CBIA BizCast

CBIA BizCast host Ali Warshavsky speaks with Jim Barger, market president of KeyBank, ahead of CBIA's April 21 Connecticut Economic Update, where he will make opening remarks. Barger said KeyBank has invested in several fintech companies to enhance the digital channels they have. Since the beginning of COVID-19, Barger said customers have become more reliant on digital banking and the bank is learning how to balance those services with the ones offered in brick and mortar branches. “What we see is more and more of the interactions are done digitally, but when our costumes have complex needs, like they need a mortgage, or how do they fund tuition, or how do they plan for retirement, that is a situation when our bricks and mortar networks still come into play,” said Barger. CBIA’s Connecticut Economic Update takes place Thursday, April 21 at the Trumbull Marriott in Shelton. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Ali Warshavsky.

CBIA BizCast host Ali Warshavsky speaks with Jelan Agnew, a licensed clinical social worker and mindfulness instructor at Copper Beech Institute. Agnew began practicing mindfulness two minutes a day to help manage anxiety. She admitted it wasn’t easy at first but worked up to practicing for longer lengths of time, even completing a seven-day silent retreat. “What I love about mindfulness is there is a non-judgemental component that is not what you learned in other institutions, there is no shame or guilt,” said Agnew. “When your mind shifts off topic, good, that is what it's supposed to do. “You become mindful the moment you decide to bring it back to that anchor. Agnew will lead a mindfulness exercise at CBIA’s When Women Lead conference May 19 at the AquaTurf in Plantsville. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Ali Warshavsky.

CBIA BizCast host Ali Warshavsky speaks with Melanie Hoben, director of workforce development at East Hartford-based Goodwin University. Goodwin is playing a key role leading workforce development initiatives, and is the only school in Connecticut to receive a U.S. Closing the Skills Gap Grant to upskill incumbent workers. In addition, Hoben said Goodwin uses a 44-foot trailer as a mobile lab to introduce middle and high school students to manufacturing and provide training to manufacturers throughout Connecticut. “This mobile lab, that we also take to the kids, we take to manufacturing facilities and have trained 1,600-2000 employees in the last four years,” said Hoben. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Ali Warshavsky.

CBIA BizCast host Ali Warshavsky speaks with Shipman & Goodwin attorney Keegan Drenosky about the challenges employers face in navigating the labor shortage. Drenosky says most employers are noticing job applicants looking for more than high salaries, with a good work-life balance also important. She notes that many jobseekers in the manufacturing industry are looking for a company that will upskill employees and provide opportunities for growth. “I think one of the things that employees really look for is not just the bottom-line salary, but what is this company really offering in terms of what my life is going to look like?” Drenkosky said. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Ali Warshavsky.

CBIA BizCast host Ali Warshavsky speaks with CBIA's Eric Gjede about two important bills being debated this legislative session. Gjede said employers welcomed HB 5003, which directs additional federal pandemic relief funds toward paying down the state’s huge unemployment trust fund debt. “Until that debt is satisfied the business community will see higher and higher unemployment taxes each fall,” said Gjede. While Gjede said reducing unemployment debt will help Connecticut’s economy, he criticized SB 163, which drastically restricts workplace communications. Gjede said the language in the bill—which is essentially a gag order on employers— is too broad and preempts federal law. “Why would you come here and want to invest here and grow your business here if you have to worry about talking to your employees here,” said Gjede. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Ali Warshavsky.

CBIA BizCast host Ali Warshavsky speaks with Ray Pineault, president and CEO of Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment. Pineault took over as interim CEO in 2021 after four years as general manager of the casino. He is also a Mohegan tribal member. The first legal sports bet placed in Connecticut was in September at Mohegan Sun, something Pineault said his team had been waiting to see at the casino for years. “We look forward to the growth and expansion of sports wagering in Connecticut,” said Pineault. “It's an exciting time to bring gaming to Connecticut in this century and to be in the same realm as our competitors like New Jersey who have had sports betting and iGaming for years.” Mohegan recently opened its 11,000 square-foot Sportsbook in partnership with Fanduel. He said the space sold out during the Super Bowl and is looking forward to the crowds during March Madness, the biggest sports betting event of the year. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Ali Warshavsky.

CBIA BizCast host Ali Warshavsky speaks to Penn Globe president Marcia LaFemia about her plans to transform a Fair Haven building into a manufacturing training center. LaFemina applied for a grant to rehabilitate a vacant building and create a place of opportunity struggling to find a career path in the area. If the grant is approved, she said Penn Globe employees, as well as other manufacturers in the state, will be hired to train students there. “It makes sense to have manufacturers training manufacturing students,” LaFemina said. “That's not always the way that it is. A lot of time it's educators or others learning to teach the students. The idea was to get a broader scope of the manufacturing experience–that manufacturers are actually teaching.” LaFemina said most of the manufacturers who will train students will be bilingual. The students will produce components for many industries in Connecticut making it financially possible to keep the program running. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Ali Warshavsky.

CBIA BizCast host Ali Warshavsky speaks with Hartford HealthCare president and CEO Jeff Flaks about the pandemic’s long-term impact on healthcare. Flaks says Hartford HealthCare is focused on challenging conventional thinking while using new technologies to better healthcare delivery in the state. “In healthcare, we don't want to go back to normal,” Flaks said. “We have to be better than normal. “Our being better than normal is ensuring everything that we have learned around infection control, around supply change management, the things that we have earned around different training and staffing and ways we operate the organization, the ways we connect with our community. “The issues around health equity which have been incredibly important, we have mandates for change.” Flaks said public private partnerships are crucial in achieving health equity. They have a new partnership with MIT to bring efficiencies to operating rooms and emergency rooms to make healthcare more affordable. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Ali Warshavsky.

CBIA BizCast host Ali Warshavsky speaks with Fran Pastore, CEO and founder of the Women’s Business Development Council and Rafia Zahir-Uddin, vice president for global philanthropy with JPMorgan Chase. Pastore and Zahir-Uddin discuss the long partnership between WBDC and JPMorgan Chase to support women-owned businesses across Connecticut. Pastore opened WBDC’s first checking account with a $60 deposit 25 years ago at a JPMorgan Chase branch in Stamford. The bank is now a major investor in WBDC’s mission, including making a recent $300,000 investment in the organization’s Equity Match Grant Program. WBDC has distributed $924,000 to women in 52 municipalities in Connecticut since the program’s launch in 2022. “The first three rounds of grants we made, we had a goal of focusing on women of color and minorities and we achieved that goal with 30% of our goal of grants going to women of color and minorities,” said Pastore. “Our investment in WDBC is very much aligned with our mode of impact-which is supporting inclusive economic opportunity,” said Zahir-Uddin. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Ali Warshavsky.

CBIA BizCast host Ali Warshavsky speaks with Paul Lavoie, the state’s new chief manufacturing officer. Lavoie took over the role this month following Colin Cooper's retirement. Lavoie spent the last 10 years at Carey Manufacturing, where his favorite part of the day was walking the shop floor talking to employees and watching products come to life. He said one of his biggest regrets is not starting in the manufacturing industry earlier in his working life. “I am passionate about manufacturing,” Lavoie says. “I am passionate about the state of Connecticut. I want all manufacturers to succeed. I want our state to succeed.” Lavoie has five key objectives as chief manufacturing officer: workforce development, fostering a healthy manufacturing ecosystem, establishing a culture of innovation, better communication and simplification. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Ali Warshavsky.