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Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5421.html Home building permits in Connecticut dipped 15 percent in the first quarter, but a recent national study predicted Connecticut would be one of the first states to recover from the nationwide downturn. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5421.html Sean O’Leary Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5423.html The slowing economy appears to have claimed another victim — Connecticut’s IT job market. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5423.html Sean O’Leary Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5422.html Facing a nearly $70-million budget deficit, state lawmakers axed several key pro- business bills while approving the expansion of state health care insurance to small businesses, nonprofits and municipalities. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5422.html Sean O’Leary Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5424.html At the end of June, Sovereign Bank will abandon one downtown location and move one block up Trumbull Street to another. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5424.html Mary Johnson Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5425.html For some in the state, business is booming. In fact, Key Air is running out of room to park its customers’ pricey properties at its Waterbury-Oxford Airport hangar, which houses 20 planes, jets and helicopters. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5425.html Keith Griffin Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5426.html The Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority is set to spend $3 million of its own cash to convert the Hartford regional recycling facility into a single-stream system later this year. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5426.html Mary Johnson Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5427.html Four dollars a gallon! That’s the cost of regular gasoline where I live—and the national average has skyrocketed to more than $3.60. Four years ago, when I last wrote about the effects of high gas prices on small businesses, the price was a seemingly crushing $2 a gallon. Wouldn’t you like to have those prices now? http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5427.html Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5428.html The pressures of a weak economy — concerns about job security and rising prices for gas, food, home heating oil and other goods and services — are causing many gamblers to cancel or reduce the number of casino trips. Those who go are gambling less money than in the past. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5428.html Gary Stoller Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5429.html Give them cash, and they will shop. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5429.html Adam Shell Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5430.html Kim Hathaway got her first job working as an usherette in a movie theater. It was around the time the Barbara Streisand classic “Funny Girl” hit the big screen, and the close proximity to Babs in all her glory only fueled Hathaway’s deeply rooted passion for the theater. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5430.html Mary Johnson Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5432.html Companies counting on consumers spending like there’s no tomorrow are finding tomorrow may not be as bright as they’d hoped. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5432.html Matt Krantz Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5433.html Every year for 11 years in a row, the Hamilton Sundstrand Federal Credit Union lost members. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5433.html Mary Johnson Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5434.html As the remnants of failed mortgages begin to pile up, companies are looking for opportunities beneath the wreckage. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5434.html Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5435.html Connecticut is no longer immune to the declines in home prices and sales that have enveloped the rest of New England. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5435.html Sean O’Leary Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5436.html News that GE Money plans to quit the consumer RV lending business sent shares of recreational vehicle manufacturers lower last week. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5436.html Hartford Business Journal Staff Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5437.html New Jersey-based Linens Holding Co. — which operates the Linens ’n Things retail chain — has received Bankruptcy Court approval to use its $700 million debtor-in-possession financing, “pending a hearing on final approval later this month,” according to a statement from Chief Restructuring Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer Michael Gries. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5437.html Howard French Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5438.html Frederick A. Leone knows a thing or two about being physically active. The former captain of Yale University’s football team who once tried out for the National Football League’s Cincinnati Bengals, is now heading up Boundless Playgrounds, which sets out to create playgrounds where children, with and without disabilities, can interact through play. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5438.html Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5440.html Based upon an independent survey of advertising and marketing executives, which was reported in USA Today, there are three common misperceptions about creativity: http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5440.html Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5441.html Each year, many quirky individuals waving a few shares of stock express their viewpoints through shareholder proxy proposals. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5441.html Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5442.html Xerox Corp. will continue relying on fast-growing color products as a staple in its revenue and earnings growth despite the weakening U.S. economy, Chief Executive Anne Mulcahy told investor analysts recently. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5442.html Stephen Singer Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5443.html Minority-owned businesses need to grow rapidly, by acquisition if necessary, to have the best chance of competing for contracts with major corporations, said Fred McKinney, president of the Connecticut Minority Supplier Development Council. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5443.html Emily Boisvert Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5444.html “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” — Chinese proverb http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5444.html Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5445.html Twice in the last 20 years the Connecticut legislature has put off painful budget decisions until after an election only to hit the residents of the state with the hard truth afterward. The first big surprise came in 1991 with the imposition of the income tax. The second came in 2002 when massive state employee layoffs were used to try to bring the budget in balance. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5445.html Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5446.html To the editor: http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5446.html Mon, 12 May 2008 0:00:00 EDT http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5447.html To The Editor, http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news5447.html