly has been with Symmetry for seven years and previously served as director of project management. In her new role, she will oversee advisory board and executive committee meetings, planning and executing strategic initiatives, and advising on the firm's top priorities. McDonald, who has been Symmetry's director of fixed income and alternatives, will directly oversee portfolio management, due diligence and related functions in his new role. Prior to joining Symmetry in 2010, McDonald held several international investment management positions. Dr. Gary J. Kaml, fellowship trained in surgical critical care, has joined St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center with St. Francis Medical Group as director of trauma services. Prior to joining St. Francis, Kaml was chief of surgical services at St. Raphael's campus at Yale- New Haven Hospital in New Haven. Kaml is board certified in surgery, as well as surgical critical care. His interests include general, trauma and minimally invasive surgery, as well as surgical education. Dr. Sadaf Khorasani, a neurologist and clinical neurophysiologist, has joined the Charles H. Kaman Foundation Neuromuscular Center at Hospital for Special Care (HSC) on the center's multidisciplinary team. Khorasani will significantly expand the capacity of the center's Parkinson's disease and movement-disorders clinic. Khorasani completed a fellowship in clinical neurophysiology at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University and neurology residency at the University of Connecticut Health Center and Hartford Hospital. Dustin Kovats has been appointed general manager of Marriott Hartford Downtown. Kovats is responsible for all aspects of the 409-room hotel, which is managed by Waterford Hotel Group, a national hotel and convention center management firm based in Waterford. Most recently, Kovats was general manager at the Marriott in Milwaukee. Ruthann Paulin Dr. Sadaf Khorasani Dustin Kovats Stephanie Bush Dr. Gary J. Kaml Dealing with online sales Mounting online sales-shipments of "mattresses- in-a-box" are creating sleepless nights for many bedding retailers. According to Furniture Today, the direct-to-consumer segment of the bedding industry doubled its retail market share to 12 percent from 2014 to 2016. That amounts to about $1 billion more in sales in the two-year period. Top U.S. Bedding Producers Estimated U.S. bedding sales Rank Company (2016) 1 Serta $1.7B 2 Sealy $1.5B 3 Simmons $1.5B 4 Tempur-Pedic $1.1B 5 Select Comfort $424M 6 Corsicana $385M 7 Therapedic $149M 8 Ashley Furniture $119M 9 Englander $117M 10 Restonic $107M Source: Furniture Today Corsicana Mattress Co. chose the former Fafnir manufacturing facility in Newington, to house its first New England factory to supply bedding to Mattress Firm and other retail customers. HBJ PHOTO | GREGORY SEAY

• Cover