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Calendar August 2010

2010-08-09T00:00:00Z

SPECIAL EVENTS

What is The State of the Art of Solar Power in Connecticut? Carolyn Humphreys of Sunlight Solar, a Milford solar installer, will describe the current state of solar technology and its options for residential and business applications, including what’s new in design, costs and payback, and applicable federal and state incentives. Q&A to follow. 6 p.m. August 10 at New Haven Free Public Library, 133 Elm St., New Haven. Free. 203-946-8835, ctsolar.eventbrite.com.

Hotels Earn ‘Green’ Grade

2010-08-09T00:00:00Z

NEW HAVEN — The Omni-New Haven Hotel and Premiere Hotel & Suites have made the roster of the 15 hotels, motels and bed & breakfasts statewide participating in the Connecticut Green Lodging program sponsored by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism (CC&T). The lodging facilities participating in the program are redoing operations and gaining a marketing edge through energy savings, water conservation, green cleaning and other environmentally sound practices.

June Business Events

2010-06-07T00:00:00Z

Business Calendar

SYMPOSIA, CONFERENCES & EXPOSITIONS

The Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) hosts its 2010 Sustainability Conference. Half-day program will feature release of CBIA’s 2010 Sustainability and Connecticut Business Survey, keynote presentation on current trends and predictions for the future, panel discussions and exhibits by Connecticut green businesses. Keynote address Michael Ellis, senior associate for GreenOrder, who leads his firm’s work with General Electric on the latter’s multi-billion dollar Ecomagination initiative. 8-11:30 a.m. June 9 at Marriott Hartford Downtown, 200 Columbus Blvd., Hartford. $40 CBIA members, $70 others. 860-244-1900, cbia.com.

The Women’s Business Development Center offers a Social Media Summer Social. Get your company up to speed with the latest advancements in social media. Panelists include Heather B. Habelka of Red Poppy Marketing, Amy DeLardi of Infinite Web Designs, Giulia Gouge of SheSoSocial, LLC, Marc Halpert of Your Best Interest and Connect 2 Collaborate, Ed Kuryluk of Right Mind Marketing and J. Sibley Law of Saxon Mills, LLC. 6-8 p.m. June 14 at Naugatuck Valley Community College, 750 Chase Pkwy., Waterbury. Free. 203-353-1750, ctwbdc.org.

BNH June 2010

2010-06-07T00:00:00Z

June 2010 in Digital Format - All articles, spreads and advertisements. Featuring; Creative Capitalists, Golden Egg Award. Also unique venues for company meetings, teambuilding efforts and more.

May Business Events

2010-05-10T00:00:00Z

CALENDAR Business Events Calendar.

2010-03-08T00:00:00Z

The Business Council of Fairfield County holds its annual Legislative Leadership Breakfast. Panelists include House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan (D-84), House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero (R-142), Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams (D-29) and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney (R-28). Business Council Vice President for Public Policy Joe McGee will moderate the panel. 7:45-9:30 a.m. March 24 at the Stamford Plaza Hotel & Conference Center, 2701 Summer St., Stamford. $45 members, $55 others. Registration. 203-359-3220, businessfairfield.com.

February 2010 Business and Civic Awards

2010-02-08T00:00:00Z

CITIZEN OF THE YEAR

2010-02-08T00:00:00Z

William E. Purcell
President
Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce

A Marketplace of Ideas

A busy decade since his arrival, Bill Purcell has turned the Valley chamber into a Little Engine That Could

Bill Purcell is none too comfortable being singled out as Business New Haven’s 2010 Citizen of the Year.

Sure, it’s an honor that attests to his achievements as president of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce (GVCC), and anyone ought to be gratified by that. But Purcell is a team player. Being placed in the spotlight for what he insists should be, if anything, a collective honor rather than an individual one makes him uncomfortable.

“I accept this reluctantly,” says Purcell as he grits his teeth in preparation for the unsavory (to him at least) prospect of talking about himself. He manages to do so only by couching the task in a team-perpetuating context, “to the extent that it draws attention to this magnificent Valley.”

