Fairfield County Business Journal: 100719

PRINT JOURNALISM: BECAUSE IT STILL MATTERS. OCTOBER 7, 2019 VOL. 55, No. 40

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An aerial view of Bridgeport’s Steelpointe Harbor. Behind the Dockmaster Building, center, is the marina, while Bridgeport Boatworks sits across the harbor in the upper left. Courtesy Bridgeport Landing Development.

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SALES SLIDE

Steelpointe Harbor: ‘waterfront neighborhood’

BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

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s its 18 year-plus journey to eventual completion continues, Bridgeport’s burgeoning Steelpointe Harbor is evolving.

“It’s no longer the retail environment we started with,” said Steve Tyliszczak, development administrator at Bridgeport Landing Development, Steelpointe’s master development group.

“Now it’s a waterfront neighborhood.”

He was the featured speaker at a Sept. 26 event hosted by commercial real estate development association NAIOP at the Boca Oyster Bar, which opened in June at Steelpointe’s recently completed Dockmaster Building at 10 E. Main St. Current plans for the $750 million, 2.8 million-square-foot development, a combined effort between BLD and the city of Bridgeport, include 1,500

FIXING TRANSPORTATION: TOP PRIORITY, LAMONT SAYS

residential units, 800,000 square feet of retail, 200,000 square feet of commercial/ office space and 300,000 square feet of hotel/meeting area overlooking a 200-slip marina.

Tyliszczak said construction on a pair of residential buildings — containing 200 and 300 rental apartments — would start in the spring, with a highrise condominium building to follow at a yet-to-be-decided date. Steelpointe is in discussions with nonprofits about making some of those units affordable housing, he added, though an exact number has not been determined.

Most of the work completed so far has been commercial. In addition to the » WATERFRONT

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GOVERNOR TO BUSINESS COMMUNITY: ‘WE ARE GETTING OUR ACT TOGETHER’

BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

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ov. Ned Lamont said he’s “ready to make a deal and reach a compromise” with state legislators for a transportation infrastructure plan — which may or may not include highway tolls — during an address before the Stamford Chamber of Commerce on Sept. 26.

Responding to a question from an audience member about tolls, the governor grinned and said, “The question is about transportation.”

“Republicans and Democrats both know the need to make investments”

in infrastructure, Lamont said. “We need new revenues to bring in $600 million to $700 million a year.

I just want to get this thing going.”

While he reiterated that he supports “user fees,” the governor indicated that “a very specific plan” on how to bring in that revenue is still in the works. In September, Lamont and other lawmakers met with members of the Build America Bureau of the U.S. Department of Transportation to discuss CT 2030, a 10-year plan for priority highway and rail projects intended to create less congestion, quicker commutes and increased economic activity. Credit » TRANSPORTATION

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Cello and cinema: The two worlds of Westport’s Joel L. Freedman

BY PHIL HALL phall@westfairinc.com

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t is not uncommon for an entrepreneur to run two businesses simultaneously. But for multitasking longevity, 76-year-old Joel L. Freedman is clearly a master of balancing two endeavors.

On one hand, Freedman has run an independent teaching business since he was a student at New York University in the mid1960s. After moving to Westport in 1992, he branded this operation as Westport Cello School. During this time, he also moved into independent filmmaking by launching Cinnamon Productions, which has turned out an acclaimed series of nonfiction films. And while music and movies have not overlapped, he is at work merging his twin passions in a new documentary called “Cello.”

Born in New York City and raised in Hastings-on-Hudson, Freedman came to the cello when his father rejected his initial request to study trumpet and when the youth expressed disinterest in learning the drums. He studied with Francesca Church, a student of the legendary cellist Pablo Casals, and he recalled an anecdote from his lessons that taught him the value of maintaining a skill.

“A reporter contacted Casals around 7 a.m. and asked him, ‘Maestro, why are you practicing so early in the morning?’ And Casals said, ‘Because there is always room for improvement.’

The thing about music that is so wonderful is that you can always keep reaching — there is never an end to it. Now, if I picked up a book and read it cover to cover, there is a finite end where it would stop.

But music keeps going and I try to instill that in my students.”

Freedman received a music scholarship from NYU and would go on to perform (including an appearance at Carnegie Hall) and record. And while he would also begin playing jazz bass, Freedman insisted the cello’s appeal goes beyond mere instrumentalism.

“I love the sound and the tonality of it,” he said. “It is very much like the human voice.”

While at NYU, Freedman’s first roommate was Bob Fiore, who would later go on to create the documentary classic “Pumping Iron.” This residential pairing would prove to be serendipitous.

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Joel L. Freedman at his home studio in Westport. Photo by Phil Hall.

The thing about music that is so wonderful is that you can always keep reaching — there is never an end to it. Now, if I picked up a book and read it cover to cover, there is a finite end where it would stop.

“One day, Bob came in and said, ‘I got an Arriflex (a movie camera). Wanna come out and shoot some film?’ We had a 100foot load of black-and-white film, and we went shooting in Washington Square Park. I had a good time.”

Freedman created short films at NYU and the editor on his projects was Martin Scorsese. In 1968, Freedman teamed with fellow student Bruce Joel Rubin (a future Oscar-winning screenwriter) to create their own film company called Cinnamon Productions — and the spicy name came with a Beatles inspiration.

“There was Apple with the

Beatles, so why not Cinnamon?” recalled Freedman.

Into the 1970s, Freedman found a successful niche as a documentary filmmaker. He collaborated with Philip F Messina on “Skezag” (1970), a study of Vietnam War veterans enmeshed in drug addiction. Robert Redford narrated his 1976 featre “Broken Treaty at Battle Mountain,” which documented the story of the Western Shoshone of Nevada in their legal struggle to regain 24 million acres of land promised to them by the federal government in the 1858 Ruby Valley Treaty.

Freedman would return to Native American subjects throughout his career, and even detoured to Hollywood for a stint as executive producer on the feature “Brainstorm” starring Natalie Wood and Christopher Walken.

He later expanded into self distribution via his We Make Movies brand, and his films have played in festivals, theaters and on television broadcasts around the world.

And through all of his cinematic projects, Freedman continued to pursue his work as a cello teacher. He provides lessons for 14 students. At one point he was instructing 22 aspiring cellists, but he reduced his work load in order to devote more time and energy to his students. Freedman charges $100 per hour for adult students and $85 per hour for schoolchildren, and he offers a scholarship discount for youth from lower-income families.

“I won’t do it for free because, if you do something for free, then people don’t value it,” he added.

In addition to his “Cello” documentary, Freedman is looking to return to narrative filmmaking with a biopic on rock legend Janis Joplin. As an independent filmmaker, Freedman is also on the hunt for funding sources, usually from foundations and private grants.

“Occasionally, I will have an executive producer come in to raise money,” he said. “Financing is always an issue for independent filmmakers.”

After more than a half-century of his dual pursuits, Freedman has no thoughts of dropping either one.

“Why should I?” he said.

“Some people say, ‘Gee, you’re a Renaissance man.’ And I say, ‘Nah. I love to play the cello and I love to make movies.’ ”

MAIN OFFICE TELEPHONE 914-694-3600 OFFICE FAX 914-694-3699 EDITORIAL EMAIL bobr@westfairinc.com WRITE TO 701 Westchester Avenue, Suite 100 J White Plains, N.Y. 10604

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A MEMBER OF

Greenwich-based Local Moms Network draws ‘mompreneurs’ from around the U.S.

BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

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he hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world,” according to poet William Ross Wallace. For proof, one might look no further than The Local Moms Network, an online platform for parents with hyperlocal information and resources, as a way to keep mothers in the know.

Begun in 2016 as GreenwichMoms.com, the service has grown over the ensuing three years to encompass over 100 hyperlocal sites, providing everything from listings of family-friendly events to guides to relevant websites, podcasts and articles.

What is now The Local Moms Network began when Layla Lisiewski returned to her hometown after six years spent working at Merrill Lynch in New York City to start a family.

“Even though I grew up here, I didn’t feel a connection between the community and myself,” Lisiewski said. “Parenthood can be very challenging and I couldn’t find my place. It felt isolating.

“Selfishly,” she said with a laugh, “I started Greenwich Moms to create a community for me.”

Her strategy was fairly simple.

“I began reaching out to local businesses, museums, schools, play spaces to get a feel for what was available in the town,” she said.

Carefully curating what would appear on the site, she began publishing a calendar and list of activities on the site.

“I never wanted to include everything,” she said. “I didn’t want it to be a generic place, and the events had to be local. I didn’t want parents taking their family for an hourlong car drive for a halfhour event.”

The response, she said, was almost immediately

overwhelming.

“It was amazing to see how many moms appreciated what I had created,” she said. “It grew a lot faster than I’d imagined.”

Within six months of the launch, she was approached by moms in New Canaan and Darien who found themselves in a similar situation.

“They had no onestop shop with the kind of helpful resources they were looking for,” she said.

“We’re not mommy bloggers or a Facebook group, and they saw that we have the best of the best when it comes to those resources.”

A f ter consulting with her web developers, Lisiewski made the decision to duplicate Greenwich Moms for other locations. A few months later, another pair of inquiries — this time from Westport — came in, and the beginnings of the network were in place.

By the end of 2017 there were seven sites in operation. As of January 2019 there were 82 sites around the country (eight in Fairfield County) and today there are over 100 in 25 states.

Together with a team headed by Chief Operating Officer Megan Sullivan, Chief Marketing Officer Jessica Blouin and Communit y Manager Stefanie Horn — who also manages the Stamford Moms site — Lisiewski fields requests from interested “mompreneurs” around the U.S. Successful interviewees then go through several weeks of onboarding as they learn the intricacies of web design, development and management and benefit from a guidebook on how to grow their business, marketing materials and support from the organization’s sales team.

“Then they’re pretty much ready to go,” Lisiewski said. “We can provide them with advice on what kinds of content do really well,” including

editorial content overseen

by Editor-in-Chief Amy Levin-Epstein.

Recent articles include back-to-school prep, profiles of successful women in various industries, spotlights on vacation sites and a multipart series on dealing with gun violence.

But hy perlocalit y remains key.

“Obviously, they’re going to know what the best things to include are in their own town,” she said.

A mother of three — with a fourth child due in March — Lisiewski noted that further expansion is very much in the cards, although “sometimes we’re trying to catch up” with requests.

“We don’t want to grow so fast that we end up running it into the ground,” she said.

An inquiry from London is tempting, Lisiewski said, but the focus will likely remain on the U.S. for the short term.

With the network’s sites run by mothers from their late 20s to their 50s, she said her team is already considering adding spotlights on grandmothers.

“Grandmas have been there and done that,” Lisiewski remarked. “A 27-year-old has ideas that a 50-year-old may never have thought of, and vice versa. That generation knows what life is like and can provide valuable life lessons.”

Not that there isn’t room for dads as well.

“Stay-at-home dads use our content all the time, so they can go to their wife at the end of the day and say, ‘Hey, look what I did with our kids!’ ” she laughed.

The focus will remain on women, however. “Our tagline is ‘Giving moms the gift of time,” she said.

“There are a thousand things being thrown at moms every day. We want to help them cut through the clutter.”

Fit For Success In Fairfield County A WOMEN’S BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL SUCCESS STORY

Bernadette Birney has spent more than 10,000 hours teaching yoga. For over two decades she has traveled nationally and internationally to lead yoga training programs, workshops, and retreats. In 2017 she opened Stamford Yoga Center at 13 Spring Street in Stamford, offering classes, instructor training, one-on-one sessions and workshops.

