Zoning board OK”™s Stamford Hospital expansion
Stamford”™s zoning board approved the final plan for Stamford Hospital”™s $575 million expansion, expected to be a major jobs engine and anchor for other developments in the city”™s West End.
The project will take at least a decade to complete; first up will be a medical building housing a new emergency room, surgery and intensive care units, and a vascular care unit, with groundbreaking still a few years away.
In March, Stamford Hospital bought two buildings in New Canaan for $6.6 million, according to Patch.com, with the goal of setting up a physician clinic similar to its Darien Medical Center.
High-speed rail application on track
Connecticut submitted its application for $227 million in federal funding to support construction of a high-speed rail line linking New Haven, Hartford and Springfield, Mass.
The funds became available after Florida elected to reject $2.4 billion in funding because it did not want to commit required matching state funds. The Federal Railroad Administration has already awarded $161 million to Connecticut in connection with the line, with the state aiming to begin service in 2016.
Both Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and his predecessor Gov. M. Jodi Rell are convinced a north-south line in central Connecticut will draw sufficient numbers of riders to justify the massive costs, with the state projecting nearly 1.3 million riders annually by 2030.
“Once implemented, this line will support up to 50 daily passenger trains reaching speeds up to 110 miles an hour,” Malloy said, in a prepared statement. “For communities in the region, the project will offer employment opportunities and serve as a catalyst for new transit-oriented development.”
GE yet to shine light on solar plant locale
General Electric Co. plans to build a solar panel plant in the U.S. larger than any plant in the nation today, without immediately specifying where the factory would be located.
In 2008, Fairfield-based GE acquired a controlling stake in PrimeStar Solar, a maker of thin-film solar technology that has its primary production facility in Colorado. The National Renewable Energy Lab recently certified the company”™s thin-film panels as the most efficient ever.
GE plans to spend $600 million to commercialize solar products, including the cost of building the new plant that will employ 400 people producing sufficient panels for 80,000 homes annually.
Generics cut into BI income
The parent company of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. said generic versions of some of its best-selling drugs cut profits by nearly half last year.
Boehringer Ingelheim has its U.S. headquarters in Ridgefield where it is one of the largest employers in Fairfield County with more than 2,000 workers at last report.
Net income was below $1.3 billion in 2010, as sales dropped 1 percent to $18.2 billion.
This month, the Food and Drug Administration approved Boehringer Ingelheim”™s Viramune XR to treat HIV-1 in adults, in conjunction with other drugs. The extended-release pill is designed to be taken once daily, as opposed to the twice-a-day dosing requirement of the existing Viramune drug, a formulation of nevirapine.
Pepperidge Farm debuts Cracker Chip
Hoping to crack into the market share of rivals that sell potato chips, Norwalk-based Pepperidge Farm introduced a snack dubbed Baked Natural Cracker Chips, which it bills as a healthier alternative.
Pepperidge Farm said its Cracker Chips have at least 60 percent less fat per serving than the leading potato chips, and have no artificial colors or preservatives. The chips come in cheddar and multigrain varieties.
Pepperidge Farm is a subsidiary of New Jersey-based Campbell Soup Co.
WrestleMania just peachy with Atlanta
For the second consecutive year, WrestleMania was the highest grossing and most attended entertainment event in the host venue, after more than 71,600 people flocked into the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for World Wrestling Entertainment Inc.”™s 27th installment of its signature event.
The previous Georgia Dome record attendance for an entertainment event was a 2000 Backstreet Boys concert, which attracted nearly 65,700 people.
Stamford-based WWE grossed $6.6 million from the event, including revenue from pay-per-view telecasts. The company plans to hold next year”™s WrestleMania at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, which can seat 75,000 people.
Sports center owner eyes medical, retail projects
The owner of the Sports Center of Connecticut reportedly filed plans to build a medical office building next to the center, while converting an industrial building into a retail center and building another small retail strip across the street.
The plans were filed by Bishop Development, which according to the New Haven Independent is operated by Howard Soffan.
Valvo lauded by CTC
The Connecticut Technology Council awarded one of 10 “women of innovation” awards to a Fairfield County resident: Leonora Valvo, whose Ridgefield-based company etouches sells software for planning corporate events and trade shows.
Sponsors included Ridgefield-based Boehringer Ingelheim, Day Pitney L.L.P. and United Technologies Corp., which had multiple winners from its Pratt & Whitney and Hamilton Sundstrand divisions.
Awardees included:
- Rachel O”™Neill, assistant professor of molecular and cell biology, University of Connecticut;
- Jackie Garofano, a UConn doctoral student studying materials;
- Nadia Glucksberg, a hydrogeologist in the Hartford office of engineering company Haley & Aldrich;
- Sharon Killian, and accountant with Pratt & Whitney;
- Laura Dietz, vice president of Waterford-based Sonalysts Inc.;
- Deborah Orosz, an environmental manager with Hamilton Sundstrand;
- Agnes Klucha, an innovation manager with Pratt & Whitney;
- Lisa Pfefferle, an engineering professor at Yale University; and
- Jenny Liu of Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge, who was one of 40 finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search.
GE Capital helps truckers shop for fuel
As gas prices topped $4 a gallon at Norwalk stations where it is based, GE Capital revved up a new mobile application that allows truck drivers to locate the lowest price no matter where their travels take them.
Using GE Capital Fleet Service”™s new U.S. fuel-price mapping product, drivers enter their location, search radius and required fuel type. Five locations with the lowest fuel price options will be listed first, with the ability to list additional sites, and results can be re-sorted by brand or radius. For drivers in unfamiliar areas, any site chosen can be plotted on a map using GPS, and maps can be changed to satellite, hybrid or terrain views.
GE Capital Fleet Service also offers a maintenance service and repair application to help drivers find garages.
