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Almanac
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Business New Haven
9/7/1998
By:
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Come Fly with Me:
The federal Department of Transportation has approved the start-up of a low-cost commuter airline based at Bradley International Airport. Expected to begin service this fall, Shuttle America Corp. will operate 50-seat turboprop planes on short hops to secondary airports throughout the Mid-Atlantic, including destinations such as Trenton, N.J. and Wilmington, Del. The airline's advent is being greased with $3 million in debt financing from the Connecticut Development Authority. Shuttle America says it aims to attract mainly business flyers.
Dark End of the Street:
Hamden Mayor Barbara DeNicola says she's serious about the economic revitalization of the State Street corridor in her town. To that end, Hamden has received approval to prepare a planning grant application for a project that would help revitalize industrial and commercial areas between the New Haven and North Haven lines. If approved by the state's Department Of Economic & Community Development and the state bond commission, the grant could mean more than $120,000 for the State Street corridor.
Road to Ruin:
The city of New Haven last month announced a crackdown on motorists who register their automobiles out of town or out of state to circumvent city property taxes. To that end, the city has retained a private firm, the Connecticut Tax Fraud Bureau, to identify suspected scofflaws, using national information databases and other innovative means, city officials said. City Assessor Larry Hughes says that if even 1,000 improperly registered cars are returned to the tax rolls, the net revenue benefit to the city would be $220,000. The city currently has about 42,000 motor vehicle accounts.
Paper Chase:
Speaking of New Haven, the city sold $40 million worth of bonds August 18 to two institutional investors, the yield from which will fund major school construction and renovation projects in addition to other city improvements. The winning bidders were Commerce Bank of Philadelphia, which purchased a $30 million note at 3.76 percent interest, and BankBoston, which bought a $10 million note at 3.74 percent. Five firms submitted bids.
By Any Means Necessary:
Wallingford consumers may benefit, at least temporarily, from a battle of the banks raging in that burg. The Waterbury-based Webster Bank August 19 unveiled a new Wallingford branch on South Main Street, which is believed to be one of the first seven-day-a-week standalone bank branches in Connecticut. The foray into extended-hour banking is intended to help Webster compete with the extended hours offered by banks such as People's and BankBoston, which offer augmented service at a number of their branches in Stop & Shop and Shaw's supermarkets, respectively. Wallingford's $700 million depositor base is presently spread among eight banks and five credit unions.
Ill at Ease:
The Branford-based Neurogen Corp. last month announced the commencement of human situational anxiety trials of its lead anti-anxiety drug candidate, NGD 91-2. The study, which will take five months, will measure the compound's effect against Valium and a placebo when human subjects are placed in “a situation known to provoke acute anxiety.” In previous weeks Neurogen itself had provoked acute anxiety among stockholders, who watched the company's stock swoon from about 20 to a low of 13.
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