Birney has found that having her own business has broadened her horizons exponentially, and comes with some perks. “Fortunately yoga is a pretty great form of self-care so I avail myself of the studio’s services as often as possible!” She also recognizes that being a women owned business has its advantages as well, “I think women tend to excel at communication, which is critical when running a business.” Birney also takes advantage of the great programming the WBDC has to offer, as her studio is just across the parking lot. She enjoys connecting with other entrepreneurs and “to extend a hand to women who are just beginning their own journeys in business.”

Suzanne Palazzo had been in the fitness industry for a while when she decided she wanted to start her own business. After serving as the Health and Fitness Director for the Darien Y, as well as the Training and Program Director for Chelsea Piers Connecticut, Palazzo felt the industry wasn’t doing a great job of serving the needs of the clients. In September 2015 Palazzo opened Upper Deck Fitness at 72 Camp Avenue in Stamford.

Shortly after opening, Palazzo had the opportunity to open a second location. As a very new business she turned to the WBDC for help.

“We were a year and a half old and we had the opportunity of opening another location. This was something that had not been planned so we didn’t necessarily have the proper funding to do it, but it was also an opportunity we needed to jump on, so I reached out to the WBDC to go over options for me in terms of financing and to take a look at our business plan to make sure that we were capable of supporting the expansion.” Not only did she get the help she needed to launch the new location, Palazzo also found a network of support and some great new women in her life to help her as she continues to grow her business.

As both women look to the future, they know the WBDC will be there to lend a supporting hand.

Both women will be honored at the Annual Gala Luncheon on November 1, 2019.

The Women’s Business Development Council is a non-profit providing training, education and borrowing power necessary for women to launch and grow their businesses. For more information, visit ctwbdc.org or call 203-353-1750.

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SUITE TALK Aditum competing against the big-name internet service providers

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raditionally, landlords for commercial properties and multifamily developments would bring in a third-party internet service provider to ensure tenants were connected to the digital world. However, a Norwalkheadquartered company called Aditum is shaking things up by enabling the landlord or property manager to provide tenants with different tiers of internet service while monetizing the connection previously serviced by the third-party providers.

In this edition of Suite Talk, Business Journal Senior Enterprise Editor Phil Hall meets with Aditum founder and CEO Brian Higgins to discuss this distinctive approach to commercial property internet service.

When did Aditum begin and why did it begin?

“I helped found and launch a company called Four Point Networks, which was a regional internet service provider started around 2004. By the time we sold the company by the beginning of 2009, we were covering about 2,500 square miles of the state of Indiana with high-speed broadband. We were the first broadband provider to reach a lot of those communities that we got into. We were switching a lot of households and small businesses off dial-up, even as late as 2009, which is hard to believe.

“After moving to Connecticut, I started running into office buildings with really bad internet options. As a consultant, I would come in and help those buildings deploy small-building ISPs. We’d bring in bulk fiber and split the costs between all of the companies in the building. This helped them afford good internet because a small business cannot afford $1,000 or $2,000 a month on internet connections.

“After doing that for various projects, I kind of got a reputation for that and people started coming to me and asking if they could do this. One thing led to another, and in 2014 I decided to launch Aditum as a national product.”

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Where are your installations?

“The majority of the installations are all west of the Mississippi.”

Why is that?

“I really don’t have a good answer on that. If I could pinpoint the answer, I’d probably have a lot more installations on this side of the country. My best theory is that central U.S. margins are tighter, people need to be more inventive with finding revenue. In the western U.S., people are more innovative and forward thinking and open to change.

“We have resellers in about 25 states and several dozen deployments. Some of that is complicated to put a hard number on, because it is not unusual for one of our resellers to oversize service to one building and then connect to other buildings off that service, offering it as a separate service to that property. Thus, in our system, we see one building but, in reality, it could be five buildings using that service.”

How do you differ from other internet service providers?

“It is quite different. Frontier, Comcast, Optimum, and all of the standard consumer providers are doing a widescale best-effort service, so you have low-quality connections coming into your house or business. That connection is not guaranteed in any way, shape or form. There is no assurance it is even going to work marginally and you hope if something goes down that they respond to it in a nonpainful amount of time.

“What we’re doing is enabling buildings to bring in dedicated fiber that can have 99.99% or better uptime guarantees, four-hour resolutions for problems and proactive monitoring on the connections. So, if a fiber cut happens or a pole gets taken down, they’re going to have an engineer working on and fixing the problem and not some guy in a call center somewhere in the world telling you to please reboot it.

Brian Higgins, CEO of Aditum, at his Norwalk office. Photo by Phil Hall.

“Once the connectivity to the building is established, that’s where we come in. We take that bulk connection and use the same methods and principles that we used with Four Point, covering thousands of square miles and thousands of people and distribute that bandwidth over very reliable infrastructure in the building.

Then it is ethernet switches. All of the magic happens between the core router that sits between the infrastructure and the fiber, and all of that is controlled through our web interface that automates the entire network’s engineering side of things.

“So, you can have a very low-level help desk tech who is trained in doing everything and not need high-salaried network engineers to do this. They just go in there and click a few buttons and say, ‘Alright, Unit 13 gets 20 megabits per second and Unit 15 gets 100 megabits a second.’ ”

It seems very effective from a high-tech viewpoint, but is it cost-effective?

“There are three main costs that go into the system and the biggest by far is the fiber or bulk internet to the property. You bring in that bulk connection to the building and we take that cost and divide it by the number of units in the building. If you have a connection that is $1,000 a month and you have 20 units in the building, you take that $1,000 and divide it by 20 and that is your base cost that you have to recoup.

“The two other costs involved are our service fee, which goes to our reseller, and whatever the reseller is charging for the installation and support of our system, which the building owner will see as a combined fee. The building owner can offer internet at a discount relative to what the tenant was going to pay, while making a profit and offering a higher quality service.”

Who is your competition?

“There are two types of competition for us. The first is the building owner that does nothing and says, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, etc., come in and offer my residents service. If that building owner is lucky, they get a tiny commission.

“The second competition is hiring an engineer and figuring out how to do it yourself. More often than not, companies that try to do it themselves don’t have either the budget or the expertise to do it the right way. And it is very easy to do it wrong and not notice it.

“A lot of people think their internet works because they can open their email. But there are so many other things going on, from bandwidth management to tenant segregation and isolation.

And there are the federal requirements. If you are providing internet service, you must have the ability to comply with a federal wiretap warrant. And most people who can cobble together something that sort of works do not have a way of addressing that requirement, but we have that built into the back end.”

What type of commercial properties can use your service?

Would it range from a small strip mall to the Empire State Building?

“The driving factor is the cost and availability of the bandwidth.

Technically, any building that has more than two tenants would be a potential fit. In practical terms, the cost of the bandwidth typically has a minimum cost for delivery for any kind of connection that makes deployments under 15 units very difficult to do properly.

“There are some of our partners that will deploy a different type of internet service into a building, such as a cable modem, and from a technical standpoint there isn’t anything wrong with that. And on the higher end, the Empire State Building would be an ideal deployment — and we actually had a reseller pitch to them. We’re waiting to hear back.”

Stratfield Village Association nearing goal for improvement projects

Citrin Cooperman Corner Trade War with China.

What should we do?

BY MARK FAGAN, CPA

The Stratfield Village Association’s “Party in the Park” fundraiser, held Sept. 21 at Owen Fish Park. Courtesy SVA. MARK FAGAN

BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

T

he Stratfield IGA market — and the original Stratfield Village Association — may be gone, but they are hardly forgotten, as a pair of residents are leading the charge to beautify and re-energize a key area within the Fairfield village.

The Stratfield Village Association (SVA) was originally formed in 2006 by a group of people fighting against Walgreens moving into the Stratfield Market at 1280 Stratfield Road, a cornerstone building of the neighborhood’s central Four Corners area.

After the SVA’s efforts at rebuffing the drugstore chain’s desire to take over the supermarket space succeeded — Fairfield adopted new zoning regulations disallowing big-box companies of such size to open in its villages — it disbanded in 2012.

The 9,612-square-foot, two-story Stratfield Market property continued to stand vacant, having closed in 2006. As a result, residents Jamie McCusker and Dylan O’Connor revived the SVA about three years ago, with its original primary mission of addressing the dilapidated property.

“The only thing we have in common (with the former SVA) is the name,” said McCusker, who serves as the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization’s co-president with O’Connor. “The idea was to see if we could get the ball rolling to rebuild the neigh-

borhood.”

“And that started with the IGA market,” O’Connor affirmed. “We want to beautify the Four Corners, and the way to make that neighborhood look good was to deal with that building.”

The commercial property has had quite a journey since the grocery closed in 2006. The property was first purchased by Samuel Lotstein Realty, which finalized the 25-year lease with Walgreens. After that deal collapsed in 2011, Greenwichbased Urstadt-Biddle Group Inc. acquired it for $3.055 million in 2017 with an eye toward keeping it a supermarket, but ended up selling it to developer 1280 Realty LLC for $1.2 million that same year.

After 1280’s plans to remediate the site also went nowhere, Summit Development LLC acquired it in January for $1.45 million and almost immediately signed preschool franchise The Goddard School to a 15-year lease there.

Although McCusker said the SVA and a number of residents had hoped to preserve the property as a supermarket, “this is a way better alternative than what was there. They’ve cleaned it up and made it look nice.”

At the same time, the SVA has been working on the Four Corners Beautification Project, aimed at improving the Stratfield RoadFairfield Woods Road intersection by making it more physically attractive and safer for pedestrians and cyclists. The SVA received

a $650,000 grant from the state of Connecticut in support of the project, but needs another $250,000 to complete it.

As a result, the organization hosted its second annual “Party in the Park” fundraiser at Fairfield’s Owen Fish Park — another example of the SVA’s rehab efforts — on Sept. 21. Although the tally of money raised from that event had yet to be finalized at press time, O’Connor said indications were that it was “pretty close” to making its target.

McCusker noted that various government officials — from Fairfield First Selectman Mike Tetreau to state Sen. Tony Hwang and state Reps. Brenda Kupchick, Laura Devlin and Cristin McCarthy Vahey, “who’s been leading the charge on the state level” — have been supportive of the SVA’s efforts.

The group received a $100,000 grant from Sacred Heart University, while “Party in the Park” sponsors included assisted living facility Sunrise of Fairfield and real estate firm Hines Interests Limited Partnership.

The SVA expects to host other efforts, such as a holiday tour of historic homes in the area, which McCusker said was a great success in its inaugural edition last year, and an engraved-brick sale.

Its latest efforts include trying to establish a farmers’ market in the neighborhood, along with further beautification efforts such as planting flowers in its traffic circles.

Last fall I had the opportunity to visit a client in Hong Kong. Riding in the back of the taxi as we drove across the 34-mile bridge from HK International Airport to Hong Kong Island, I was stunned at the sight of hundreds of container terminals. The massive scale of the import/export operations seemed to go on forever. Combine this with what China is to the world of manufacturing and distribution, and the effects of a tariff war with this country become clear.

Last fall, many U. S. companies sourcing products out of China increased inventory purchases due to the 10% tariff put in place and the threat of a 25% tariff predicted to follow in early 2019. Unexpected use of cash, higher costs paid for products, and excess storage costs were some of the effects of last year’s 4th quarter buying binge. Effective May 10, 2019, the Trump administration increased tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, from 10% to 25%. The list of products (“Tranche 3”, or “List 3”) is over 200 pages long. In addition, Trump also announced that an additional $250 billion worth of goods will be “quickly” added to the list of products subject to the 25% tariffs.

