For Chris DiPentima, his appointment Thursday to lead the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA), the state’s largest and oldest business lobby, is a continuation of the state’s recent collaborations with the private sector.
From Connecticut’s chief operating officer Josh Geballe, a former IBM executive, to economic development czar David Lehman, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, to chief manufacturing officer Colin Cooper, a former Whitcraft Group chief executive, Connecticut under Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration is embracing the business community’s expertise, DiPentima said.
“Right now, the state has a lot of collaboration from the private sector,” DiPentima, a senior executive in aerospace manufacturing, said in an interview Thursday after being named CBIA’s next president and CEO.
“I think this position allows me to bring together the extensive skills and various chapters of my professional career, from my legal experience as a lawyer, to my experience leading and owning a small- and medium-size business, to more recently, a large business,” he added.
Hiring DiPentima, the president of the aerospace division of Leggett & Platt Aerospace, which includes Middletown’s Pegasus Manufacturing, to replace retiring CEO Joe Brennan breaks with the 205-year-old business lobby’s tradition of selecting government affairs professionals within its rank.
In fact, Brennan, who will serve as an advisor during the leadership transition until August, and former CEO John Rathgeber, were both staff attorney’s at CBIA before being named to lead the trade association.
But DiPentima, 48, is no stranger to the public policy realm having served as CBIA’s board chair in 2019 and as a member of numerous manufacturing industry groups.
“It’s a bit unique for CBIA to have a business leader come in as president and CEO, historically it’s been on the policy side,” he said. “I give a lot of credit to Joe and the whole board.”
DiPentima has not yet developed a list of long-term priorities for the organization, which he says is currently focused on assessing the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the short term, he said the state and federal governments should provide some level of liability protection for small businesses that are either open or plan to reopen during the easing of coronavirus restrictions.
DiPentima and Brennan said they are hopeful the government will provide pandemic protections, but the General Assembly is not in session and it’s unclear whether it will return for a special session.
[Read more: CT businesses push for pandemic liability protections]
Offering business owners protections against potential liability lawsuits from customers and employees who may contract COVID-19 would provide a springboard for “rebuilding Connecticut,” he said.
“A lot of folks are doing everything they can to make their businesses safe for clients, consumers, customers and employees,” DiPentima said. “It’s really the right time for collaboration and to elevate the level of our state, and make it competitive economically and drive economic growth.”
Brennan was previously slated to retire in June, but the public health emergency delayed an April board meeting originally meant to name his successor.
“I didn’t feel like it was good to walk away,” Brennan said, adding that he wanted to be “available to Chris for a variety of functions as needed.”
Brennan, who has worked at CBIA for 32 years and led it since 2014, says he’s staying on for a few more months to help DiPentima with board recruitment and other matters related to the association’s board as it moves closer to electing new members in October.
The CBIA team is also ramping up communications for all businesses during the pandemic, regardless if they are members. It is also serving as a resource for chambers of commerce throughout Connecticut, which have been hit hard financially and are trying to reinvent themselves and their mission during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“A crisis like this just underscores the importance of organizations like ours, and organizations like chambers of commerce,” Brennan said. “Businesses rely on us more than ever, and we really have become an essential resource for them.”
