CBIA BizCast

For many warehouse companies and distribution centers, dealing with logistics, and facilities, and workforce development can be a challenge. That’s where The TAC Group comes in. “We’re a supply chain operations consulting firm,” Grace Napolitano, the company’s principal and business development executive, told the CBIA BizCast. “We are focused on operational excellence within distribution and fulf...

More than 4,000 bills were introduced during the 2025 General Assembly session, with only 286 gaining final legislative approval. The CBIA BizCast team sat down with CBIA vice president of public policy Chris Davis to break down the session and some of the important bills that will impact the business community. “There were a lot of long nights right at the end of session, especially in those last...

For nearly 140 years, Hall Neighborhood House has been a staple in the Bridgeport community. “It’s a busy place,” the community center’s director of development Nick Sentementes told the CBIA BizCast. “We serve about 500 people on a daily basis.” Hall Neighborhood House got its beginning in the 1800s when a woman named Sarah Hall opened her doors to immigrant women and children. Hall helped them f...

The landscape surrounding tariffs and international trade has been at the forefront of conversations since President Donald Trump came back into office in January. Within the last week, the U.S. and China agreed to a temporary pause on triple-digit tariffs as the two countries work to negotiate a trade deal. Despite the pause, the administration’s tariff policies and trade negotiations have led to...

Twenty five years ago this summer, The Latimer Group CEO Dean Brenner thought he’d be in crunch time training for the Olympics in Sydney, Australia.  He was sailing professionally and he and his wife quit their day jobs because they thought he had a shot.  While their second place Olympic selection trial finish wasn’t the outcome they’d hoped for, it led them on a journey to starting their own bus...

Lawrence Ward will mark his first year as University of Hartford president in July. Ward sat down with the CBIA BizCast to discuss his journey to lead UHart, his first year, and his goals for the university. UHart is something of a homecoming for Ward, who grew up in Vernon and graduated from the University of Connecticut. Ward’s career actually started in sales and marketing at Aetna. But said th...

CBIA BizCast: Mentoring Next-Generation Talent How do you interest students in a career they may not know anything about? That’s a question the team at Mercer Investments is working to answer. Mercer principal Siddhartha Kalita joined the CBIA BizCast to highlight the company’s mentorship program, designed to inspire high students from disadvantaged backgrounds to explore financial services career...

When you think about restaurants and dining experiences, you probably don’t think about insurance companies. But that’s exactly who is behind one of Hartford’s new destination restaurants. Hartford Steam Boiler recently opened The Foundry on the 20th floor of One State Street in downtown Hartford. “We consider one State Street to be one of the preeminent buildings in Harford,” HSB president and CE...

Dr. Albert Green has spent his career at the intersection of technology and economic development. “I often refer to myself as bilingual, because I kind of speak both languages fluently,” he told the CBIA BizCast. QuantumCT just announced Green as its new CEO. The Connecticut public-private partnership is working to drive the adoption of quantum computing technologies and position Connecticut as a...

Since the day it launched as Rebel Interactive in 2013, Rebellion Group has strived to do things differently. “I saw an opportunity to build an agency that was focused around disruption,” Rebellion Group CEO and owner Bryn Tindall told the CBIA BizCast. Tindall and senior vice president of client services Sam Barrett joined the BizCast to highlight the company’s evolution and the growth of its Sha...

The Lee Company president and CEO Marietta Lee never saw herself leading the business her grandfather started 77 years ago. Today, the Westbrook-based manufacturer employs 1,200 people making miniature hydraulic components for the aerospace, medical, and automotive industries. “We are a family business,” Lee told the CBIA BizCast. “We’ve always treated our employees as our family and we’ve benefit...

With the start of the 2025 General Assembly session, the CBIA BizCast team sat down with CBIA vice president of public policy Chris Davis to discuss the session and CBIA’s ReimagineCT policy solutions. Supported by a bipartisan group of 73 lawmakers and a growing coalition of businesses, the policy solutions are designed to drive economic growth, address the high costs of living and running a busi...

