August 9, 2021Edition

The law legalizing recreational use of cannabis in Connecticut imposes new restrictions on employers while offering protections for employees who indulge. For employers seeking to prohibit off-duty cannabis use, a strong written workplace policy is a necessity.

With COVID-19 infection rates seeing yet another spike in Connecticut — aided by the highly-contagious delta variant impacting largely unvaccinated residents — some employers may be having second thoughts about their return-to-work policies.

Bankers, accountants and federal officials say Connecticut PPP borrowers are largely having their debts wiped out.

NBT Bank wants to grow in Connecticut by staying small.

Simsbury-based Curaleaf Connecticut is planning to triple its cannabis production output, as the company prepares to enter the state’s new adult-use recreational market.

It wasn’t long ago when people looking to spend tens of millions of dollars bankrolling cannabis entrepreneurs were frowned upon by society, not to mention performing an illegal act. But these days, as an increasing number of states legalize marijuana for recreational use, the financiers are people like Devin Schleidt, owner of Greater Hartford-based business advisory firm Schleidt Works, who is launching a $30 million venture fund to help seed up-and-coming cannabis businesses in Connecticut.

As manufacturers across the state look to increase production and competitiveness through automation and cognitive computer and artificial intelligence — a sector evolution known as the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0 — the state’s flagship university, UConn, is trying to help create a pipeline of talent with a new robotics major starting in the fall of 2022.

Post-pandemic operations at Stanley Black & Decker will look a lot different from pre-COVID times, both figuratively and literally.

Solomon Teitz, the new property manager for the five-story, 150,000-square-foot Riverview Plaza, says the building’s price point is designed to attract small businesses and startups — the target tenants of the office tower’s phase one, fifth-floor redesign.

Mark Scheinberg's most recent big bet is leading Goodwin University's $32 million purchase of the financially-ailing University of Bridgeport, a rare M&A deal in Connecticut’s higher-education industry.

Connecticut is increasing its investment in fuel cells in hopes of improving energy reliability and supporting the industry’s growth.