On August 1, 2019, the Trump administration announced they will impose 10% tariffs on another $300 billion of Chinese goods starting September 1, but on August 13, the USTR announced that some of the Chinese imports subject to this latest round of tariffs will not go into effect until December 15, 2019.

As a reminder, Tranche 1 and 2 became effective in Q2 of 2018 and affected roughly $50 billion of the U.S.’s $550 billion worth of imports from China. Tranche 1 and 2 were primarily nonconsumer products, including industrial, medical, and transportation products. Tranches 3 and proposed Tranche 4 are targeted at consumer products and therefore will affect a larger number of businesses and consumers. Once Tranche 4 becomes effective, the vast majority of our imports from China will be subjected to new or increased tariffs.

To date, China has countered with imposing tariffs on $185 billion worth of U.S. exports into China.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO AS AN IMPORTER FROM CHINA: 1. Determine how you are affected — Review your products’ HS codes (Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States) and determine if they are affected by Tranche 1, 2, 3, or the proposed Tranche 4. You can work with your customs broker to determine if your imports are on any of these lists. If the country of origin (COO) is China, the penalty tariffs apply. There are tales of Chinese manufacturers suggesting that trans-shipping via Vietnam or Singapore and declaring these as the COO would avoid the 401 tariffs. This is illegal under U. S. Customs Regulations (CFR 19) as the COO must be the place where the goods are manufactured or substantially transformed, not where they are trans-shipped.

2. Budget your inventory for uncertainty — Consider that these tariffs may be removed

on very short notice if a trade deal is reached.

As you know, these tariffs are primarily a result of the administration’s fight against the longstanding intellectual property violations

by China, and therefore progress on that front could reverse the tariff measures.

3. Move sourcing or manufacturing to another country — Some companies are considering the move of production and sourcing to other sites in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, or other low-cost countries. While the 301 tariffs don’t apply to importing from these countries so far, the future application of new tariffs is uncertain.

Be aware: productivity rates in these other low-cost countries have been reported to be 20-30% lower than in China. So in the final economic analysis, it is often better to keep production in China and pay the penalty tariffs.

4. Raise prices — Tariffs of 10% were much easier to absorb in the supply chain than the current 25%. Manufacturing and distribution businesses are going to have to work with their vendors and customers to get through this price volatility with minimal business disruption.

Test the market by increasing the pricing for a portion of your affected products and see how the market reacts, then act accordingly on a bigger scale.

WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO: 1. Panic — For instance, some companies are stockpiling inventory in advance of tariffs going into effect. The result has been shortages of all kinds of parts worldwide for companies that are not stockpiling. In addition, hoarding parts ties up working capital and may put a stranglehold on your company’s ability to operate. In industries with rapid product development such as electronics, parts also become quickly obsolete, so buying too far in advance may be a losing proposition.

2. Deliberately misclassify goods to avoid duties — The U.S. government has noticed this tactic, and is cracking down more than ever.

Customs authorities have developed profiling tactics that help them target shipments for detailed examination and evaluation. Customs processing delays, as well as major fines and penalties, can be expected if your company routinely engages in these practices. In addition, many people do not realize that shipments are not fully “liquidated” until 12 months after clearance into the U.S. This means that your shipments can be reviewed for up to 12 months after clearance to assess whether they had the correct HS Code applied. (You know that bond you pay for when importing goods into the United States? This is to pay for your duties in the event you are re-assessed and can’t afford to pay up). You can be sure post-clearance audits of shipments will increase significantly in the future.

3. Ship goods through an intermediary country — Duties are based on the ORIGIN country, not the last transit point.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mark Fagan is the managing partner of Citrin Cooperman’s Norwalk, Connecticut office. He is a member of Citrin Cooperman’s Executive Committee and the Firm’s Audit and Attest Committee. With over 25 years of audit, tax, and business advisory experience, he serves clients in a wide range of industries, including technology, financial services, private equity, manufacturing and distribution, and construction.

Mark’s clients range from privately held middlemarket firms to larger, complex, multi-national organizations. Mark can be reached at mfagan@ citrincooperman.com. Citrin Cooperman is a fullservice accounting and advisory firm with 15 domestic and international locations. Visit us at citrincooperman.com.

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OCTOBER 7, 2019

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1

Transportation—

assistance would come from the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act and the Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing program.

2% INTEREST RATE?

Lamont confirmed that the federal government has offered a lowcost credit deal to fund CT 2030, consisting of about 2% for highway loans with a repayment period of 35 years. The governor said those repayments would begin “as soon as the work is completed.”

Lamont said federal officials told him that “it’s a unique time for us to be able to do this,” calling the U.S. DOT “real partners.”

He dismissed the Republicans’ preferred “Prioritize Progress” plan — which would use $700 million in annual borrowing, to be repaid out of the General Fund — as “the wrong way to go.”

The governor said “once we figure out how to pay for transportation,” a greater focus will be placed on improving the state’s schools, affordable housing and clean water, among other priorities.

“We’ve got to hit the elephant in the room — getting our fiscal house in order,” he said.

Cooperating with partners outside of Connecticut is a must, Lamont continued.

“It’s important to be aligned with New York,” Lamont said. “I

Gov. Ned Lamont addresses the Stamford Chamber of Commerce. Photo by Bernie Weiss.

want to take 10, 12, 15 minutes off the Stamford-New York City commute, but I can’t do it without New York. Stamford is a part of the greater New York City ecosystem.

We’re not competitors.”

The governor’s remarks were made at the Chamber’s 32nd annual meeting and awards ceremony at the Stamford Hilton. He praised Stamford in general, and Mayor David Martin in particular, for all of the development activity

It’s important to be aligned with New York.

I want to take 10, 12, 15 minutes off the Stamford-New York City commute, but I can’t do it without New York. Stamford is a part of the greater New York City ecosystem. We’re not competitors.

— Gov. Ned Lamont

taking place.

“I like seeing those cranes,” Lamont said, citing the construction of a new Charter Communications headquarters, expansion of Indeed’s footprint and the renovations of the 400,000-square-foot RBS building at 600 Washington Blvd., which Rubenstein Partners acquired for $163 million earlier this year.

Underutilized areas in the building are being converted into additional office space.

Lamont repeated his call for the state to stop borrowing and go on a “debt diet.”

He touted delivering his first state budget on time and expressed optimism that progress is being made with the state’s fixed costs — its pension liabilities regarding the State Employees Retirement Fund and the Teachers’ Retirement Fund.

“I can’t say I’ve solved everything” during the first nine months of his tenure, Lamont said, “but I can tell you that we’re starting.”

He went on to say that he and Economic and Community Development Commissioner David Lehman “are meeting with companies every day” to make the case that Connecticut “is a place where you can grow and expand.”

Lamont called on the Stamford business community to tout the state to companies. “Nobody sells the state of Connecticut like you do,” he said. “Tell them that we are getting our act together.”

Danbury financial planner brings first Singularity University chapter to region

BY PHIL HALL phall@westfairinc.com

W

hen Bob Reby mentions Singularity University to business professionals, he often gets a look of surprise or confusion.

Founded in 2008, the Santa Clara, California-based Singularity University is a certified benefit corporation that promotes itself as a “global learning and innovation community using exponential technologies to tackle the world’s biggest challenges and build a better future for all.”

And while it claims a global presence, its name recognition in this region is minimal.

“It is an unknown factor,” acknowledged Reby, founder, president and CEO of Reby Advisors, a financial planning firm in Danbury.

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“I guess there are a lot of things that are really cool that aren’t common.

I think it might be geographical — maybe it’s because we’re in the Northeast and not Silicon Valley.”

Reby is committed to expand Singularity University’s name and mission locally. In July, Reby Advisors was awarded a license to create a new Fairfield-Westchester County Chapter of Singularity University.

“I knew there was one in Boston and one in New York City,” he continued. “There was not one in our area.”

Reby first became aware of Singularity University in 2010 and was impressed with its focus on how evolving and emerging technologies would create significant socioeconomic changes — most notably through artificial intelligence, blockchain and new med-

ical technologies that contribute to longer life spans. And while Singularity University lives up to its name by offering educational programs, courses and summits, Reby noted, it also maintains a collaborative platform that encourages international collaborations and knowledge sharing, and it runs programs to support and scale startups and promote social impact.

“It trains business leaders, government leaders and any type of folks who put themselves in leadership categories about what’s coming down the pike to prepare themselves and their organizations to either adapt or take advantage of the trends so they can remain relevant,” he said. “And they really support the entrepreneurs because they can build businesses that can solve

global challenges.”

In launching the FairfieldWestchester chapter, Reby is not putting forth a specific structure or calendar of events. Outside of ensuring a no-fee membership, he is setting the chapter into motion based on local interest in the endeavor. The first item in the launch is a Nov. 14 event at Ridgewood Country Club in Danbury. Attendance at the event will be based on Reby’s personal outreach to regional business leaders to explain the Singularity University mission and how it could help their businesses and the local business community.

“If they don’t know what Singularity is — and, to be honest, a lot of them won’t — I will talk to them and see where it goes from there relevant to another event,” he said. “I hope that we will have

three events per year. We don’t have any structure right now and we’re not hoping to have 100 chapter members by blah-blahblah. We want to have a dialogue, not a monologue.”

Reby has studied how other chapters around the world operate and noted there is no one-sizefits-all mandate.

“Some people have a chapter event with 60 or 100 people in it, and some have three people in a bar — but it’s still an event,” he said.

As for his target audience, Reby is aiming at the business markets within a 30- to 40-mile radius of his Danbury headquarters.

“We’re talking White Plains, New Rochelle, Stamford, Greenwich, but also up north in Litchfield County and even over to Hartford,” he said.

Eleish Van Breems brings Scandinavian furniture, decor to Westport WE’RE PAINTING THE TOWN PINK! If you’re a woman over 40, getting an annual mammogram is the best way to detect breast cancer early – long before a lump is felt in your breast. And, finding breast cancer earlier results in less aggressive treatment.

Stamford Health’s Breast Center provides three-dimensional mammography, which means better detection and fewer callbacks.

Our day, evening and weekend appointments, walk-in availability, and commitment to provide same-day results whenever possible means we’re here for you when you need us.

Eleish Van Breems owners Edie Van Breems (left) and Rhonda Eleish.

BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com MENTION “SCANDINAVIAN FURNITURE STORE” to most people and they might think first of Ikea.

But a pair of women entrepreneurs are determined to prove that such wares go well beyond the kind of build-it-yourself beds, bookcases and similar items sold by the Swedish chain.

Eleish Van Breems is a Scandinavian home décor, furnishings and antiques store that has relocated to Westport, with a 2,000-square-foot “Home” store at 99 Franklin St. and a 981-square-foot “Design” operation at 22 Railroad Place. The company has been a 22-year passion for owners Edie Van Breems and Rhonda Eleish, who have been friends since they were 11-year-old students at the town’s Green Farms Academy.

“Our dads were best friends and we were always at each other’s houses,” Van Breems recalled. “We stayed in touch after college and rekindled our friendship when we were both working in New York City. I was working in photography and Rhonda was working in national retail merchandising.”

‘ELABORATE PARTIES’ “I started thinking about the things I like to do,” Eleish added. “I was hosting some pretty elaborate parties and loving fashion, so getting into interior design seemed like a good fit. I started creating designers’ showcases around the city and Edie was helping out with a lot of it. We continued working together and decided to build on our mutual passion for the decorative arts.”

