August 23, 2021Edition

Colleges in Connecticut and nationwide have been in a campus construction arms race for years — spending billions of dollars annually to build shiny new buildings in hopes of attracting potential student recruits. And it appears not even a global pandemic will slow those efforts, as three Greater Hartford colleges — University of Hartford, University of St. Joseph and Wesleyan University — prepare to debut, or start construction on, newly renovated or brand new, multimillion-dollar facilities.

Although returning crowds are a welcome sight to Science Center President and CEO Matt Fleury, he said his institution — like many venues in Connecticut — is taking a cautious approach as it emerges from the pandemic into an uncertain future.

BBB Attorneys is drawing in solo practitioners and diversifying its services to remain competitive.

PeoplesBank — not to be confused with Bridgeport-based People’s United Bank, which is in the process of being acquired by New York’s M&T Bank — is expanding its retail business in Connecticut with a new banking center branch in West Hartford that will include bells and whistles like interactive ATMs (or ITMs) that connect to a live teller, expanded banking hours and a lobby that doubles as a community gathering space.

Fintech industry officials, as well as the state’s boosters, see much to recommend Connecticut, pointing to its concentration of finance and insurance companies, well-educated workforce, quaint communities and high quality of life.

While businesses across the country tried to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, the executive team at John Michael Associates found a way to grow.

State and regional economic development officials believe now is a good time to capitalize on the trend of more people seeking out smaller cities and suburbs as a result of the pandemic, and they are taking a few concrete steps to target young professionals in particular.

With hundreds of new residential units coming online in the months and years ahead, in addition to the 2,000-plus apartments that have been added in the center city over the past decade, some developers say downtown Hartford may be close to reaching a tipping point where enough people are living in the area to sustain businesses aimed at local residents.

In an effort to serve a combination of empty nesters and well-heeled Millennials who are renting apartments instead of buying houses, Michael Belfonti and other developers with projects in Greater Hartford say that highly-amenitized buildings are becoming their default.

Rich Roberts’ career has been at the intersection of video gaming and real-money virtual gambling for the last quarter-century, working for well-known brands including Sportech, Hasbro Interactive and Atari. Now, he’s helping lead the launch of Connecticut’s virtual gambling industry.

Over the past 10 years, the retail real estate industry has grown annually between 4% to 5%, according to data from Boston Consulting Group. That’s made some developers like Mark D’Addabbo bullish on retail commercial development.