August 5, 2019 - Hartford Business Journal

Tyler Polk

As a partner and senior consultant at Fiduciary Investment Advisors (FIA), Tyler Polk advises over $4 billion of defined contribution assets (401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans) with clients that range from large national corporations and nonprofits to local hospitals, universities, private schools, and municipalities. Polk employs a holistic approach to help plan sponsors manage their fiduciary responsibilities, while never losing sight of the primary purpose of the retirement plan, which is to help employees achieve successful outcomes for retirement readiness.

Daniel Bonelli

Daniel Bonelli is vice president of finance for Comcast’s Western New England Region, managing the company’s financial operations in over 300 communities in Connecticut and surrounding states. Bonelli oversees finance, accounting, supply chain, fleet, security, IT and more.

Amanda Roy

Amanda Roy is the community programs manager at the Greater Hartford Arts Council, a regional arts organization whose mission is to inspire all people to participate and invest in the arts. Roy develops community programs that make the arts more accessible and engage individuals in creating art alongside professional artists. She also creates capacity-building programs that provide professional support to artists and arts organizations across the Greater Hartford region.

Oscar Suarez

Oscar Suarez is a partner at Halloran Sage, a Connecticut-based law firm that handles transactional and litigation work. He practices in the areas of commercial law, business litigation and insurance defense. Suarez represents financial institutions and creditors involved in foreclosures and loan recovery, lender liability claims, landlord-tenant issues, and loan restructuring.

Shannon Mumley

Shannon Mumley experimented with different career fields around Connecticut after she graduated from ECSU. It was when she landed at the University of Hartford she found her true passion, working with college-age students within Greater Hartford.

Ben Roberts

Ben Roberts is the creative director for Ryan Marketing, a fully integrated marketing firm in West Hartford. Roberts graduated from CCSU with a bachelor’s degree in graphic and information design, all while working full time as a business owner and home renovation professional. He quickly hit the ground running in the design world right out of college and worked for two Connecticut marketing agencies before joining Ryan Marketing in 2012.

Collin Seguin

Collin Seguin is a 2nd vice president and regional director in the subrogation major case unit at Travelers. He leads a team of subrogation major case professionals and is part of the subrogation major case leadership team. Previously he was counsel in Travelers’ claim legal general liability group, providing coverage advice to the subrogation and general liability organization, and staff counsel at Travelers, litigating a number of defense, subrogation and reinsurance matters.

Nicholas Sheridan

With diligence and wit Nick Sheridan excels as a financial planner for Lindberg & Ripple, an independent advisory firm. He has over a decade in providing personalized financial planning through a process of understanding what’s most important to his clients beyond their wealth.

Magdalena G. Johndrow

Maggie Johndrow started her career at prominent Wall Street banks — Barclays and JP Morgan — where she worked with high-net-worth individuals and institutional clients.

Mark Moriarty

Mark Moriarty is the executive director of The First Tee of Connecticut, a youth-development organization that introduces positive values through the game of golf.

Melissa Melonson

Melissa Melonson is co-founder of Hartford-based Lumi Agency, a creative digital agency that creates digital products, platforms and experiences. Melonson worked in New York City on brands like Pepsi and Heineken before moving back to Connecticut where she met her now business partner Cara Stellato.

Kathryn O’Neil

Kathryn O’Neil is a communications associate at Otis Elevator Company. In this role, she manages the Otis world headquarters social media channels that include Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. O’Neil is focused on building the company’s external presence through content development, thought leadership and customer service.

Roshan N. Patel

Roshan Patel is a senior vice president and consumer bank market manager for the Greater Hartford area at Bank of America, leading a group of financial centers. Patel builds effective partnerships with community organizations in Hartford and across Bank of America, which resulted in strong business integration performance.

Benjamin C. Jensen

Benjamin Jensen is a partner in Robinson + Cole’s business litigation group. In addition to handling complex business disputes and intellectual property litigation, his legal practice is on the cutting edge of technology, data privacy and cybersecurity. He has taken on leadership roles with the firm’s initiatives focused on both international data privacy regulations and emerging technologies.

