With Aetna's Departure and the Bishops Era Long Gone, Hartford Faces a New Future
HARTFORD — Aetna Inc.'s decision to relocate its headquarters and chief executive from the city where it was founded in 1853 is a watershed moment for Hartford, which once turned to its corporate chiefs for leadership during troubled times.
With Hartford on the edge of bankruptcy and state legislators unable to agree on a state budget billions of dollars in the red, Aetna Chief Executive Mark T. Bertolini told Connecticut that it had better get its house in order — and said he was leaving with top executives for New York City.
"It's a long way from [Aetna CEO] John Filer, when Aetna was taking the lead on revitalizing the city and building the Civic Center," Tom Condon, a former columnist and editorial writer at The Courant, said. "On the day the Civic Center roof collapsed, Filer dispatched some of his people to help the city get through it."
Condon added: "That was 'Mother Aetna' at its finest, intertwined with the city and the future of the city."
Read more: http://www.courant.com/business/hc-aetna-hartford-headquarters-gone-20170630-story.html