CBIA BizCast: Thomas Watson Group by Connecticut Business & Industry Association

On any given day after school, you might think kids would rather play than to keep going to class. But in a way, that’s just what’s happening at the Wakeman Boys & Girls Club’s new STEM lab at their Madison Avenue community clubhouse in Bridgeport. The organization gave the CBIA BizCast team an up-close look at the space that they built in partnership with global semiconductor industry leader ASML...

Over the course of this past year, we’ve spoken with some exceptional leaders on the CBIA BizCast. Some are entrepreneurs, growing successful businesses. Others are changemakers, leading organizations with lasting legacies in Connecticut. These leaders have not only shared their stories, but also insights and wisdom into overcoming challenges, building successful teams. To close out 2024, we wante...

Fascia’s Chocolates president Carmen Romeo has a sweet job. “I still have a vision that until everybody has had a piece of Fascia’s Chocolates, then my job's not done,” Romeo told the CBIA BizCast. But Romeo wasn’t always in the chocolate business. As an engineer, Romeo spent the first part of his career working for different manufacturing companies in different parts of the country. In 1995, he m...

“Our number one market is Connecticut. We’re all in on Connecticut,” Saybrook Point Resort and Marina managing partner Stephen Tagliatela told the CBIA BizCast. The BizCast sat down with Taglietala and general manager Chris Bird at the resort overlooking the mouth of the Connecticut River. “We’re part of the community. We’re all open doors,” Tagliatela said. Those doors have been open since 1980 w...

“If you like what you do and you like who you do it with, you don't run away from happiness,” TD Bank’s Steve Moroney told the CBIA BizCast. Moroney has spent his entire 20-plus year career with the bank, including running the bank’s Westchester and Fairfield markets before being named market president for Connecticut and Rhode Island. “I've always liked the culture,” he said. “I love the brand, I...

When you think of the Department of Consumer Protection, product recalls and scam warnings may come to mind. But the state agency also covers enforcement and compliance for a wide breadth of industries and businesses, including gaming, liquor, and cannabis. The agency is also responsible for occupational licensing for many regulated trades and industries from accounting and architecture to contrac...

Like its labs—tucked away at the far end of a Branford research park—ViiV Healthcare’s accomplishments may not be well known. But the company is an authentic Connecticut success, with a story that needs to be told. ViiV and its cutting-edge R&D to treat and someday to cure HIV because the company has had such a profound impact on so many lives. ViiV head of drug discovery Dr. Umesh Hanumegowda joi...

“We are a service company first and foremost, rather than IT. We just happen to do IT,” Charles IT director of finance and operations Sal Marino tells the CBIA BizCast. The Middletown-based outsourced managed service provider has seen about 30% growth year over year since 2012. But the company has much smaller beginnings. Foster Charles started the company in 2006, when he was still in high school...

“Leaning into how we can fundamentally transform lives and make them better, has been something I've been personally passionate about,” CliftonLarsonAllen’s strategic pursuits leader for manufacturing Jennifer Clement said about why she loves working with manufacturers. Clement and CLA New England Manufacturing Growth Network Leader Stephen Fuller joined the CBIA BizCast to highlight the company’s...

Looking back over Nuovo Pasta's success, Carl Zuanelli said he wouldn’t be where he is without overcoming major challenges. “Anybody who's looking to have a big change in their life or to go out and pursue their dream, should understand that there are no big breakthroughs without big breakdowns,” he said. One of those breakdowns for Zuanelli came with the 2008 financial crisis. At that time, 75% o...

Carl Zuanelli knows his pasta. As founder and CEO of Nuovo Pasta Productions, Ltd, Zuanelli has been making fresh pasta for 35 years. “I refer to pasta as joy on a fork,” Zuanelli told the CBIA BizCast in the first of a two-part conversation. “I’ve never seen anyone eat pasta and not be enjoying it. It brings a smile to their face.” Since Zuanelli started the company in 1989, Nuovo Pasta has becom...

“We love to say we’re not from Colorado,” Bolder Company co-founder Jenny Drescher told the CBIA BizCast about how the company got its name. “It does not have a ‘u’ in it. It’s Bolder, like ‘be a Bolder version of yourself.’ That’s how the name was born.” Drescher founded the professional training and coaching company in 2014 with her longtime friend Ellen Feldman Ornato. At the time, Ornato owned...