Robin Barrett was already serving as chief financial officer, vice president and head of human resources for Infinity Music Hall in Norfolk and Farmington’s Data Management Inc., when her boss asked if she would lead construction management activities for the company’s newest entertainment venue in downtown Hartford.
A difficult, if not impossible, juggling act for even the most talented executives, Barrett said she welcomed the challenge.
Hired as controller of specialty printing company Data Management in June 2007, Barrett quickly added to her job duties. She now oversees the finances and HR duties of Data Management and Infinity Music Hall’s Norfolk and Hartford music-entertainment venues, which are principally owned by businessman Dan Hincks.
“Robin’s a unique CFO,” Hincks said. “She’s a very strong numbers person, but she’s also really a very good business builder. She has a tremendous work ethic and a strong sense of community, and a strong sense of the business for the community at large. She’s just a strong person overall.”
While Barrett, 55, juggled the finances and her human resources responsibilities for both companies, her supervisors knew she had some construction management experience as well, from her time serving on the Farmington Town Council.
“It holds a lot of interest for me,” Barrett said. “There was an opportunity in front of us [to build the Infinity Music Hall and Bistro in Hartford].”
Barrett said she, Hincks and Brian Gallagher, Data Management’s president and chief operating officer, went through a feasibility analysis to decide whether they should take on the project to build the new music venue and restaurant on Front Street in Hartford.
“The three of us took different leadership roles based on our time, skill set, and level of interest, and this ended up being mine,” Barrett said of the construction management role.
Barrett said one of the biggest challenges Infinity Hall Hartford faced was securing financing. The company was given a tenant improvement allowance from its landlord, HB Nitkin Group, which covered much of the build-out cost, but more money was needed.
“We decided to go out to investors [to raise] private venture capital,” Barrett said. “We have never done that before, so that was a real challenge for us. We sought out legal advice from our law firm, which had done it before. We didn’t have a good idea on how long that would take, or how easy or difficult it would be to raise the rest of the money we needed to complete the project.”
While seeking out private investors, the company also applied for and secured $1.3 million in state funding.
Barrett, Gallagher and others, in addition to Hincks, are also investors in the Hartford location.
“We came to think of it as a catalyst for a lot of growth and development in that area of Hartford, so it was kind of a natural evolution to think how it might benefit the community,” Barrett said.
There were some hiccups in the process – construction delays, increased scope of work, and rent payments prior to opening, all contributed to increases in project costs. Originally, it was slated as a $5.2 million project, but final costs approached $6.8 million.
“We went out for additional venture capital,” Barrett said. “Some of our original investors invested more, and we were also able to get some new investors. The project was up and running; it took on more of a realistic investment characteristic than it did when we were originally searching for investors.”
Barrett said having the state loan and other outside investors has been a huge vote of confidence.
“It comes with a lot of oversight as far as auditing the money and being aware of the employment situation, so it gives our project a little bit of a different perspective,” she said. “We have stakeholders, investors. It’s different than having a sole proprietorship type of business.”
Barrett said she manages her multiple roles by putting in a lot of hours at the office, having a capable staff, and a supportive husband.
“You just have to switch gears as best you can and be able to transition,” she said. “I owe a lot of thanks to my accounting team members at Data Management and Infinity for their tremendous help these past 18 months or so.”
Barrett lives in Unionville with her husband, Dave Barrett, and is an active member of the Farmington Rotary Club. She is also a board member of Hartford’s Camp Courant. She has two grown sons.
“The nice thing about Robin is she really does epitomize what we’re trying to have as our culture,” Hincks said. “She’s just extremely affirmative, very devoted to our associates, and extremely hard working. She sets the bar very high regarding how she works.”
