5. Lights, Camera … Front Street
It happened 14 years after it was first planned, but Hartford's tortured commercial redevelopment project, Front Street, finally opened in 2012 with the Spotlight Theatres, a four-screen movie house with a restaurant and bar in the lobby. What's more, the developers of Front Street have deals for a steak house and a 600-seat Infinity Music Hall, bringing more live music to downtown.
Front Street was originally envisioned as a mixed-use development with traditional retail and 115 apartments. After investments totaling $62 million, mostly from taxpayers, the residential portion went by the wayside and stores gave way to restaurants and entertainment.
Now, a newly created development agency, the Capital Region Development Authority, is looking to invest $60 million in more apartments for Hartford and East Hartford — including, eventually, housing at Front Street.
6. SEC Inches Closer To Cohen
Billionaire Steven A. Cohen's Stamford hedge fund, SAC Capital, has come under fire before for insider trading. But in late November, charges against a former SAC trader, Matthew Martoma, set a path leading closer to Cohen himself.
Cohen, a Wall Street legend and noted modern and contemporary art collector, has not been charged or accused of wrongdoing in the indictment of Martoma and in a civil case against SAC. Three former SAC traders have previously pleaded guilty to insider trading and Cohen was not charged in those cases, either.
But the indictment against Martoma, on charges that he traded on tips from a scientist helping to oversee a drug trial, referred to Cohen's involvement as "hedge fund owner," according to numerous reports. And it is widely believed that prosecutors will use pressure on Martoma and others to smoke out any knowledge Cohen might have had of improper trading.
7. A Larger NU Weathers A Storm
The last thing Northeast Utilities and its Connecticut Light & Power unit wanted was another eventful year. But it was inevitable as NU merged with Boston-based NSTAR in April, and it was sealed with Sandy, a year after the freak October snowstorm.
This time around, CL&P performed better when it came to communicating with town officials and the public, and in clearing roads faster. Still, despite massive preparation efforts that brought well over 2,000 linemen and tree workers on the job, it still took the company a week to restore power — not much less than the debacle of 2011. The lesson: When a storm knocks out power to half a million customers, there's no quick fix.
There's also no avoiding layoffs after a mega-merger, and a less-than-thought-out remark by company officials earlier this year, that the company could probably shed the necessary jobs by attrition, came back to haunt NU when it proved false. NU has not said how many people it has laid off but it reduced about 300 Connecticut jobs in all.
8. Everyone Gets A Piece Of The Action
Malloy's economic development engine cranked in 2012 on several fronts. As the year started, there were four companies in the "First Five" program, which offers aid packages to any employers adding at least 200 jobs and investing at least $25 million. But one firm, TicketNetwork, dropped out in February after some bad behavior by its founder and CEO at an Oscar-night party.
That was unfortunate, since the firm was well ahead of its promised growth targets. But by the end of the year, the Malloy economic development machine had nine firms in the renamed "Next Five" program, including Alexion Pharmaceuticals, which promises to be the linchpin in a massive downtown New Haven redevelopment project.
Separately, Malloy launched an "Innovation Ecosystem" with $5 million for tech hubs in Stamford, New Haven, Hartford and Storrs. The Small Business Express program zoomed ahead with tens of millions of dollars for community businesses, and the state's revamped technology investment arm got new leadership. The film tax credit program had by far its biggest year ever.
Malloy will face heightened pressure in 2013 if all this spending doesn't lead to a jobs turnaround.
9. Nursing A Grudge
Connecticut's nastiest labor dispute of 2011 got even worse in 2012, as the HealthBridge nursing home lockout grew into a strike that continues. HealthBridge, the New Jersey-based operator of six unionized nursing homes in Connecticut, enacted cuts in health coverage and retirement benefits as talks failed. That led to a strike in July at all six homes, during which HealthBridge received state approval to close one of them, Wethersfield Health Care Center.
In a rare move, the Hartford office of the National Labor Relations Board sought an immediate restoration of the previous benefits and a return to work for 600 striking members of District 1199 of the Service Employees International Union — even before the long NLRB process played out. A federal judge in Hartford agreed, but on Dec, 18, a federal appeals court halted the restoration order — temporarily, at least.
The battle continues into its third calendar year with no end in sight.
10. For Him, The Bells Toll
Matt Bevin was awakened in the wee hours over Memorial Day weekend with news that his factory in East Hampton, Bevin Brothers, was in flames. It's one of several companies the Louisville, Ky., entrepreneur owns, but it's the one with his name on it, and 182 years of history starting with his great-great-great-grandfather.
And Bevin Bell, as the company is known, was the last surviving bell-maker in the town, which once had dozens, giving it the nickname Belltown USA.
After three days and nights, Bevin declared he would rebuild — a move that may or may not make economic sense, but would save a couple of dozen jobs. He did just that, in an abandoned factory space a few hundred yards away. He returned to production in October, making a ringing statement about Yankee manufacturing that reverberated worldwide for the customers of Bevin's famous bells.