Undertaking a “rite of passage” by touring home furnishings and antique dealers in England, Holland and Sweden led them to fall in love with Scandinavian furniture, Eleish said.

Established in 1996, Eleish Van Breems has proven that Scandinavian furniture “isn’t just brown furniture,” Van Breems said. “Very few people were doing it here at the time, and it turned out to be interesting for us and for our clients.”

The term “Scandinavian design” refers to being based “on clean, simple, happy interiors that are in harmony with both the interior and the exterior, and that are balanced in scale and are sustainable and eco-supportive,” Van Breems said.

The Home store opened

in 2016, joined by the design facility this past May. The move to Westport was driven by being “local girls,” she added. “Coming back to Westport was coming back home.”

‘A GREAT FIT’ “The community is filled with small, family-run businesses, so it makes it a great fit for us,” Eleish said. “We present a Scandinavian point of view to our decorative approach.

We shop and manufacture in Scandinavia, so what we offer is unique and ever-changing. We are always looking forward and our goal always is to present an interesting, curated collection that is fresh.”

The women are working on launching a leather design line this year and are expanding their website to service both retail customers and a to-the-trade portal. Sales will be conducted via e-commerce platform Shopify.

Van Breems noted that the store’s offerings are at “all price points. There’s something for every budget.”

The pair have co-authored three books on Swedish design and expect to publish a fourth in 2022.

Additional stores are in the works, though locations have yet to be finalized.

We all know someone whose life has been touched by breast cancer, and that’s why initiatives in October like Stamford Health’s Paint The Town Pink are so important — not to mention the care that the Breast Center and Bennett Cancer Center offer right in our own backyard. To view the calendar of Paint the Town Pink events, visit support.stamfordhospitalfoundation.org/pttpcalendar.

To schedule a mammogram, call (203) 276.PINK (7465) or visit support.stamfordhospitalfoundation.org/mammogram

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IN BRIEF BLT powers up Silicon Harbor with massive rooftop solar installation

The solar array atop the building.

Photo by Patrick Sikes Photography.

Building and Land Technology (BLT) has completed the installation of what it says is one of Connecticut’s largest rooftop solar installations at the 500,000-squarefoot Silicon Harbor office complex in Stamford’s Harbor Point.

Construction began in late March and the system was first energized this summer.

ENGIE installed 587.2 kilowatts of solar panels on the rooftop of the complex. The system is expected to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of Silicon Harbor and to produce enough renewable energy to offset up to 10% of the property’s consumption when it is fully occupied.

ENGIE performed the work in partnership with Reflective Energy Solutions, an energy broker headquartered in New Jersey.

BLT said the system is expected to generate 732,400 kilowatt-hours of clean, renewable energy per year, enough to power 70 homes.

that he was also the co-owner of the now-defunct Comtek Expositions in Wilton and Expovision International in Greenwich.

Pollak was accused of convincing an acquaintance in 2013 to invest money in a new business venture that was allegedly planning to organize similar expositions in Ukraine, but instead spent at least $185,000 on unrelated business and personal expenses, including his home mortgage loan and private school tuition.

Pollak was arrested on Sept.

20, 2018, and pleaded guilty on March 18 to one count of wire fraud and one count of making illegal monetary transactions. The court also told Pollak to pay $236,049 in restitution to his victim.

Pollak has been free on a $200,000 bond and is required to report to prison on Dec. 9.

GREENWICH MAN SENTENCED IN INVESTMENT FRAUD SCHEME

A former accounting manager for a Stratford company was sentenced to 30 days in prison for embezzling more than $130,000 from her employer.

Susanna Kurus pleaded guilty in March to one count of wire fraud for siphoning $133,870.55 from Expand International of America, a display and banner stand manufacturer. In the period between approximately October 2014 and June 2017, Kurus used her employ-

Greenwich resident Leonid “Lenny” Pollak was sentenced to one year and one day of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release for operating an investment fraud scheme.

According to the charges brought against him, Pollak owned an unnamed trade show and exposition organizing company in Norwalk, although research shows

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er’s financial accounting software for transferring customer credits to at least six of her personal debit card accounts for use on personal expenditures.

In addition to her prison sentence, Kurus was also ordered to serve 60 days of home confinement, perform 100 hours of community service and make a full restitution of the funds she embezzled.

Kurus, who now resides in North Carolina, is free on $200,000 bond and is required to report to prison on Jan. 6, 2020.

LINDA MCMAHON NAMED ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN POLITICS

Linda McMahon has been named one of Fortune magazine’s “25 Most Powerful Women in Politics,” some five months after resigning as the administrator of the Small

EX-ACCOUNTING MANAGER SENTENCED TO 30 DAYS FOR EMBEZZLING STRATFORD FIRM

Linda McMahon

Business Administration.

The former WWE CEO, twice-unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate, and Greenwich resident made the list for becoming chairman of America First Action, a pro-Trump political action committee, three days after her resignation from the SBA took effect.

America First Action “has raked in $9 million so far in the 2020 cycle — $1 million of which was McMahon’s own money,” Fortune noted. “If its efforts pay off and Trump wins another term, McMahon will have accrued serious clout with the administration come Inauguration Day.” McMahon is married to Vince McMahon, the majority owner, chairman and CEO of WWE and the founder of Alpha Entertainment, the holding company of the XFL football league. Both are headquartered in Stamford.

As opposed to most such lists, which rank people and companies in terms of wealth, power, influence and the like, the 25 women on the Fortune tally are grouped into such categories as elected officials, appointees, influencers and “the money,” to which McMahon belongs.

Others on the list include Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi; Democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris; Democratic New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Republican New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik; U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; and Ivanka Trump.

AMAZON TO OPEN FIRST CONNECTICUT RETAIL STORE AT SONO COLLECTION

Amazon plans to open its first Connecticut brick-and-mortar retail outlet in Norwalk’s SoNo Collection mall by the end of the year.

The company did not supply details as to when the store, called Amazon 4-star, will open, but it has posted a listing for a store manager at the Norwalk location on its site.

According to the company, its physical 4-star outlets carry “a highly curated selection of products from the top categories across Amazon.com, including devices, consumer electronics, toys, games, books, kitchen, home and more.”

The name is meant to indicate that only merchandise rated four stars

or higher by Amazon customers will be stocked in the stores.

The company is also finishing construction of its 855,000-squarefoot fulfillment center in North Haven. Originally scheduled to open during the summer, Amazon now hopes to have that operation — which it says will create 1,800 full-time jobs — open by year’s end.

PHYSICIANS PANEL APPROVES TWO MORE CONDITIONS FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA TREATMENT

The Connecticut state Medical Marijuana Program Board of Physicians has voted in favor of allowing doctors to prescribe medical marijuana for two conditions: for adults with chronic pain that has lasted for at least six months and is associated with a specified underlying chronic condition, and for those suffering from EhlersDanlos syndrome, a group of disorders that affect connective tissues and can be painful.

Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle Seagull officially accepted the board’s recommendations, which will be reviewed before ultimately being voted upon by the General Assembly’s Regulations Review Committee. That vote is expected to take place later this fall.

Should the two conditions be approved, they will join 31 other conditions where medical marijuana is available to more than 37,000 patients statewide. There are approximately 1,200 physicians and APRNs registered to certify patients, and 15 medical marijuana dispensaries, in the state.

SIKORSKY GETS GREEN LIGHT ON PRODUCING COMBAT RESCUE HELICOPTERS

Sikorsky announced that its HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopter program achieved a Milestone C decision from the U.S. Air Force, which enables the program to begin low-rate initial production.

According to the company, the HH-60W helicopter is designed to perform combat search and rescue and personnel recovery operations for all U.S. military services. The Milestone C designation followed more than 150 hours of joint test flights conducted by the Air Force and Sikorsky.

There are five aircraft in various stages of production at Sikorsky’s Stratford facility, and the Air Force program calls for 113 helicopters to replace its predecessor, the Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk.

IN BRIEF effective Nov. 4.

Patlis is executive director of marine conservation programs for the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Bronx. Prior to that he was president and CEO of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, based in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Patlis fills an office that has been vacant since Maureen Hanley’s dismissal in April after about three months on the job. The reasons for Hanley’s exit have not been disclosed.

He arrives amid several projects revolving around the planned replacement of the Walk Bridge, a railroad bridge that narrowly slots between the aquarium and its IMAX theater. Budgeted at $40 million, the work involves building a new 4-D movie theater to replace the IMAX theater, which must be razed, and enclosing and enlarging its popular seal exhibit. The simultaneous projects are to take about a year.

TRUMBULL’S HENRY STERN CENTER RECEIVING $1M FROM STATE FOR RENOVATIONS

Mike Rowe

HOMESERVE USA TEAMS WITH MIKE ROWE OF ‘DIRTY JOBS’

HomeServe USA, a Norwalk-based provider of service plans, repair and installation services for the home, has begun a partnership with television personality and author Mike Rowe, best known as the creator and host of the series “Dirty Jobs.”

In the first stage of the partnership, HomeServe will sponsor the October episodes of Rowe’s podcast “The Way I Heard It,” and the company pledged to support Rowe’s philanthropic mikeroweWORKS Foundation. HomeServe USA CEO John Kitzie praised Rowe’s work in highlighting blue-collar jobs and bringing attention to the need for vocational training and home trades workers.

Also, HomeServe announced its acquisition of Fred’s Home Services, a Euclid, Ohio-based HVAC and plumbing services provider focused on the residential market in the greater Cleveland area. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. This is the second Cleveland-area company

to be acquired by HomeServe in the last year. In December 2018, HomeServe acquired Elyria-based Geisel Heating, Air Conditioning and Plumbing.

MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK NAMES JASON PATLIS PRESIDENT/CEO

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk has named Jason Patlis, a 27-year veteran of the ocean and natural-resource conservation sector, as its new president and CEO,

The Henry Stern Center, a 36-unit congregate housing rental project within Trumbull’s Stern Village senior housing development, has received a $1,072,234 grant from the state to modernize its heating and ventilation systems.

Administered by the Trumbull Housing Authority, the Stern Center is the only Fairfield County site named among 13 low-income housing complexes receiving $13 million from the Community Development Block Grant Small Cities program. The program is administered by the Connecticut Department of Housing with funds provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The funds will be used to improve energy efficiency through the purchase of a new boiler, the installation of new individual unit temperature controls and a hallway fresh air ventilation system.

The development is also slated to receive living-unit, high-energy-efficient heat pump systems to provide heating and air conditioning to all building spaces, as well as bathroom accessibility improvements.

VIVEK BEDI TO BECOME CFO AT NESTLÉ WATERS NORTH AMERICA

Jason Patlis

Nestlé Waters North America has announced the appointment of Vivek Bedi as executive vice president and chief financial officer,

2016 and the 10.8% from 2015.

The report estimated there were 361,377 Connecticut residents living in poverty in 2018, up from 334,128 a year earlier.

Despite the uptick, Connecticut’s poverty rate was lower than the 13.1% national average and was lower than the rates in 40 other states. Fourteen states and Puerto Rico recorded statistically significant declines in their poverty rates last year.

Vivek Bedi

effective Dec. 1. Bedi, who will also become a director in the company and its executive team, will replace Bill Pearson, who is retiring.

Bedi was formerly senior vice president of finance, control and investments at the Stamford-based company. Prior to joining Nestlé Waters North America in 2018, he served as vice president and chief financial officer of Nestlé Purina PetCare Latin America and Caribbean.