Purcell is best described as a strong leader who sees his role as empowering others, a tireless worker who assists employers with their company goals, a matchmaker who helps broker business marriages — often by offering his own corporate home as a proposal site.

“My job is to create citizen-leaders, to cultivate and develop new leaders in the Valley and support them,” he says.

He’s done that through services and initiatives that thrive in what he likes to call a “compassionate chamber” atmosphere.

“For him, business is people,” explains Nancie Gray, the chamber’s vice president for marketing and special events. “It’s about the people, about the quality of life. His drive to help the businesses also helps the people in this area.”

“He’s a businessman with heart,” adds Jack Walsh, president of the Valley United Way.

This is Purcell’s tenth anniversary at the helm of the GVCC. Sensing a good fit from the beginning, he was attracted to the area because of its “sense of community and vitality,” he says.

“It’s the spirit, the sense of a caring community, that drew me here from the outset,” Purcell recalls. “Most of all, I’m proud to be associated with such an extraordinary community of business and community leaders that together are making this Valley such a dynamic and wonderful place to live, work and grow business.”

A native of Worcester, Mass., William E. Purcell came to the GVCC after serving as executive vice president of the Worcester Area Chamber of Commerce. He was graduated from Worcester State College with a BS in urban studies and public administration. He later earned an MBA from Babson College in Wellesley, Mass. Purcell currently lives in Woodbridge with wife Mary Jane and their son Brendan.

Established in 1964, the Greater Valley Chamber serves six municipalities: Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton, where chamber offices are based. It currently has about 600 members, consisting of a “good mix” of large corporations, medium- and small-sized businesses, as well as sole proprietorships, notes Gray. Purcell deployed chamber resources in such a way that each of these companies felt supported regarding their individual needs while fostering a cooperative and collaborative atmosphere.

One of the ways he did this initially was by extending himself and negotiating a steep learning curve about his new home.

“I remember the first time I heard him speak,” recalls Walsh, “it was at a chamber dinner. It was obvious he had done his homework — he knew all about the Valley and its background.” Walsh adds that Purcell remains inquisitive about the state, often traveling in and outside the region to view state landmarks and historical attractions.

Purcell also has helped facilitate opportunities and partnerships. For example, the GVCC sponsors networking groups such as a Women in Networking Group and the Breakfast Club Program, offers grants, and presents business expos and health fairs. The Leadership Greater Valley Program, an initiative conducted in partnership with the Valley United Way and the Valley Council, has helped prepare more than 200 residents interested in assuming community-leadership positions.

In addition, Purcell has offered space in the chamber’s Bridgeport Avenue office suite to partners such as the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), Junior Achievement and the Women’s Business Development Center so they can have a central location to serve clients and associates.

“One of the things I’m proud of is the partnerships we have,” Purcell says.

Griffin Hospital Vice President William Powanda says Purcell’s connections with individuals and organizations enhance the chamber’s effectiveness.

“Bill has brought his personal style and professional attributes to the chamber,” says Powanda, who chaired the chamber’s board during the 1980s. “I think he’s developed relationships with all the [municipal] chief elected officials as well as community and business leaders, helping to position the chamber as one of the best in the state.”

Powanda notes that even in a distressed economy, chambers of commerce like other nonprofits must maintain revenue streams through membership dues and other funding sources.

“By reaching out to small corporations and new companies in the community, Bill has not only maintained revenue, but he’s grown revenue streams,” says Powanda.

Over the past ten years “there’s been steady, measured progress, throughout our Valley,” says Purcell, who came to the region at a time when it earned All-America City status. “The Valley has continued to emerge as a major economic force in the state. There continue to be pockets of growth here. There’s an improved self-image, as well as an outside image of the Valley as a place to live and do business in.”

He notes that Valley residential development has become as important as commercial growth, and cites developers such as Robert Scinto, Haynes Construction and Fletcher Thompson as instrumental to the region’s expansion.

“What’s so extraordinary about this job is the people you meet and the people you get to interact with — business leaders, community leaders, politicians,” says Purcell. He is just as comfortable at a local informal outing as he is traveling to Hartford to lobby the governor regarding business-related policy, or making last-minute accommodations for a visiting dignitary.

