In this our third year of the Lifetime Achievement program, we’ve managed to hit a new note in diversity.
No, I haven’t lost my mind. I’m looking at the same four photos of silver-haired white gentlemen that you’re seeing. And yes, we do need to work on THAT kind of diversity going forward.
Rather I’m thinking about diversity of experience.
As you read the profile of Andy Mandell, think about the trajectory from humble beginnings, through selling addressing equipment to founding a company that keeps expanding. Toss in a healthy dose of philanthropy, and it’s quite a story.
Then there’s Peter Kelly’s journey from wannabe politician to founder of a successful Hartford law firm. He leveraged that success and his fascination with politics into a major national role with the Democratic Party. Then he took it global, all from Hartford. And he never lost sight of his goal of doing good while doing well.
Also in this year’s class are two entrepreneurs — Jim Smith and John Carmon — who took over the family business and took it to unexpected heights through expansion and a strict adherence to a set of core values. Again, community service and philanthropy were constant themes.
Four men; four journeys; four successes.
The common threads are the ability to leverage one success into another without losing touch with the importance of family or community or one’s values.
We thank our judges — Burt and Doris Sugarman of the Connecticut Forum, Nathan Grube of the Travelers Championship, and Kim Pita of The Pita Group — for doing the honors. The choices were tough; there were many other worthy candidates but the judges settled on four well worth the honor. And there will always be next year for the other fine candidates.
And, of course, we want to thank the sponsors who made this venture possible: presenting sponsor J. H. Cohn LLP and event sponsors The Pita Group, Cox Business, The Walker Group and WDRC Radio 1340.
We’ll celebrate the winners on Nov. 15 at a breakfast event at The Hartford Club. Sadly, HBJ columnist Larry Cohen, who moderated the first two Lifetime Achievement panel discussions, won’t be with us this time. But Cohen, who passed away Aug. 27, would certainly endorse the selection of Ted Sergi as this year’s moderator.
Sergi, president of the Connecticut Science Center, has graciously agreed to step in and try to convince the winners to share some of the ‘secrets’ of their success. Extracting pearls of wisdom is important work. Many of us are still in learning mode and what better teachers than these four local success models.
We hope you can join us Nov. 15. Information is available on our website at HartfordBusiness.com, under the Our Events tab. Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy reading these four great success stories.
And it’s never too early to start thinking about who you’ll nominate for our 2013 Lifetime Achievement Awards. Keep making it tough on our judges. We all like a challenge.
— Norm Bell Editor
Click below to view the 2012 winner profiles:
Andy Mandell, CEO, Data-Mail Inc.
Peter Kelly, Senior Principal, Updike, Kelly & Spellacy
Jim Smith, Chairman & CEO, Webster Bank
John Carmon, President, Carmon Community Funeral Homes, Inc.
CLICK HERE for information about the judges.