Bedi has been with Nestlé for more than 20 years, first joining the company as a management trainee in its nutrition division.

FAIRFIELD APPROVES $7.9M PLAN TO REDESIGN SOUTH BENSON MARINA

Fairfield’s Parks and Recreation Commission has approved a $7.9 million plan to redesign its South Benson Marina.

Work, which next must be approved by Fairfield’s Board of Selectmen, will include renovating the site to bring it into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Slips would be widened, necessitating a reduction from about 600 to 471.

Town officials said they believed the planned reduction would be offset by the instituting of higher slip fees that are expected to pay for the bulk of the project.

CONNECTICUT IS THE ONLY STATE TO RECORD 2018 POVERTY RATE INCREASE

Connecticut was the only state in the U.S. to see its poverty level rise in 2018, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

Connecticut’s poverty rate reached 10.4% last year, up from 9.6% in 2017. Although the 2018 level was up, it was at a lower rate than the 10.5% recorded in

NORWALK’S RADEBERGER GRUPPE USA SNAGS BEER SPONSORSHIP FOR NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL

Norwalk-based Radeberger Gruppe USA has announced that its Radeberger Pilsner brand has been named the exclusive beer sponsor of the 2019 and 2020 editions of the New York Film Festival.

This year’s festival is underway and will take place through Oct. 13 at Lincoln Center. The 2020 festival dates have not been scheduled. Radeberger Pilsner has been produced and brewed since 1872 in the German town of Radeberg, located near Dresden. In addition to Radeberger Pilsner, Radeberger Gruppe USA’s distribution includes Schöfferhofer Grapefruit, Schöfferhofer Pomegranate, Clausthaler, DAB and BraufactuM. — Kevin Zimmerman and Phil Hall

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OCTOBER 7, 2019

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19 0 2 L A I N N E #MILL

CELEBRATING A GENERATION By 2020, millennials will represent half of the workforce in the world. The awards celebrate this new era in the workforce and recognize some individuals who are leaving their footprints in the technology and business communities of Westchester and Fairfield.

POP-UP SHOPS • FOOD AND DRINKS • MAKE CONNECTIONS MUSIC PERFORMANCES • MEET OTHER BUSINESSES • NETWORK

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21 • 5:30 - 7:30 PM

At Serafina by the Italian Center | 1620 Newfield Ave, Stamford, CT REGISTER: westfaironline.com/events-2019/ For information, contact: Olivia D’Amelio at odamelio@westfairinc.com.

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PRESENTED BY:

PRESENTING SPONSOR:

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WestfairOnline

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INNOVATORS:

/TheWagMag

MENTOR:

MEET THE HONOREES Pakeeza Alam Urongynecologist CareMount Medical

Laura Donovan Founder Sonder Financial

Chelsea Merola Creative Director Grande Cosmetics

Ina Gjoni Allkanjari Operations Manager Avanti Systems USA

Lauren Enea Associate Enea, Scanlan & Sirignano LLP

Krystina Murawski Owner & Founder Noomi

Kelly Andersen Marketing Director Wealth Continuum Group

Rachel Gould Accounting Manager Aquarion Water Company

Amanda Ayala Singer

Rebecca Graziano Associate Director of Marketing Westmed Medical Group

Tugba Pal Assistant Director of Physician Relations Services Columbia Medical CenterWestchester Columbia Doctors

Theresa Baker Director, Health Care Sponsor Finance Webster Bank Tom Burbank Vice president of Service Operations Atlantic Westchester Nate Checketts Co-Founder & CEO Rhone Michelle Eva Marie Colacion Senior Manager Deloitte Consulting Alexandra Cooley COO & Co-Founder Greenworks Lending Nicole Cuglietto Attorney at Law Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP Amanda DiPreta Art Director Catalyst Marketing Communications

David Jones Certified Financial Planner The SKG Team at Barnum Financial Group Adam Kirshner Manager of Media and Metadata Operations WWE Brendan Klein Youth Advocacy and Engagement Coordinator Westchester Institute for Human Development Loni Lymus CEO & President Service After Service Manette Macias Research Chemist Hampford Research Jillian McDonnell Sales Associate + Jeweler D’Errico Jewelry Victoria McGruder Private Wealth Relationship Manager Merrill Private Wealth

Nitin Sekhri Medical Director of Pain Management and Co-Founder of WMC Headache Specialists Westchester Medical Center Stelios Stavrianos Founder/CEO Cylinder Vodka Nicole Thomas Vice president, Middle Market Relationship Manager Wells Fargo Bank Ken Tuccio Founder/CEO Best Trivia Ever John Varamo Program Manager City of Stamford Cassandra Vogel Counsel Yankwitt LLP Adam C. Weiss Associate Attorney Lever & Ecker PLLC

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OCTOBER 7, 2019

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CONTRIBUTING WRITER | By Chuck Firlotte

Capturing the millennials’ energy force

I

s there anything else that can be said about millennials?

For starters, they are no longer 20 years old. In fact, one of them, Pete Buttigieg, is mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and is running for president.

It is safe to say, however, that this is the most studied and scrutinized of all generations, and why would they not be?

Born between 1981 and 1997, they are the largest generation on planet Earth and now constitute the majority of the workforce. They have unique buying habits and a healthy disregard for the ways of those

PRESENTED BY:

of us who came before them, appear completely comfortable with change and disruption, were weaned on Nintendo, have been misunderstood and mislabeled, and when they came of age at the turn of the century, they were woefully unprepared in workplace behavior and business etiquette.

Millennials have been called “Generation Me” and have frustrated human resource professionals, for they do not hold to the traditional definition of corporate loyalty. They were affected and shaped by the events of 9/11, digi-

tal technology, the internet and a host of social media tools, including Facebook and Instagram.

The Gallup organization has provided research about employee attitudes and behaviors in the U.S. and quantified the negative impact on the business community. It estimates U.S. businesses are losing $1 trillion annually due to voluntary departures from the workplace, and the cost of replacement can range from onehalf to two times the employee’s annual wage. Also, 51% of employees are searching for a new job or have an active eye on the

2020 OUTLOOK

Expansion or contraction for your business?

Pondering the economic forecasts for next year?

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westfaironline.com/events For information, contact Olivia D’Amelio at odamelio@westfairinc.com.

For sponsorships, contact Barbara Hanlon at bhanlon@westfairinc.com or 914-358-0766.

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market and two-thirds of the workforce is not engaged, with some 53% giving the minimum effort required.

It behooves corporate America to understand and entice the millennial cohort to our shores, so to speak, for if their collective energy can be harnessed, they are creative, collaborative and entrepreneurial. As business leaders, we must tap into their organizational value, develop strategies to attract better candidates, shorten ramp time for new employees, help them maximize their potential, reduce voluntary turnover so they will ignore the siren song of other job offers and even empower them to recruit new talent among their generation

A 5-POINT PLAN TO ATTRACT, RETAIN AND MOTIVATE MILLENNIALS

• Promote a sense of purpose. Deloitte asserts that 92% of millennials believe businesses should be measured by more than profits — a factor that inf luenced 192 top CEOs in the U.S. to issue a new statement this past summer, calling on business leaders to commit to balancing the needs of shareholders with customers, employees, suppliers and local communities.

• Provide real-time feedback. Millennials are neither satisfied nor happy with a oncea-year performance review. They grew up in a world of online, instantaneous feedback, and they expect it at work.

• Creativity is critical to our millennial employees. They are strongly influenced by how innovative a company is and they worship at the altar of workplace technology. They will be drawn toward work environments with sophisticated technology.

• “What’s in it for me?” Training and development carry paramount importance. Millennials will leave without it. The boomers before them were far too patient and forgiving on this front. Millennials are not.

• Seek input and be open to new ideas.

Millennials want to influence. They are the drivers of digital disruption and they are comfortable with transformational change. Smart organizations will want to shape their culture and corporate environment with receptivity to millennial input and needs.

This generation’s workplace traits are unprecedented and millennials have become the not-so-silent majority.

Organizations open to doing things differently will be best positioned to capitalize on this wealth of human talent.

Chuck Firlotte is the president and CEO of Aquarion Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He can be reached at 203-3367628 or cfirlotte@aquarionwater.com.

CONTRIBUTING WRITER | By Doreen Gebbia

A small business owner’s journey through statistics, certification and networking

S

pending most of my adult life as a small-business owner has been rewarding and challenging. The past two decades have included being president of eRichards Consulting, business partners with my husband, raising three children and multiple four-legged ones.

There are numerous statistics regarding small businesses and the benefits of certifications for entrepreneurs to keep in mind.

Did you know that: • There are 30.2 million small businesses in the U.S. • These businesses employ roughly 58.9 million people.

• This represents approximately 47.5% of the employees in the U.S. private sector.

• Firms with fewer than 100 employees have the largest share of small business employment.

• Small businesses account for about half of our private GDP production.

Learning about the power and impact of small business on our national economy was pleasantly surprising. Up until that point, I had felt diffident about being a small-business owner. Initially, people seemed to have a patronizing attitude toward me when they heard I ran a small business.

Now, it is trendy to be an entrepreneur. The solo entrepreneur who can make it work, be financially successful and have a work/ life balance is looked upon with admiration.

Hearing these facts made me stand a little taller, giving me the fortification I needed to feel confident I was doing something meaningful and significant. Being certified has afforded me the opportunity to network within a

by meeting other entrepreneurs.

You might even have the chance to offer insights of your own to those who are just starting out.

The bonds that can develop through these business events and networking opportunities are amazing.

Being certified provides access to corporations that are seeking to do business with entrepreneurs because they get tax

breaks as a result. Many enterprise companies usually have a diversity program that is incentivized to do business with small-business owners.

Networking and building relationships with corporate and government entities is essential to growing a business and developing a lasting and rewarding community.

With most quality certifiers,

there are usually fees and applications that must be filled out and approved before getting your certification.

Also, be aware that most certifications expire and you need to allot the appropriate time needed to re-certify.

Doreen Gebbia is the president of eRichards Consulting, LLC. She can be reached at 203-944-0816 or dgebbia@eRichards.com.

Doreen Gebbia

community of like-minded people who encouraged me and continue to introduce me to the contacts I need to grow my business. Being certified has steeled me with knowledge and strengthened my focus, which I greatly appreciate because being an entrepreneur requires tremendous motivation.

Finding the right certification(s) for your business is important. Are you a woman, disabled, LGBTQ, minority or veteran? There are organizations that can get you certified and connected with businesspeople you want to meet.

There are many benefits to being certified. Often as a smallbusiness owner, especially when you are getting started, it can be like working in a vacuum. Getting certified with a reputable national or international certifying body can get you online access to a database of resources, buyers and contacts.

You will be able to attend events that are educational with keynote speakers and be inspired

CONNECT WITH westfair communications

westfaironline.com wagmag.com

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OCTOBER 7, 2019

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ASK ANDI Imagining the future The good news is we’ve been growing. But we’re operating a company of 50 employees the same way as we worked when we were at 20 employees. What should we be doing to make things better as we continue to grow?

THOUGHTS OF THE DAY: Think ahead, build systems that will benefit a company twice the size. Figure out your leadership team of the future. Imagine your customers of the future.

Build controls that serve the increased volume of activity. Learn about technology advances that can help you stay ahead of productivity and innovation curves.

Companies, like individuals, are organisms, and they’re either growing or decaying. If it sounds like your company is more on the side of growth, your job is to keep it there.

Companies, like individuals, can run into inflection points where they max out knowledge, run low on new ideas and get stalled. Your job as CEO is to infuse new, actionable ideas by dreaming about what is possible, getting an education on what comes next and engaging your people in pursuit of the possibilities of tomorrow.