Stephen Schirra

Stephen Schirra is the founder of Around the Worlds Inc., a 501(c)(3) charity dedicated to using soccer as a platform to better the lives of underserved children worldwide. Since the organization's first Peru-based program in 2015, it has directly taught soccer to over 4,780 children in 44 countries spanning five continents.

Amanda Jolly

As vice president of programs and communications at the World Affairs Council, Amanda Jolly delivers over 25 public events annually, hosting world leaders, experts and changemakers to engage the diverse Hartford-area community on global issues. Jolly has developed over 60 public events as well as led communications, marketing, and technology infrastructure efforts. Previously, Jolly worked with nonprofits around the globe, from Ghana to the Philippines, and in the U.S.

Michael “Mike” Johnson

Mike Johnson’s internship at the state Capitol assisting Rep. TR Rowe cemented his eagerness to work in the political arena.

Kimberly Napp

Kimberly Napp has 16 years of experience in public accounting and is an audit partner at Whittlesey. Napp began her career as an associate accountant and was voted in as partner in Jan. 2019.

Edward B. Spinella

Edward B. Spinella is a partner at Murtha Cullina LLP. He is a member of the firm’s business and finance department and chairs the firm’s tax-exempt organizations practice group. He is also a member of the privately owned business, education and health care practice groups.

Jonathan Winer

Jonathan Winer has served as athletic director of the CREC Magnet Schools in Hartford since 2013. As the district’s first athletic director, he oversaw the creation and development of athletic programs for five high schools and middle schools. He currently oversees 60 sports teams and more than 100 coaches. Winer also serves as commissioner of the Capitol Region Athletic League.

Ashika Brinkley

Ashika Brinkley is the program director of Health Sciences and Public Health at Goodwin College, a career-focused, nonprofit institution. She is responsible for over 2,000 students, developing curriculum, assessing program outcomes, supervising faculty and cultivating community relationships. Before assuming this role, Brinkley worked as a public-health practitioner in healthcare, research and nonprofit settings, including as the executive director of the Connecticut Association of Directors of Health.

Visar Tasimi

Visar Tasimi is vice president of strategic delivery and analytics at ConnectiCare, where he leads a team of 30 professionals. He leads the analytics, appeals and grievances functions, and serves as an advisor to the senior leadership team on strategic initiatives.

Amanda K. Stanton

Amanda Stanton is a second-generation leader of Stanton Equipment, a John Deere dealership with three locations in Connecticut. She has emphasized the company’s focus on today’s equipment and yesterday’s values. In 2015, Stanton developed new marketing, advertising, and social-media strategies resulting in record sales and business growth.

Shawna M. Kitzman

Shawna Kitzman is an award-winning designer, urban planner and speaker. With a focus on effective and creative community engagement, Kitzman brings an inspired approach to all endeavors. She has 13 years of planning experience, managing communications, marketing and branding initiatives.

Orlena Cowan-Bailey

Orlena Cowan-Bailey is a human resource business partner at MassMutual Financial Group providing strategic human resource consultation and leadership support across several business units.

Gregory Calnen

Gregory Calnen is a senior account manager at ZAG Interactive, a full-service digital marketing agency. Calnen joined ZAG in 2013 and has been heavily involved in the development and growth of the account-management department. Beginning with two members the team has grown to six employees responsible for over 200 relationships.

Rachel DeCavage

Rachel DeCavage is the owner and lead designer of cinder + salt, an eco-friendly clothing and lifestyle brand, founded in 2014. All cinder + salt products are hand-printed by DeCavage using her original designs and recycled inks.

Rebekah “Becky” Humphrey

Becky Humphrey is a director at Conning, in the insurance research group, where she leads a change initiative aimed at modernizing the group’s products, services and delivery.

Janette Edwards

Janette Edwards oversees daily operations of The Hospital of Central Connecticut and MidState Medical Center, with direct responsibility over 20 different departments and service lines. She also partners with leadership across HHC to develop new programs and services.

John Tanski

John Tanski is a highly skilled courtroom advocate. Clients rely on Tanski to help them navigate complex commercial disputes. After graduating from Glastonbury High School, Tanski earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a law degree from Columbia Law School.