One of Purcell’s fondest memories is of a 2006 visit by then-U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez to Shelton. Purcell recalls preparations for the visit had to be carried out with just one week’s notice. At one point he found himself out in the rain, personally putting up directional signs for the secretary’s convoy.

“An hour later, I’m on the stage with the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. You do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

To be sure, there have been setbacks. Among the most notable challenges to the Valley business community during Purcell’s tenure was a devastating 2001 Latex Foam Products fire in downtown Ansonia. The catastrophe displaced 190 workers, created an environmental hazard, ravaged ten acres of Ansonia’s cityscape and eradicated a major corporate taxpayer.

“That was a pivotal moment for me, how we as a community rallied around that,” says Purcell, describing relief efforts for former Latex Foam employees and money raised by community and church groups. “I just think that whole experience was a defining moment for the Valley.”

There was hope the company would rebuild in Ansonia; instead, it relocated to Shelton. Characteristically, Purcell accentuates the positive.

“We were able to keep the company here,” he says. “It stayed with our Valley.”

The current recession, however, has forced other Valley companies to shut their doors. Derby’s Dworkin Chevrolet is gone. So is the century-old Housatonic Lumber Co., which shut its doors last June, a victim of the housing downturn.

“I think the biggest challenge has been the past two to three years,” observes Powanda, “and I think Bill’s reputation and credibility with the chamber are reasons for his ability to keep membership at a time when many chambers were losing members.”

In such “challenging times,” says Purcell, “we have a responsibility to accentuate and accelerate the positive.” He notes, for example, that the Valley remains “blessed with a rich and diverse mix of industry, from global leaders to homespun businesses.”

From the beginning, Purcell and the chamber have supported studies, enrichment activities, community-development endeavors and organizational events that bolster the Valley. He further serves the community as a member of several boards and advisory bodies for area associations.

The GVCC has had a growing impact outside the Valley region as well. It participates in the Connecticut Regional Alliance, which meets monthly in New Haven to share information and developments. The GVCC has assumed a greater leadership and outreach role with the annual May Business Expo presented at Sacred Heart University in conjunction with the Milford and other Fairfield County-based chambers.

In 2000, the American Chamber of Commerce Executives named Purcell a certified chamber executive (CCE), the chamber profession’s highest industry honor. The American Society of Association Executives followed suit in 2002, designating Purcell a certified association executive (CAE). He was recertified four years later.

A past director of the New England Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, Purcell recently was named to the executive committee of the Connecticut Association of Chamber Executives.

Purcell says his success as a chamber president can be gauged only through that of the people and organizations he serves.

“You bring people together so that connections are made,” he says. “Supporting one another — that’s where we derive our satisfaction, connecting Company A to Company B.”

Taking a page from English philosopher John Milton, Purcell asserts: “I’d like this place to be a marketplace of ideas, where people meet and share and collaborate in so many different ways.

“Companies want to weigh in. It’s our job to give them the creative forum to do that.”

BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR

2010-02-08T00:00:00Z

Marna P. Borgstrom

Yale-New Haven Hospital

New Haven

On Top of Her Game

Marna Borgstrom walks out of the shadow of her predecessor to place her own stamp on Yale-New Haven Hospital

MINORITY BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR

2010-02-08T00:00:00Z

Lee Cruz
Community Outreach Director
Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

Mr. Cruz’s Neighborhood

The Community Foundation’s human ‘glue’ that binds people, ideas and resources together

If you’ve never heard of Eliezer Cruz, Business New Haven’s 2010 Minority Businessperson of the Year, that’s because just about everybody who knows the community outreach director at the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven knows him as Lee.

And just about everyone knows him. Cruz has worked professionally in the non-profit arena his entire life — in education, international development, health, housing and the arts. He has been with the Community Foundation for nearly five years, starting his career there working on neighborhood revitalization. Cruz is originally from New York City, attended Wilcox Technical School in Meriden, earned a baccalaureate degree from the University of Rhode Island, and attended graduate school at Brandeis University.

