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Something Old, Something New
UI veep assumes top chamber post at 205th annual meeting
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Business New Haven
5/3/1999
By: BNH
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The state's oldest and second-largest business group met for the 205th time April 21 to review the year just past, plot directions for the future, say goodbye to its outgoing chairman and hello to a new one.
Anthony J. Vallillo, a vice president of the United Illuminating Co., succeeded Bilco Co. executive vice president Roger F. Joyce as chairman of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce at the group's annual meeting at the Omni New Haven Hotel. About 700 attended.
In a year marked by continued consolidation in industries such as banking, the disappearance of local ownership of SNET and a growing cloud over continued independence for local utilities such as Connecticut Energy Corp. (see accompanying story) and United Illuminating, chamber President Matthew Nemerson touted his organization's work to advance a number of community initiatives.
Looming large among these was Joyce's co-chairmanship of the successful application for a $100 million federal Housing & Urban Development Empowerment Zone grant which will benefit New Haven and West Haven neighborhoods.
In addition, Joyce captained the long and arduous process to create a regional authority governing Tweed-New Haven Airport, and bringing private management to the beleaguered flyway.
A tireless advocate of inter-municipal cooperation, the New Haven chamber led by example in forging partnerships with the West Haven, Hamden, Guilford, Madison and Woodbridge/Bethany chambers of commerce.
Regarding other transportation issues, the chamber threw its support behind the state Department of Transportation's plan to replace the Quinnipiac River Bridge, and continued work to bring high-speed Amtrak and MetroNorth rail connections to New Haven.
With principal funding from BankBoston, the chamber also participated in the creation of the Connecticut Regional Institute for the 21st Century, which has retained a strategic planning and design firm, Michael Gallis & Associates, to study transportation and economic linkages between southern Connecticut, New England, metro New York and the rest of the world. The firm's principal, Michael Gallis, was keynote speaker at the April 21 event.
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