GE loses verdict
General Electric Co. reportedly will appeal a $70 million jury verdict, following the fatal crash in of a Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.-built helicopter powered by GE Aviation engines.
Nine people died in the 2008 California accident, which involved an S-61 helicopter on firefighter duty operated by Carson Helicopters. GE said a National Transportation Safety Board investigation had cleared it of responsibility.
Sikorsky settled a separate lawsuit without disclosing terms.
Sunny money
With $350,000 in state funding SolarChange L.L.C. plans to hire more than 30 people in Bridgeport to manufacture solar appliances and building products.
SolarChange CEO Gerry Falbel previously designed infrared instruments for aerospace companies and designed his first solar-heated home in 1960.
Under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy”™s $100 million Small Business Express Program (EXP) SolarChange is matching a $100,000 grant and borrowing another $250,000.
EXP funding also went to a Mystic company building a 50-acre outdoor paintball venue.
Jobs rebound
The Fairfield County area added 2,600 jobs in February, according to estimates by the U.S. Department of Labor, contributing to a statewide gain of 4,900 jobs.
Compared with a U.S. unemployment rate of 8.7 percent and an 8.2 percent rate in Connecticut, the jobless rate in lower Fairfield County was 7.7 percent and in the Danbury area 6.7 percent
Presstek pink slips
In Jeffrey Jacobson”™s last year as CEO of Greenwich-based Presstek Inc., the company cut 120 jobs, giving it fewer than 400 at the end of 2011.
Presstek makes offset printers with a focus on selling to small commercial printers, losing $12.4 million last year as revenue dropped 7 percent to $120 million.
Last month, Jacobson resigned to become head of Norwalk-based Xerox Corp.”™s commercial printer division. After making Jacobson CEO in 2007, the company moved its headquarters from Hudson, N.H. to Greenwich, where it still has its largest manufacturing plant. The lease on Presstek”™s Greenwich office comes up for renewal in two years.
”˜Hire American”™ woes
The U.S. Department of Justice fined Wilton-based Onward Healthcare $100,000, saying the company discriminated by limiting staffing jobs it posted online to U.S. citizens.
The Immigration and Nationality Act generally prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of citizenship status unless required by law, regulation or government contract.
“Federal law protects people who are authorized to work in the United States from facing discriminatory barriers when they are seeking employment,” Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general in DOJ”™s civil rights division, said in a statement.
Poll backs wage hike
Nearly two-thirds of Connecticut residents polled support a legislative proposal to increase the state”™s minimum wage to $9.75 an hour.
The poll was conducted by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a Washington, D.C. group that endorses higher taxes on the wealthy to maintain social safety nets like Medicare. It has 13,000 members in Connecticut.
Democrats were overwhelmingly in favor of an increase in Connecticut”™s minimum wage at 86 percent, while 54 percent of independents supported an increase and 46 percent of Republicans.
Stock sell for FuelCell
FuelCell Energy Inc. raised $34.5 million in a sale of stock, with plans to use the money as “growth capital.”
Danbury-based FuelCell Energy”™s biggest customer is POSCO Power, a South Korea company building a utility-scale electricity plant from fuel cells.
Bar hires director
The Connecticut Bar Association hired Guilford resident Alice Bruno as executive director. Bruno most recently served as deputy chief clerk of the New Haven Superior Court.
She held various volunteer roles with the association for 30 years. She holds degrees in law and social work from the University of Connecticut and an undergraduate degree from Tufts University.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will give the keynote address at the June 11 CBA annual meeting in Hartford.
Dalio earned $3.9B
Ray Dalio, head of the Westport-based hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, is the nation”™s highest-paid hedge fund executive, according to estimates by AR Magazine.
Dalio topped the earners list with $3.9 billion in 2011 earnings as his biggest fund, Pure Alpha, gained 16 percent, AR Magazine said. Bridgewater, which manages $120 billion in total assets, uses a macro strategy to seek to profit from economic trends. It gained last year by predicting global economic headwinds would trigger a flight by other investors to U.S. Treasuries.
Average pay for the 25 top earners was $576 million last year, the magazine said, down from $883 million in 2010. In 2009, the figure stood at $1.1 billion.
Magic beats Cohen
After sending signals of his interest in buying the bankrupt Los Angeles Dodgers, SAC Capital founder Steve Cohen saw the Dodgers go instead to an investment group headed by Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson.
The $2 billion bid is contingent on approval from a bankruptcy judge.
Cohen is a Greenwich resident and runs SAC Capital in Stamford. In March, as Cohen visited Dodgers spring camp, Forbes listed him as the second wealthiest man in Connecticut with an estimated fortune of $8.3 billion.
Johnson”™s investment fund had planned a major residential development in Bridgeport, but tabled the project at the onset of the recession.
SS&C tenders offer for GlobeOp
SS&C Technologies made a formal $818 million offer for GlobeOp Financial Services, a Harrison, N.Y. company that helps hedge funds with back-office support.
Windsor-based SS&C provides a range of software and services for the financial sector. The company is in a bidding war with TPG Capital for GlobeOp ”“ it said it would move forward with a deal if it wins the support of 70 percent of GlobeOp shareholders.
GlobeOp has 200 clients, more than 2,200 employees and branch offices in New York City, Hartford, London and Ireland.