Through international work, Cruz learned that “No place can be viable without a healthy economy.

“You can send people food and provide medical and education supplies literally until the cows come home — but it won’t matter unless you’re helping to build and sustain the local economy,” says Cruz, who allows that disasters on the magnitude of the Haitian earthquake are a different animal.

His success working with neighborhoods led Cruz’s boss at the Foundation, William W. Ginsberg, “to ask me if there were ways to ‘supersize’ the work that I was doing.”

Cruz first thought his boss wanted him to work in more neighborhoods. But “what he really meant was to take the approach taken in the neighborhoods to a broader level.”

Established more than 80 years ago, the Foundation’s mission is based on the principle “that there are good ideas, good people and good resources to benefit our region,” Cruz explains. “A big part of our work is bringing ideas, resources and organizations to make greater New Haven a better place to live, work and play.”

Says Ginsberg, the Foundation’s president and CEO: “Lee’s an extraordinary person. He’s got enormous passion. He’s got an enormous sense of connecting people and connecting people to issues. He lives and breathes what brings people together, whether it’s around environmental issues or people in the neighborhood. He’s just a natural born organizer.”

Ginsberg knew Cruz was special even before he joined the organization “because I had known Lee in prior incarnations — because everyone in New Haven knows Lee.” What Ginsberg saw was “what a good fit that is for the work of the Foundation and the work of community, which is what this Foundation is about.”

Nonprofits, Cruz says, must understand the value of what for-profit companies bring to the table.

“In the first blush it looks like, well, they make money. They’re a place [for non-profits] to get money and donations. It’s not that that’s untrue, but that’s not the only thing — it’s an invisible relationship and nonprofits need to understand that businesses hire the people that are served by their agencies.”

Nonprofits need to communicate to companies that “Our clients are your customers, [and] our clients are possibly your employees,” Cruz says.

The Foundation, he says, also affords “a way to let the community know that you’re concerned with things other than making a dollar — not that it’s not important — but that you have a broader interest and a broader commitment to the community.”

The business community “hires people and generates jobs and revenue, and also nonprofits buy a lot of stuff [from private companies]. They bring money from the federal government, from state government, from private charities, and people’s philanthropic dollars.”

Part of Cruz’s job is to bring these elements together — including working with the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce and encouraging nonprofits of the right size and means to join the chamber.

“We’re into long-term community stability and that comes from building and maintaining [local] wealth that helps us through these hard economic times,” says Cruz. “We’re also there for the philanthropic community, which includes the business community, to help them make decisions and choices about where we need to help now to keep our region from having too much of a dip-down — too many homeless people and people needing more services.”

Says Chamber President Anthony Rescigno: “Lee has been an extremely valuable member of the chamber for a lot of years, both in his present capacity working for the Community Foundation and previously. He’s been an active member and plays a very important role on our not-for-profit committee. He’s on the steering committee so he helps guide the committee to put on what I consider excellent programs.”

Last year, Cruz organized an Audubon Street block party with the chamber. “He saw it as a great way to show off the chamber and show off the businesses and organizations that are on Audubon Street,” says Rescigno.

“He’s just a good guy, an asset,” he adds. “He’s community-minded. He’s always thinking about other people and how to make other people look good. I just see him as a real asset to the community.”

Ken Janke, president of Groundworks Initiatives, has not only worked and collaborated with Cruz on a number of projects but is also his neighbor and friend. Janke and his family moved from Dallas to New Haven five years ago.

“Coming to New England was a new adventure for me and my family,” Janke recalls. “We settled in the Fair Haven community along the Quinnipiac River, which is where Lee lives. I always say when you come into a neighborhood or a city, look around to see who are the men of peace of the neighborhood. The first person who jumped out at me, the first person I came in contact with was Lee Cruz. He was quick to welcome and quick to introduce me to other people in the neighborhood and was a tremendous bridge for myself and my family. He helped us to connect with people who became our friends and also connect with civic involvement in our community.”

