Andrew Larson

Six hours after a new restaurant in downtown Hartford, The Foundry, opened on Jan. 16, its tables were fully booked for the week. Soon, reservations were booked through the whole month. The restaurant has drawn such interest that reservations typically require 30 days’ notice. The Foundry has many selling points, from its panoramic views of the Capital City and lively and urbane atmosphere to its open kitchen design — situated on the 20th floor of downtown’s landmark Hartford Steam Boiler building.

Gov. Ned Lamont and several other state officials are crisscrossing India this week on an economic development tour, meant to boost ties with the South Asian country. The trip includes meetings with “notable Indian companies” that are considering expansions in North America, according to an announcement from Lamont’s office. Lamont’s group was set to arrive in India on Sunday and will return Saturday, March 1. They will visit the Indian cities of Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai.

New data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 33 employees were killed at work in Connecticut in 2023, down one from 34 in 2022, or 2.9%. Of the fatalities in 2023, 30 were men and three were women. Three of the deaths involved violent acts; 14 occurred as a result of a transportation accident. Eight workers died as a result of slips and falls, and four died from exposure to harmful substances or environments, according to the data. Four people died from contact with objects and equipment in their workplace.

Colleges and universities could lose millions of dollars in federal funding under a major change announced by National Institutes of Health (NIH). On Friday, NIH announced that it would reduce the rate at which higher education institutions can recover the indirect costs of grant-funded research. The change is set to go into effect Monday and affects all current and future grants. Previously, UConn and UConn Health received a reimbursement rate of 61% and 66.5%, respectively, for indirect costs. NIH is reducing that rate to a flat 15%.

Norwalk-based fintech company FactSet has acquired a cloud-based trading platform, LiquidityBook, for $246.5 million in cash, according to an announcement Monday. LiquidityBook provides trading services to hedge fund, asset and wealth management, outsourced trading, and sell-side middle office clients, through a network it operates of more than 200 brokers.   The two companies partnered over the last year to enable “turnkey integration” of LiquidityBook’s order management system into FactSet, according to the announcement.

A national engineering, planning and design company, VHB, has acquired a prominent civil engineering firm in Wethersfield, Close, Jensen and Miller (CJM). CJM, established in 1926, is known for providing consulting engineering services for bridge and highway projects, hydraulic design, construction support, and land surveying. VHB, based in Watertown, Massachusetts, will add 26 transportation engineering and design professionals from CJM to its New England team, which is composed of about 1,000 employees.

A Hartford-based rail advocate who travels frequently, Casey Moran, has pitched an idea to build a rail line that would connect Bradley International Airport to the region's rail network. The Bradley Airport Rail Link would provide a one-seat train ride to Bradley from throughout much of Connecticut. It would have stops in Hartford, Bloomfield and Windsor Locks.

Pfizer has agreed to pay $59.75 million to settle claims that Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co., which it acquired in 2022, defrauded Medicare and other healthcare programs by paying kickbacks to doctors. The kickbacks were meant to encourage doctors to prescribe the migraine drug Nurtec ODT, which is a violation of the False Claims Act, the U.S. Department of Justice said. In October 2022, Pfizer completed the acquisition of Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Co., the maker of Nurtec ODT, from Biohaven Pharmaceuticals Inc. for about $11.6 billion.

Once 50-50 partners in a startup law firm that gained notoriety for winning the largest bodily injury verdict in Connecticut, two attorneys became such bitter adversaries they decided to dissolve the business. Now, they’re ensnared in a legal battle over the winding down of their former law firm, with each attorney blaming the other for misspent money, personal attacks, inappropriate behavior and potential malfeasance.

Hartford-based engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill has named Kevin Johnson as its new president and CEO. He succeeds Kevin Grigg as the firm’s top leader. Grigg retired after more than 30 years in the consulting industry, including 11 years with Fuss & O’Neill. Johnson began working for the business in 2019, overseeing its transportation practice. In 2020, he was promoted to executive vice president of business development, leading the firm’s growth and geographic expansion, through acquisitions and other strategies.