FAIRFIELD COUNTY
BUSINESS JOURNAL YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS | westfaironline.com
WOMEN WITH DRIVE A Rye, N.Y., event attracts successful Fairfield County women … 5
CBIA LAUNCHES CT20x17
WOMEN, THE ECONOMY AND SUCCESS PAGE 5
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
FCBJ this week
June 2, 2014 | VOL. 50, No. 22
HEY, LOOK ME OVER The job search, never easy, can overwhelm today … 8
CONCERTED PUSH TO BETTER THE BUSINESS CLIMATE By BiLL FaLLOn Bfallon@westfairinc.com
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HOTELIER UPS PRESENCE Starwood adds 130,000 square feet to its Stamford offices … 10
troika of national surveys recently delivered an old-fashioned drubbing to the Nutmeg State. Connecticut is at the bottom half of states in which to do business in recent polls by Bloomberg, CNBC and Forbes. CNBC ranked it No. 45 overall and 49th in transportation. The Connecticut Business and Industry Association has assembled a three-year program, called CT20x17, to change those numbers through action on two broad fronts: business climate and transportation.
FCBUZZ All work and no art make the businessperson a dull networker … 26
From left, Phyllis W. Haynes, Catherine Cleare, Veronique Lee and Fran Pastore
» CBIA, page 6
MEDIA PARTNER
A WRINKLE IN THE BUSINESS MODEL iRoning BoaRd enteRs tHe 21st centuRY
By CrySTaL kang ckang@westfairinc.com
WHEN WESTPORT ENTREPRENEUR David Farnworth walked into a Target store four years ago to purchase a new ironing board, he was disappointed. The design options were limited and the boards were bulky, noisy, difficult to fold and unstable. That’s when Farnworth realized the … irony: The ironing board, which was patented by Sarah Boone of New Haven in 1892, is one of the most commonplace household items today, yet it is one of the least technologically advanced tools out there. Inspired by the idea of revolutionizing the ironing board and possessing a technical back-
ground, Farnworth founded his startup last July with his colleague Tony Yao. They named their company Instinctive Works L.L.C. Their product, an ironing board, or iBoard, reflects a surfing theme. The boards come in three sizes and designs. They are aqua blue and gray and have either a striped pattern or Hawaiian flower design. The covers are heat resistant and they come with replaceable sleeves. The feet are made of a three-piece fiber glass plastic, and they also have one-inch thick foam padding designed to be skid and scratch resistant on all surfaces, Farnworth said. The large and round shape of the feet enhances the balance and stability of the ironing board; they are modeled on the round lunar module » Ironing, page 6
David Farnworth, co-founder of Instinctive Works, L.L.C.