Adds Janke of his friend: “He works tirelessly trying to make our city a better place. He champions the city at every turn, and as a neighbor who lives close to me, he’s the kind of kind of person I’d want to live next to.”

In order for New Haven to remain competitive within the national and world economies, Cruz believes “We have to be looking at one another — meaning all the towns and cities — as partners, [though] not necessarily equal partners. If we don’t, we risk greater New Haven becoming a dead-end street in the world economy.”

It was in Nicaragua that corporate coach and trainer Millie Grenough met Cruz in 1985. At the time, he was the point person for the New Haven/León Sister City Project and she was co-leading a group of high-schoolers from New Haven schools.

“He received us wonderfully which is, in a way, what he continues doing now,” Grenough recalls. “He’s skilled at putting people together and giving information that’s useful. He had these 14- to 16-year-olds meet with some of the major government officials and really sit across the table and talk with them.

“He maintains his enthusiasm for bringing all kinds of people together in working toward something that is beneficial for all parties,” she adds.

Cruz came to the Community Foundation after being challenged by a staff person there. “This person said, ‘Your ideas and your approach to the work is so much bigger than what can be contained in any one agency [so] I’d like you to consider coming to work at the Community Foundation, where your approach can be shared with multiple organizations.”

The staffer was talking about nonprofits, but it soon became clear to Cruz that it was not just about nonprofits.

“We’re a regional organization that has great potential to be a ‘convener’ of not only money but of ideas and of people — to bring all of these elements together to make greater New Haven a better place. We’re supporting economic development, art, education, and I have started engaging young entrepreneurs about what it means to be citizen/businesspersons in greater New Haven.”

The toughest challenges Cruz has faced are on both sides of the table. “There are knee-jerk reactions from, on the one hand, nonprofits who come from the mindset that ‘We do good work. People who are in business should just automatically recognize that and open their wallets up and just give to us because it’s the right thing,’” Cruz explains. “While it may be true and necessary, it’s not sufficient to get people to understand why they should partner with you.”

On the for-profit side are “the people who have the reaction that ‘Those nonprofits — other than the ones that I know and support — just want a quick buck from you.’”

Cruz also describes opportunities for “cause marketing,” which he explains is “something that makes sense for your business to connect with. There are many examples we’ve found through the chamber of commerce where businesses have come together with nonprofits in a way that makes sense for both sides and give opportunities to move forward economically and socially.”

Cruz says his challenge is “constantly looking for, creating and pointing out where these things have happened.”

To overcome the challenges, Cruz the power of a compelling story to be an agent for change. “You can only be there to help them to make the connection, ready to help them to increase to probability of success when something clicks in their mind because they were inspired by a story.

Says Joel Tolman, director of development and community engagement at Common Ground: “Lee really appreciates the value of powerful stories in creating change. He uses stories to change people's perceptions of New Haven, to make clear what is possible in our small city, and to push people to make commitments and take risks. He also helps to create some pretty remarkable stories. The work he's done in Chatham Square —bringing neighbors together to solve their small and large problems — is impressive stuff.”

His greatest failure, Cruz says, is his inability to see locally for so many years.

“I came back from doing international development work in the late ‘90s. I’d lived here and went away for 12 years to Nicaragua and then came back. I kind of went around to different nonprofits in isolation — in the arts, in housing development,” Cruz recounts. “For ten years I failed to see in New Haven an opportunity for integrated, sustainable development. It wasn’t until I came to the Community Foundation that the light bulb went off over my head to say, ‘Stop dealing with nonprofits bilaterally [and] start thinking in an integrated way. You have to start thinking about what’s the relationship between the social needs and the economic needs of people.”

“Lee connects New Haven,” Tolman says. “He does incredibly important work to bring together the individuals and organizations committed to improve our community. He has a clear sense of what New Haven can be, and the skills to organize people around a common vision. He is also incredibly generous with his talents and stories.

He has, for instance, led remarkable neighborhood walking tours for students in my Documenting New Haven class at Common Ground High School,” Tolman adds. “High school students, like other New Haven residents, are inspired and impressed by his perspective on our city. We are lucky to have him as a friend and neighbor.”