Brainstorm what the company could look like down the road, at twice the size, with additional customers, new markets to serve, additional employees and systems to do the work. Not sure how to do that? Get

help now before it’s too late.

Consider what systems your company will need at twice the size. What areas will need additional resources? What parts will hardly grow? Start building underlying systems now that can support the company in the future. Try not to take huge bets, but rather move incrementally.

Send people to classes and to visit worksites that have, or are building, what your company will need in the future.

Learn about what works for others and think how you can adapt that to work in your environment.

At twice the size, you’ll need a lot more skill. Who on your management team is capable of growth? Who needs to be replaced? Who needs a stronger support structure? Do a person-by-per-

son assessment of strengths, weaknesses and needs.

Define skills for the future. Map out the organization’s people structure at twice the size. Consider what needs can be met by contractors and consultants. What will come from additions to the staff or boosting current workforce talent? Make a priority list, like a shopping list. Set up an annual budget for talent growth and acquisition and get to work assembling tomorrow’s dream team.

How much time do you spend thinking about who your company will serve 10 years from now? Probably not enough. While your company is busy servicing today’s customers, it also has to be imagining and designing what the future looks like. Who will have needs to

solve, money to spend and the motivation to look outside for solutions?

Set aside time quarterly to brainstorm about where the world is going and how your company might fit into that brave new world.

Consider the customers and markets that can drive future growth and profits.

Increased size needs more controls. How will you ensure quality and accuracy and oversee a company that has a lot more moving parts?

Get to know what companies two to three times your size do to maintain control.

Where will the world be in five or 10 years? Dedicate a portion of your year to attending innovation conferences and reading what futurists say. Build a vision of how your company could fit in. Challenge your staff

to engage with this vision and contribute to how your company will operate down the road.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: “Think Like a Futurist: Know What Changes, What Doesn’t, and What’s Next,”

by Cecily Sommers.

Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., StrategyLeaders.com, a business-consulting firm that teaches companies how to double revenue and triple profits in repetitive growth cycles.

Have a question for AskAndi?

Wondering how Strategy Leaders can help your business thrive? Call or email for a free consultation and diagnostics at 877-238-3535 or AskAndi@StrategyLeaders. com. Check out our library of business advice articles at AskAndi.com.

NEWS NOON Sign up now at westfaironline.com

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CONNECT, LAUNCH & GR OW WBDC is Connecticut’s premier resource to support and accelerate women’s business ownership.

For networking, mentorship, and technical assistance, visit ctwbdc.org or call 203-353-1750

Join us for the Women’s Business Development Council’s Annual Gala Luncheon & Awards Ceremony FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2019 AT 11:00AM HYATT REGENCY GREENWICH 1800 East Putnam Avenue • Old Greenwich, CT

For information on sponsorships and tickets, please contact akalish@ctwbdc.org TITLE SPONSOR

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Lamont, Cuomo partner on e-cig and legalized marijuana guidelines

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (left) and Gov. Ned Lamont.

BY PHIL HALL phall@westfairinc.com

G

PRINT JOURNALISM: BECAUSE IT STILL MATTERS. westfaironline.com

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ovs. Ned Lamont and Andrew M. Cuomo have launched a partnership between Connecticut and New York designed to create a uniform cross-border approach to policies related to e-cigarettes and the legalization of recreational marijuana.

After a Sept. 25 meeting in Hartford, they announced a summit on Oct. 17 with policymakers joining public health and law enforcement

officials from both states discussing these subjects. New York became the first state to ban flavored e-cigarette sales, but Connecticut does not have a similar prohibition. And while neither state has approved the sale of recreational marijuana, the summit will address issues, including taxation, product safety and testing, marketing and banking and financial services in relation to a future legalization framework.

“Every day, thousands of New Yorkers travel over the border to work in Connecticut, and thousands

of Connecticut commuters rely on New York for their livelihood,” Lamont said. “It’s common sense for our states to be aligned in numerous policy areas.”

“Policies governing vaping products and recreational marijuana will require regional symmetry because it makes little sense for one state to do something if a neighboring state has a totally different policy,” Cuomo said. “Without coordination, you end up incentivizing people to drive over the border to buy a different or cheaper product.”

Forever 21 files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; fate of stores unknown

BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

F

ast fashion” clothing retail chain Forever 21 has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing more than $1 billion in liabilities.

In documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, Forever 21 Inc. said it had liabilities between $1 billion and $10 billion owed to more than 100,000 creditors. It reported assets in

the same $1 billion-to-$10 billion range.

Indications that the chain could file for bankruptcy protection began to emerge in late August when it was speculated that Forever 21 could join such other recent high-profile retail bankruptcies as Payless, Toys R Us and Charlotte Russe.

There are 600 Forever 21 stores in the U.S. – including in Danbury, Stamford, and Trumbull in Connecticut, and in Poughkeepsie, Yorktown

Heights and Yonkers in New York – with approximately 200 additional outlets in Canada, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

The issue of potential store closures remains an open question. In a letter to its customers, Forever 21 said, “We have requested approval to close a number of stores across the U.S. The decisions as to which domestic stores will be closing are ongoing, pending the outcome of continued conversations with landlords.

FOCUS ON

REAL ESTATE FAIRFIELD COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL

Single-family home and condo sales down statewide in August

BY PHIL HALL phall@westfairinc.com

S

ales of single-family homes and condominiums in Connecticut declined during August, according to data from The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record.

Single-family home sales across the state totaled 3,474 transactions, a decrease from August 2018 when there were 3,711 transactions. This marked the lowest level of transactions in the month since August 2015. But while sales were down, prices were up. The median single-family home price increased by 2.9 percent

on a year-over-year basis to $280,000 — a six-year high for the month of August.

Year-to-date, there have been 22,147 single-family home sales in Connecticut, down 4.8 percent from the same period in 2018, while the median sale price hit $265,000, a 1.9 percent increase from one year earlier.

“Single-family home sales have been down every month in 2019 on a year-over-year basis,” said Tim Warren, CEO of The Warren Group. “With the last full month of the summer housing market behind us — which is historically the busiest time of the season — I don’t expect this trend to

reverse during the remainder of 2019.”

In the Connecticut condominium market, the 861 transactions represented a 10.1 percent drop from the 958 sales recorded in August 2018.

The median sale price was also in decline, slipping to $170,000 from $178,000 in August 2018. Year-to-date, there have been 6,033 condo sales, a 1.7 percent decrease from the first eight months of 2018, while the median sale price of $165,000 represented a 2.3 percent decrease from one year earlier.

“Condo sales for August saw the biggest year-over-year decline since 2010,” Warren said.

Real estate sales in Connecticut have dropped every month this year.

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FOCUS ON REAL ESTATE COMMERCIAL

TOMBOLINO RISTORANTE SINCE 1977 IS READY FOR RETIREMENT! FOR SALE | 356 Kimball Ave | Yonkers

Listed by Peter Chen & Garry Klein | Klein Lanza Team | $1,499,000

ROCK LEDGE PLAZA

FOR SALE | 1164 Route 9G | Hyde Park

Listed by Don Minichino & Steven Salomone | $749,000 *Also for Sale Pinewoods Prof. Center *

PRICE IMPROVEMENT ON TASTEFULLY RENOVATED OFFICE

Top: A rendering of what Bridgeport’s Steelpointe Harbor and marina will ultimately look like.

Bottom: The dock at Bridgeport’s Steelpointe Harbor. Photos courtesy Bridgeport Landing Development.

FOR LEASE | 50 Charles Street | Westport Listed by Tom LaPerch | $35/PSF/Gross

1

ALTICE (CABLEVISION/OPTIMUM LIGHTPATH) BUILDING

RENOVATED MIXED-USE BUILDING FOR SALE | 864 Franklin Avenue | Thornwood

Listed by Mike Rackenberg | $3,480,000

Listed by Alexander Cohen | Klein Lanza Team | $1,200,000

NEW PALTZ PLAZA SUPERMARKET ANCHORED ON MAIN STREET

OFFICE SUITES IN ARLINGTON GATEWAY

FOR SALE | 1 Van Cortlandt Avenue | Ossining

FOR LEASE | 271 Route 299 (Main St.) | New Paltz Listed by Alan Zuckerman | 4,000 SF Available

FOR LEASE | 8 & 11 Raymond Ave | Poughkeepsie Listed by Don Minichino & Steven Salomone | $3,500 - $4,000/Month Gross

FREESTANDING BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN WHITE PLAINS

RENOVATED OFFICE SPACE

FOR SALE | 253 Mamaroneck Ave | White Plains

Listed by Bryan Lanza | Klein Lanza Team | $3,495,000

TURN KEY RETAIL SPACE

FOR SUBLEASE | 1 S. Central Avenue | Hartsdale

Listed by Kim Galton | Asking $90,000 Key Money | $3,111/Month + Electric

FOR LEASE | 352 Route 202 | Somers Listed by Kim Galton | $24.89/PSF/Modified Gross

CENTRALLY LOCATED 2ND FLOOR OFFICE SPACE

FOR LEASE | 595 W. Hartsdale Ave | Hartsdale Listed by Rich Aponte | $25.00/PSF/MG

800 WESTCHESTER AVENUE, RYE BROOK, NEW YORK 10573 914.798.4900 • HOULIHANLAWRENCE.COM/COMMERCIAL

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OCTOBER 7, 2019

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Waterfront —

13,000-square-foot Boca, Bass Pro Shops opened a 150,000-square-foot building at 1 Bass Pro Drive in 2015, followed a year later

by Starbucks, Chipotle and T-Mobile stores in a commercial building across the street at 255 E. Main.

Tyliszczak noted that although the developers had originally hoped to open the marina this past summer, it has now set their sights on next summer.

“We’re taking reservations for the next boating season now,” he said.

Complementing it is the 45,000-square-foot Bridgeport Boatworks, a full-service boat service and storage operation that opened in June 2018.

BLD is part of Miamibased RCI Marine Group, which first got involved with the project 18 years ago, according to Sam Haydock,

director of business development and client care at BL Companies, the site’s engineering firm.

“It was basically a trash heap” then, Haydock said, noting that a massive brownfields remediation program was necessary to deal with such long-abandoned buildings as a United Illuminating power plant.

“It cost over $110 million just to get the site development-ready,” he said.

That RCI Founder and Chairman Robert W. Christoph and his son, President of Operations Robert W. Christoph Jr., have stuck with the project is a testament to their philosophy of commitment, Tyliszczak said.

“They’re not in this to make quick money,” he said.

“They want their families to be able to make money here for years to come.”

Still looming over the entire project is the desire

to make it “a major entertainment destination — aka MGM,” Tyliszczak said, referring to that company’s lobbying to build a $675 million casino at Steelpointe Harbor.

Those efforts have been buffeted by political winds for the past several years, with the latest development being a plan under which the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes — which respectively operate the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos — would spend a minimum of $100 million toward a $300 million entertainment and gambling facility in the city.

Nevertheless, Tyliszczak noted, should the casino plan come to naught, “We were looking at a residential complex (in that space) before MGM showed any interest in it.”

If that interest disappears, he said, “We have plans A, B, C, D, E, F and G for it.”

FOCUS ON REAL ESTATE

‘Bistro, Bowling, Bocce’ coming next month to SoNo Collection

BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

B

istro, Bowling, Bocce” may not sound like a normal night out — and that’s just what Dale Schwartz is counting on.

