AT&T ‘experience’ store at Westfarms touted as the emerging trend in retail

AT&T used to do retail just like every other wireless provider. It operated slots in malls or shopping centers and banked a bunch of customers through online sales.

Connecticut is the second most expensive state in the country — after Alaska — for long-term care, according to a recent survey, and state budget pressures on Medicaid reimbursement for nursing homes could compound the problem.

Gun Shops See Sales Spike After Home Invasions

Gun sales in Connecticut jumped sharply after three members of a Cheshire family were killed in a brutal home invasion last summer, and they continue to run about 20 percent above last year’s rate.

As ESPN broadcast the Masters Tournament last month, most Greater Hartford viewers were unaware of a West Hartford connection to the global sports network.

The Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority has filed for a declaratory judgment on its Mid-Connecticut Project operating budget, responding to an injunction filed last week by member towns claiming budget numbers were inflated.

A Silicon Valley start-up says it has developed technology that can deliver solar power in about a year at prices competitive with coal-fired electricity, a milestone that would leapfrog other more established players and turbocharge the fast-growing industry.

This year, a strange but meaningful coincidence occurred — Earth Day fell during Small Business Week.

As legislative session moved into its final week, business leaders from across the state met at the Capitol to urge lawmakers to refrain from raising taxes or enabling state government to compete with the private sector.

Consumer confidence fell to the lowest level in five years in April, as Americans were buffeted by rising gasoline and food prices and a slowing job market, according to a recent survey.

In an appearance on a now-defunct Connecticut TV show, someone once asked Kevin Sullivan what he wanted to be when he grew up. He answered a lawyer.

Veterinary services for Second Chance Farms rescue barn. Department of Administrative Services. Bid due date: May 13. Bid no.: 08PSX0085.

The state’s two-year-old tax credit program for film productions has generated a wave of new film projects here, but many of the jobs are filled by union workers from other states, typically New York.

It is going to cost big bucks if state employees, public officials and lobbyists don’t comply with the state’s ethics law. There’s a new ethics director — Carol Carson — and she is making a splash by putting a financial bite behind ethics violations within her first four months on the job.

After heading off a proxy fight with Arbor Realty Trust Inc., Hartford-based CBRE Realty Finance Inc. began soliciting proxies last week to reelect all seven members of its current board at its annual meeting. The meeting has been set for 8:30 a.m., June 4, at The InterContinental in New York City.

Hartford-based Connecticut Bank and Trust Co. cut continued to trim its losses in the first quarter of its fiscal year, according to a recent financial report.

State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier held a joint press conference last week in New York City with members of the Rockefeller clan to support the family’s shareholder fight with Exxon Mobil.

“Then I realized that she was offering me her seat.”

Not long ago, I was listening as one of my grandchildren practiced his ABCs. He had a little picture book that helped him remember what the letters stood for, and he studied it intently, determined to be the first in his class to know all the letters and words.

I once feared that companies around here wouldn’t provide enough fodder for a weekly column, but that was before I browsed the proxy statements of such local players as Phoenix Cos., Travelers and Northeast Utilities (each the subject of a past column). Now I’ve stopped worrying that I’ll run out of material and am back to fretting about more important things, like rising food prices and what humidity does to my hair.

Employers, in a rush to replace baby boomers that are set to retire, have decided to increase their ranks of employees from newly minted college graduates. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers survey released last month, employers expect to hire 8 percent more new college graduates this year than they did last year.

A record number of businesses closed their doors during the first quarter of 2008, alarming state officials about the struggles facing enterpreneurs.

Eric Hammerling thought that his best bet after college would be to go to Washington, D.C. After all, the history major would be immersed in history-making every day.

An alarming slide in state revenues is cause for immediate action. Economic activity in the state has slowed dramatically. The state’s once robust $281 million surplus just months ago has been transformed into a nearly $68 million deficit — a $350 million swing — according to state Comptroller Nancy Wyman.

New opportunities bloom after every election and legislative session; opportunities for new faces in Connecticut’s political world to make a reputation or move up. The last six months is no exception.

Growing economic divides among Connecticut residents damage businesses, contribute to disparities in educational achievement, reduce consumer demand, limit the pool of qualified workers, and make the state a less affordable place to live.