Max Kothari and Julio Concepcion are two of the city’s biggest cheerleaders as leaders of the Hartford Chamber of Commerce.
Kothari, founder and CEO of Express Kitchens, is expanding his kitchen countertop and sink retail business in Hartford while also chairing the Hartford Chamber.
Concepcion, executive director of the chamber, also advocates for Hartford in the General Assembly as representative of the city’s 4th District.
The pair have worked to build the chamber’s clout and impact since its revival in 2018. In 2021 that included helping establish a $6 million grant program that will help cover startup costs for new retail tenants downtown and in other parts of the city.
Last summer, Kothari completed a much-anticipated, $2.4 million purchase of the 183,000-square-foot former Veeder-Root property in Hartford’s Asylum Hill neighborhood. Express Kitchens previously leased space in the building for warehousing. A handful of nonprofits also occupied portions of the building, but it was more than two-thirds empty.
Kothari said last year his goal was to stabilize the building and potentially use it as a location to manufacture his own cabinet brand.