Schwartz is the founder and CEO of Pinstripes, the dining and entertainment concept based in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook, Illinois, whose motto is mentioned above. Pinstripes is wrapping construction on its first location in the Northeast at the SoNo Collection, the $525 million, 717,000-square-foot megamall set to open in Norwalk on Oct. 11. Schwartz’s operation is looking at a November opening.

Since its founding in 2006, Pinstripes has opened 10 locations around the country, with Norwalk being one of three newly announced sites.

Schwartz said the ultimate aim is “having over a hundred in the U.S. over the next number of years.”

The SoNo location joins two others opening as part of a deal giving real estate company Brookfield Property Partners a minority equity interest in Pinstripes: at Streets at Southpoint in Durham, North Carolina (scheduled for completion in 2021) and at Halley Rise in Reston, Virginia (which will open “2022-ish,” Schwartz said). Pinstripes already had a location within Brookfield’s portfolio, at the Oakbrook Center outside of Chicago.

Both Schwartz and Sandeep Mathrani, CEO of Brookfield Properties and vice chairman of Brookfield Property Group, said Pinstripes’ combination of dining and entertainment plays to the growing trend of creating “experiential,” rather than simply “dining” or “retail” environments.

“There are not a lot of new ground-up malls being built,” Schwartz noted. “And we’ve been looking for markets where there’s an attractive residential market with an appreciation of quality and a deep, broad corporate base.” That SoNo has attracted such tenants as Apple and Bloomingdale’s was also a factor, he said.

In anticipation of its expansion plans, Pinstripes hired Susan Walmesley, formerly vice president of marketing with Topgolf, as its chief marketing officer, and Rob Hense, former head of real estate at both Apple and Crate & Barrel, as its chief development officer.

Schwartz — whose resume includes being the founder and president of D&J Sealcoating Inc. (1979-88); chief financial officer of Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals, now Sirna Therapeutics (1991-96) and co-founder and co-CEO of Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy at the turn of the century — said he came up with the concept in the late ’80s

when he worked in the private equity sector.

“There was a bowling alley at 74th and Broadway in Manhattan that we’d all go to after work,” he said. “I had the name Pinstripes, denoting both a bowling pin and an upscale suit, pretty early on but never had the chance to use it.”

That opportunity came about 14 years ago, he said, “when I decided that life’s too short and stepped down from Pharmaca, and spent the next two years putting the pieces together to start Pinstripes.”

Schwartz said he expects to host close to 2,000 events a year at Pinstripes’

20,000-square-foot SoNo site.

Lest one think of traditional bowling alley fare, Schwartz noted that Pinstripes’ bistro component includes steak and seafood entrees (most expensive item: an espresso-crusted filet mignon at $32) alongside pasta, sandwiches, pizzas and the like — “100% made from scratch,” he said — along with a wide-ranging, Italianinfluenced wine list.

And if one fears being unable to converse over the noise of crashing pins, the entrepreneur said the sporting areas are separated by layers of soundproofing.

“And our menu is available to bowlers as well — if they want some filet and a bottle of wine while they’re bowling, we can do that,” he said.

The bocce component was added when Schwartz “stumbled across it in Los Gatos,” California, one day, he said, noting that both bowling and bocce leagues are welcome.

But bowling seems to be closest to his heart.

“It’s always fun,” he said of the sport.

“There’s something way wrong with you if you don’t like bowling.”

With more than 1 million square feet built to date on 300 contiguous acres and more than 1 million square feet buildable, Berkshire Corporate Park is Fairfield County’s leading Corporate Park.

• Leasing, ownership or Build to Suit opportunities available 2,000 SF 1 million SF • Data/telecom fiber and power infrastructure • On site daycare and recreation • On site owners/developers • Easily accessible from I84, exits 7, 8 and 9 and from Route 7 exit 11

2 Parklawn Drive, Bethel, CT 06801 www.BerkshireCorporatePark.com

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OCTOBER 7, 2019

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GOOD THINGS SILVER HILL HOSPITAL APPOINTS RENOWNED BRITISH PSYCHOANALYST A nationally recognized leader in the treatment of psychiatric and addiction disorders, Silver Hill in new Canaan has announced the appointment of Peter Fonagy, Ph.D., F.B.A., to its board of directors. Fonagy, whose clinical interests focus on borderline psychopathology, violence and early attachment relationships, is chief executive of the Anna Freud Centre, a mental health research, training and treatment center for children and families in London.

Fonagy has experienced the positive impact of therapy in his own life. As a Hungarian refugee brought to London as a boy, Fonagy became depressed as an adolescent as he tried to acclimate to a new culture and environment. He is a professor of contemporary psychoanalysis and developmental science and head of the Division of Psychology and Language Sciences at University College London.

NORWALK COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER IN TOP 10% The U.S. Department of Health and Social Services has recognized Norwalk Community Health Center Inc. (NCHC) as among the top 10% of health centers nationally for clinical quality.

According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), NCHC, a nonprofit health care provider, is one of only 150 health centers out of more than 1,400 nationwide to achieve this gold-standard milestone.

Awardees are judged on quality clinical measurements that indicate how well a health center does in screening, intervention and treatment of patients for a variety of diseases.

Earlier this year, HRSA also singled out NCHC’s WeCare program for national recognition as a promising practice. Cited for its innovative and effective approach, WeCare has reduced nonurgent emergency room visits by 50% among program participants.

Information for these features has been submitted by the subjects or their delegates.

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NEARLY $1M FROM WALMART TO WHOLESOME WAVE

James Beard award-winning chef Bill Kaliff.

MUSEUM & NATURE CENTER’S NIGHTS OUT FOR ADULTS

Craig Lomma, CEO of Wholesome Wave, left, with Michel Nischan, founder and chairman of Wholesome Wave.

A leading national nonprofit that works to increase affordable access to fruits and vegetables, Wholesome Wave of Bridgeport has received nearly $1 million in grant funds from Walmart to build its capacity to serve more people in need.

Since 2007, Wholesome Wave has empowered low-income shoppers to make healthier food choices by giving them the power to purchase fruits and vegetables.

STAMFORD HEALTH LEADS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) recognized Stamford Health as one of HealthCare’s Most Wired 2019 hospitals and systems, signifying the independent health care system as a leader in information technology (IT). Stamford Health is one of only

169 hospitals nationally to achieve level eight or better and one of five hospitals in Connecticut to receive this recognition.

CHIME, the professional organization for chief information officers and other health care IT leaders, awards the Most Wired recognition to hospitals and health

systems that use health care information technology to improve the delivery of care to patients. A total of 16,138 organizations across the country were represented in this year’s Most Wired program.

A nonprofit, independent health care system with more than 3,500 employees, this is Stamford Health’s third consecutive year of being honored with CHIME’s Most Wired award.

RETIRING LEADERSHIP AT UNITED WAY As the United Way of Coastal Fairfield County prepares to celebrate its 99th anniversary, several key leaders have announced their retirement. At the end of 2019, president and CEO Merle Berke-Schlessel will retire along with chief operating and major gift development officer David R. Kennedy.

Cathy DeCesare, senior vice president,

strategic initiatives, will transition to parttime and fully retire in June 2020.

Attorney Berke-Schlessel has served as president and CEO for over 18 years. She has transitioned the United Way from a federated fundraiser to a dynamic catalyst for social change.

Kennedy celebrated 30 years of service

to the United Way system this year. He was the president and CEO of the United Way of Norwalk and Wilton, which merged into the United Way of Coastal Fairfield County.

DeCesare, who will retire from her full-time position, has been responsible for improving systems work around early childhood and literacy.

FAIRFIELD MUSEUM RECEIVES CONNECTICUT HUMANITIES GRANTS The Fairfield Museum has received three grants from Connecticut Humanities to support its upcoming exhibitions and strategic planning for the next decade.

The first grant was awarded to support planning for a new exhibition titled “Speak Up! Speak Out!” which is scheduled for July 2 to Jan. 18, 2021. It will celebrate and explore the history of citizens’ advoca-

cy in the Fairfield region and the vital role that social activism plays in communities.

The museum will use this exhibition as a way to address the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.

The second grant will fund several phases of the Fairfield Museum’s strategic planning process and allow the museum to work with some of the leading museum

consultants to set priorities for future programs and exhibits and establish a series of strategic frameworks to guide the next decade of growth.

The third grant funds improvements to the museum’s “Creating Community” exhibition, including a section on immigration and migration to Fairfield in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

A new series of adult programs designed to spark creativity and promote social connection, cultural exploration, continued learning, flavor and fun has been launched

by Stamford Museum & Nature Center (SM&NC) at 39 Scofieldtown Road in Stamford. Dubbed “Nights Out,” participants from all areas are encouraged to register for individual or multiple programs in the series. Light refreshments and a selection of fine wines in SM&NC’s new Knobloch Family Farmhouse will be available.

In addition to the honey tasting and pairing series by professional honey sommelier Marina Marchese, which begins Wednesday, Oct. 20, will be the fall cooking series, “Home for the Holidays,” with James Beard award-winning chef Bill Kaliff – a six week culinary course of recipes and presentations to enhance any home cook’s holiday repertoire.

To learn more about Nights Out at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center and register for its series, visit stamfordmuseum.org/nightsout.

KEYBANK A LEADING DISABILITY EMPLOYER For the third year, KeyBank was recognized by the National Organization on Disability (NOD) as a leading disability employer.

(About 57 million people with disabilities live in America.) Activities underway at KeyBank to support people with disabilities and caregivers include: Champions of People with Disabilities (CPD) business networking group, which strives to create a welcoming environment and sustain inclusive best practices for employees and clients with disabilities and/or caregivers.

• Encouragement of voluntary self-identification, which increased 40% from 2017 to 2018.

• Talent acquisition has nearly doubled since focused efforts in 2015.

• Reasonable accommodations from recruitment to employment, which individuals with disabilities or disabled veterans can request when applying.

FIRST ANNUAL WISDOM + WELLNESS CANCER SYMPOSIUM The first annual Wisdom + Wellness Cancer Symposium to be held at the Greenwich Arts Council at 299 Greenwich Ave. on Sunday, Oct. 27, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., is designed for patients who want to heal from cancer and thrive with it. It is also for health professionals, advocates, caregivers and those interested in prevention.

Topics will range from lab work to lifestyle.

Kathryn Doherty, radical remission instructor and coach and Greenwich resident, is the symposium director.

Participants include Henning Saupe, M.D., of Bad Emstal, Germany, founder, Arcadia Clinic, Germany; Ann Fonfa, founder, Annie Appleseed Project and breast cancer survivor; Michael Finkelstein, M.D., founder, The Slow Medicine Foundation and SunRaven in Bedford, New York; Michael Diamond, founder, Diamond Integrative Health, Patchogue and the Hamptons, New York; and John Malanca, founder, United Patients Group, Greenbrae, California.

A patient panel will feature individuals who have experienced extraordinary results through natural and unconventional treatments.

Register for the symposium at integrativewisdomandwellness.com/ register-now.

PRESENTERS AT 2019 BUSINESS WOMEN’S FORUM

2019 workshop presenters include: Lauren White-Bingley; Cindy Maher and Jamie Guite; Liz Dederer; Dana Hilmer; Connie Podesta; and Stacy London.

Westport-based Lauren White-Bingley Design will be among the six empowering workshop presenters at the Business Women’s Forum (BWF), a personal and professional development leadership conference for women.

The 2019 BWF will also feature Stacy London, a fashion expert, author and TV personality as its keynote speaker, as well as award-winning motivational speaker Connie Podesta.

