CBIA BizCast

Since 1970, Waterford’s Millstone Power Station has been a key part of Connecticut’s energy supply. Millstone, which was acquired by Virginia-based Dominion Energy in 2001, currently supplies about 50% of Connecticut’s energy needs, and more than 90% of the state’s clean power, according to Millstone vice president Michael O’Connor. “Our mission is to reliably produce nuclear power for our customers,” O’Connor told the CBIA BizCast. “It's got to also be affordable, and it's got to be increasingly green.” O’Connor highlighted Dominion’s core values of safety, ethics, excellence, embracing change, and being one company. He said those values have remained consistent throughout years, with embracing change added most recently. “We want people to think differently,” O’Connor said, adding that to improve safety and efficiency, the business demands innovation.

Over the course of the last year, business leaders from across the state joined the CBIA BizCast to share stories of how their businesses innovated, overcame challenges and found new levels of success. Whether it’s manufacturing, healthcare, real estate, public service, law, or banking—all of our guests have had something in common—they have learned invaluable lessons along the way that have gotten them to where they are today. As 2024 begins, we are taking a look back at some of those lessons, experiences, and advice.

Just on the outskirts of the UConn campus in Storrs sits the UConn Tech Park, a center for cutting-edge research, collaboration, and innovation. “The Tech Park is a really amazing initiative that the state and university funded to act as a kind of front door for industry into the services that are available at the university,” said Michael DiDonato, business development manager for the Innovation Partnership Building. The Innovation Partnership Building is the first and flagship building of the Tech Park. The facility features 19 centers focused on four pillars: sustainability, defense materials, cybersecurity, and systems manufacturing. The goal of the Tech Park is to connect businesses with their research facilities and technology services.

“We need to be looking through the windshield, and not the rearview mirror, because that's where the opportunities lie,” says Fuss & O’Neill CEO and newly elected CBIA board chair Kevin Grigg. Grigg sat down with CBIA president and CEO Chris DiPentima for a special episode of the CBIA BizCast. He said for the state to achieve its economic goals, it’s important to focus on issues like housing, education and training, workforce development. “This is kind of like the threshold of opportunity,” he said. “I think we have all the elements in place to really accelerate the growth and prosperity of the state, and I'm looking forward to doing whatever I can to help.”

RSM partner Dan Wheadon joins the CBIA BizCast to break down the results of the 2023 Connecticut Manufacturing Report. Among the findings: 86% of manufacturers report difficulty finding/and or retaining employees, with 48% calling the issue the greatest growth challenge. “The manufacturing industry is really going through a pretty significant change in recent years with industry 4.0, and a number of new technologies out there, and now the emergence of AI and machine learning,” Wheadon said.

With hundreds of locations worldwide, COBS Bread's Karen Frost-Spokes talks to the CBIA BizCast about plans to expand in Connecticut and the U.S. “It's a pretty simple concept,” she said. “It's really just about focusing on great bread, great customer service, and then connecting with the community and giving back.” “The intent is to replicate that here in the Northeast." COBS already has franchises in Stamford and Greenwich. Their third location, in Westport, is set to open by the end of November with more locations in Connecticut and the Northeast planned for the next 12 months. “It's risky, but I think we've got a great product out there," she said.

For Chris O’Connor, becoming president and CEO of Yale New Haven Health was something of a homecoming. “I was born at Yale New Haven Hospital,” O’Connor told the CBIA BizCast. “I was a little premature, so I needed their special care unit and grew up here in New Haven.” He joins the CBIA BizCast to share his story and what is ahead for the health system.

Nearly 600 middle and high school students from two dozen schools spent part of their school day recently learning what Connecticut's manufacturing industry has to offer. They took part in EXPLORE MANUFACTURING: A Stop on CT Manufacturing Roadshow '23 Sept. 28 at Dodd Stadium in Norwich. It was a chance for more than two dozen manufacturers and training and support organizations in attendance to meet young people, and expose them to the industry. “We're really excited to really plant seeds early of manufacturing in young people's minds,” said Chris Jewell, president of Collins & Jewell Company

TD Bank's Mike LaBella joins the CBIA BizCast to discuss ways the bank is supporting manufacturers' growth and success. “The bank’s been a tremendous supporter of all industries, but especially manufacturing, because it's so key to our economy,” LaBella said. TD Bank is sponsoring CBIA’s Made in Connecticut 2023 Manufacturing Summit Oct. 11 at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville. With interest rates rising, liquidity winding down, and ongoing challenges from the workforce shortage, LaBella said “it’s more important than ever to really have a strong bank relationship.” “I think manufacturers really need to take that long-term view now of what's going to make them more productive, reduce their cost of operations, and bring them into a better position technologically for their future growth.”

Marcum LLP's Hartford office managing partner Michael Brooder joins the CBIA BizCast to break down the 2023 Survey of Connecticut Businesses. The survey highlights some of the top concerns for businesses, including workforce and the costs of living and doing business in the state. “These days? It’s labor, labor, labor, and costs,” said Brooder. “If you look at the open jobs and the availability of people that are there to fill them, it's just that they're not there. “Let's figure out how to grow, and let's figure out how to be competitive, and let's figure out how to make Connecticut a place where people want to do business.”