Megan Jakubowski

Jakubowski is a self-starter who opened her shop five years ago with no investors, mentors or business experience. Today she is operating a profitable business. She has experienced year-to-year growth by encouraging customers to spend locally.

Gaurang “Gary” S. Desai

Gary Desai is president of Lotus Hospitality. In his role, he has helped lead the family business to grow from operating a small independent motel to a thriving hotel management and development company. With franchises from Choice Hotels International, Best Western International and Hilton Worldwide, Berlin-based Lotus Hospitality now owns and manages several hotels within the Greater Hartford and New Haven regions.

Jamie Brätt

As head of economic development and planning in Trumbull (2012-16) and in Hartford (2016-18), Jamie Brätt was instrumental in facilitating commercial real estate developments and driving grand list growth. Despite complex obstructions, Bratt consistently inspired her teams to get to yes.

Adam Clemens

Adam Clemens is vice president of sales at Century 21 Clemens Group, an award-winning real estate firm serving all of Connecticut. He currently leads his firm’s luxury real estate division and oversees technology development. Throughout his career he has listed and sold over $120 million of real estate. Proudly regarded as a thought leader in the industry, Clemens has taken the stage at global events for Century 21, Realtor.com, Inman and Realogy.

Sabrina M. Cameron

Executive Vice President, Adelbrook Inc.; Adjunct Professor, Social Work Department, Southern Connecticut State University Age: 39No. of...

Kimberly Bishop

Kim Bishop is executive director of talent attraction and retention at the MetroHartford Alliance, the region’s business and economic-development organization. In this role she manages the conceptualization, building and implementation of the Alliance’s developing talent-attraction strategy. Bishop also oversees HYPE (Hartford Young Professionals & Entrepreneurs), a young professionals networking group in its 13th year with over 4,000 members.

Dr. Rebecca “Becky” Eleck Bruce

Dr. Rebecca Eleck Bruce is the primary care medical director of Wheeler Clinic, a provider of integrated primary and behavioral health care. She oversees the care of thousands of medically underserved patients who come to Wheeler for treatment and leads a whole-person approach to care for all, incorporating behavioral health, addiction services, oral health, nutrition, complementary medicine services, and more.

Julianna Cruz

Julianna Cruz works for Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Connecticut’s only not-for-profit health insurance plan. She began in a senior marketing role and transitioned into PR and partnership management. She is tasked with growing company awareness by relationship-building across communities and partnering to support local initiatives.

Margi Jakubowski

Margi Jakubowski is a partner at Robert Hensley & Associates LLC, an employee benefits and wealth management firm in Greater Hartford. In addition to running the financial operations of the firm, she also heads up the employee benefits division where she works with businesses on their employee benefit needs.

Ben Reder

Ben Reder is driven by an entrepreneurial spirit. After graduating from Trinity College he started a residential painting company, which led to a 10-year career in construction and real estate. Looking for a new challenge, he migrated to the insurance world in 2012. He started The Reder Agency from scratch, and in the past five years, has grown his life insurance brokerage to cover a dozen major markets from coast to coast.

News

🔒Meet HBJ’s 2019 40 Under Forty class

Meet this year's class of top young professionals from around the region.

Economic Development

🔒Hartford’s property-tax issues similar to other cities

I finished reading a recent edition of the Hartford Business Journal (“Myriad ideas exist to solve Hartford’s high property taxes and unequal tax system,” July 8, 2019) and found myself nodding in complete agreement with many of the solutions presented to solving Hartford’s fiscal issues and high property tax rate.

Politics & Policy

🔒Local option sales taxes and/or income taxes: NOT a solution

A recent article in the Hartford Business Journal, (“Myriad ideas exist to solve Hartford’s high property taxes and unequal tax system,”) suggests that a solution to the revenue shortfall in cities might be the use of revenue sources other than the property tax.

Economic Development

🔒CERC CEO Denious reflects on his ‘big pivot’ to economic development

After spending much of the past two decades raising money and investing it in private equity and venture capital funds around the world, Peter Denious’ recent hire as CEO of the not-for-profit Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) may seem like an odd fit.

Education

August 5, 2019Edition

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