The 37th annual event is set forTuesday, Oct. 29, 8 a.m.

to 4:30 p.m., at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville. The anticipated 600-plus guests at the 2019 BWF will choose from six workshops to bring new knowledge and expertise back to their workplace and to network with workshop presenters.

Morning workshops will include presentations by leading-edge coaches Cindy Maher, Jamie Guite, Dana Hilmer and Connie Podesta.

The afternoon workshop will be presented by Liz

Dederer and Lauren White-Bingley.

Admission fees start at $225 for a full-day conference pass. Fees include a day of speakers, breakfast, lunch, professional training workshops, networking opportunities, plus a closing reception featuring door and raffle prizes, hors d’oeuvres and beverages.

For more and to register, visit 2019bwf.com or call 203-757-0701.

HENKEL NA CELEBRATES 143RD ANNIVERSARY WITH #TRASHFIGHTERS INITIATIVE

STAMFORD ATTORNEYS NAMED ‘BEST LAWYERS’

Employees from Henkel North America’s consumer goods headquarters in Stamford and beauty professional office in Darien gathered at Stamford’s Mill River Park to pick up trash and debris from the park’s meadows and riverbanks, commencing the company’s global #trashfighters employee initiative against plastic waste in North America.

Located in the heart of Stamford, Mill River Park has over 30 acres of reclaimed green space and a thriving natural ecosystem, making it an ideal location for local Henkel employees to get involved. #trashfighters is a global Henkel initiative to raise awareness of the fight against plastic waste. Henkel employees are taking action by organizing clean-up events in parks, beaches and local neighborhoods across the U.S. with more than 200 employees participating in the events.

Henkel’s broader sustainability commitments include ambitious packaging targets, including making 100% of its packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025, having already achieved 80 percent of its packaging meeting the criteria. The company also strives to increase the share of recycled plastic used in its packaging. The North American Laundry & Home Care products business is already using at least 25 percent recycled plastics.

Five attorneys at Wofsey, Rosen, Kweskin & Kuriansky LLP have been listed in the 2020 edition of Best Lawyers in America, one of the oldest peer-review publications in the legal profession.

A listing is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor, conferred on a lawyer by his or her peers.

The lawyers listed are David M. Cohen, Steven M. Frederick, Eric M. Higgins, Daniel M. Young, all of Stamford, and Stephen Finn of New Canaan.

Best Lawyers also named Frederick “Lawyer of the Year” for 2020 in the category of Employment Law – Management in Stamford.

Co-managing partner Higgins practices in the area of family law. Cohen was recognized as a best lawyer for employment law for individuals, labor and employment litigation, Finn was recognized in the practice area of personal injury litigation for plaintiffs. Young was recognized in the area of employment law for individuals.

PRINT JOURNALISM: BECAUSE IT STILL MATTERS. FCBJ

OCTOBER 7, 2019

21

Facts & Figures BUILDING PERMITS Commercial Fairview Country Club, Greenwich, contractor for Fairview Country Club. Add swinging garage door with an integrated main door at 1241 King St., Greenwich. Estimated cost: $3,000. Filed June 2019.

Bertone, Vincenzo, Cos Cob, contractor for Vincenzo Bertone. Add detached garage at 8 Orchard St., Cos Cob. Estimated cost: $60,000. Filed June 2019.

Bimbo Bakeries USA, Greenwich, contractor for Bimbo Bakeries USA. Remove and re-roof 10 Hamilton Ave., Greenwich. Estimated cost: $437,000. Filed June 2019.

Bodey, Robert, Old Greenwich, contractor for Robert Bodey. Build pool at 33 Heusted Drive, Old Greenwich.

Estimated cost: $30,000. Filed June 2019.

BRT Services LLC, Greenwich, contractor for DeLuca Frank G Realty Inc. Replace windows at 210 12 Sound Beach Ave., Old Greenwich.

Estimated cost: $3,400. Filed June 2019.

Burger Fay Jr., Greenwich, contractor for Burger Fay Jr. Renovate garage to game room, add bedroom, bath and laundry room at 45 Midwood Road, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $300,000. Filed June 2019.

CH Nickerson and Company Inc., Stamford, contractor for the city of Stamford.

Renovate and upgrade to Stamford Pollution Plant at 5 Harbor View Ave., Stamford.

Estimated cost: $4,200,000.

Filed June 14.

D&A Construction, Stamford, contractor for KNAPP Street Investors. Install antennas and cables at 14 Knapp St., Stamford. Estimated cost: $18,000. Filed June 13.

D&A Construction, Stamford, contractor for Cellco Partnership. Replace and upgrade telecommunications facilities at 4 Eastover Road, Stamford. Estimated cost: $25,000. Filed June 14.

East Post Realty LLC, Greenwich, contractor for East Post Realty LLC. Remodel existing retail space at 51-53 E. Putnam Ave., Greenwich. Estimated cost: $125,000. Filed June 2019.

Haynes Construction Co., Stamford, contractor for Jonathan Rose Companies. New construction at 681 Atlantic St., Stamford. Estimated cost: $2,341,602. Filed April 30.

John Desmond Builders Inc., Stamford, contractor for Edgehill Property Corp. Alterate interiors at 122 Palmers Hill Road, Stamford. Estimated cost: $75,000. Filed June 13.

Marchetti, Carole A. Old Greenwich, contractor for Carole A. Marchetti. Remove and re-roof 36 Edgewater Drive, Old Greenwich. Estimated cost: $10,000. Filed June 2019.

Moss Ledge Associates LLC, Stamford, contractor for Moss Ledge Associates LLC. Build a facility for gymnastics classes at 911 Hope St., Stamford. Estimated cost: $1. Filed June 14.

Items appearing in the Fairfield County Business Journal’s On The Record section are compiled from various sources, including public records made available to the media by federal, state and municipal agencies and the court system. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this information, no liability is assumed for errors or omissions. In the case of legal action, the records cited are open to public scrutiny and should be inspected before any action is taken.

Questions and comments regarding this section should be directed to: Bob Rozycki c/o Westfair Communications Inc. 701 Westchester Ave, Suite 100 J White Plains, N.Y. 10604-3407 Phone: 694-3600 • Fax: 694-3699

22

OCTOBER 7, 2019

S. Cruz Construction LLC, Stamford, contractor for Stamcon Holdings LLC. Replace wood and install ice and water shield at 1455 Washington Blvd, Stamford. Estimated cost: $131,400. Filed June 12.

Town of Greenwich Civic Center. Old Greenwich, contractor for the town of Greenwich Civic Center. Set up for a private party at 90 Harding Road, Old Greenwich. Estimated cost: $500. Filed June 2019.

FCBJ

ON THE RECORD

Wescorp Builders, Greenwich, contractor for 12 Havemeyer Place Company LLC. Perform replacement and alterations at 60 Arch St., Greenwich. Estimated cost: $75,000.

Filed June 2019.

Form LTD, Greenwich, contractor for Gustavo and Monica Valle. Enlarge patio, install barbecue, fireplace and sink at 30 Near water Lane, Riverside.

Estimated cost: $54,000. Filed June 2019.

Lawson, Duncan and E. Lawson, Greenwich, contractor for Duncan Lawson.

Construct new wood deck at 19 Bailiwick Road, Greenwich.

Estimated cost: $110,000.

Filed June 2019.

Residential

Frank Giacobbe Developers, Westport, contractor for James Eisenberg. Create a new full bath at 49 Meadow Wood Drive, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $15,000. Filed June 2019.

Lumazza, Richard and Hagah K. Lumazza, Cos Cob, contractor for Richard Lumazza. Replace concrete in bluestone patio at 13 Valley wood Road, Cos Cob. Estimated cost: $15,000. Filed June 2019.

22 Elm Place Company LLC, Greenwich, contractor for 22 Elm Place Company LLC. Remodel Apple store and make two new restrooms at 356 Greenwich Ave., Greenwich. Estimated cost: $425,000. Filed June 2019.

Ball, Michael and Joanne Murphy, Cos Cob, contractor for Michael Ball and Joanne Murphy. Construct a new single-family at 29 Chestnut St., Cos Cob. Estimated cost: $532,000. Filed June 2019.

Brunswick School, Greenwich, contractor for Brunswick School. Convert storage space to a wood shop at 1275 King St., Greenwich. Estimated cost: $30,000. Filed June 2019.

C&C Home Finishing LLC, New Fairfield, contractor for Debra Bernstein. Add deck, remove dining room window and install sliding glass door at 29 Midbrook Lane, Old Greenwich. Estimated cost: $15,000. Filed June 2019.

Clarke, Roger J., Greenwich, contractor for Roger J. Clarke.

Replace damaged sheetrock and replace windows at 80 Buckfield Lane, Greenwich.

Estimated cost: $8,000. Filed June 2019.

Cove Tent Co. Stamford, contractor for Phillip K. Doherty and Kathryn P. Set up for a private party at 75 Valley wood Road, Cos Cob. Estimated cost: $4,500. Filed June 2019.

Fitzpatrick, Ronan, Greenwich, contractor for Ronan Fitzpatrick. Remove wooden deck at 7 Cherry Valley Road, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $1,000. Filed June 2019.

Flying Colors Roofing LLC, Brookfield, contractor for Jonathan Levy. Install new roof on entire house at 976 North St., Greenwich. Estimated cost: $20,000. Filed June 2019.

Giannas Contracting LLC, Sherman, contractor for Greenwich Academy. Replace covered porch and balcony at 35 Northfield St., Greenwich.

Estimated cost: $19,250. Filed June 2019.

Gourdon, Maurice Pierre, Greenwich, contractor for Maurice Pierre Gourdon.

Convert garage into a gym at 51 Sawmill Lane, Greenwich.

Estimated cost: $55,000. Filed June 2019.

Henry Showah Construction LLC, Trumbull, contractor for Greenwich Place. Renovate bathroom and install gas pipeline for furnace and boiler at 100 Putnam Green, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $30,000.

Filed June 2019.

Herrara, Julio and Li TianTzy, Greenwich, contractor for Julio Herrara. Perform alterations in kitchen and master bath at 197 Otter Rock Drive, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $100,000. Filed June 2019.

Kechejian, Hagop and Vanessa Kechejian, Greenwich, contractor for Hagop Kechejian. Remodel kitchen cabinets and add a breakfast room at 45 Nutmeg Drive, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $92,000. Filed June 2019.

Lallygone LLC, Whippany, New Jersey, contractor for Jonathan Wang. Reinforce structural beam at 101 Maple Ave., Greenwich. Estimated cost: $4,350. Filed June 2019.

Larry DeLuca Excavating LLC, Cos Cob, contractor for 31 Northridge Road LLC. Perform replacement alterations at 31 Northridge Road, Old Greenwich. Estimated cost: $10,000. Filed June 2019.

M&M Constructions LLC, Wilton, contractor for Phillip J. McWhorter. Renovate master bathroom at 96 Perkins Road, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $26,500. Filed June 2019.

McGivern Hugh Constant LLC, Greenwich, contractor for Nazerali Nurallah. Renovate windows at 10 Florence Road, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $16,700. Filed June 2019.

Stamford Tent, Stamford, contractor for Peter D. Kiernann Lii. Set up for a private party at 428 Round Hill Road, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $2,000. Filed June 2019.

Stamford Tent, Stamford, contractor for Allison Coleman. Set up for a private party at 16 Highgate Road, Riverside.

Estimated cost: $20,000. Filed June 2019.

Stern, Michael, Old Greenwich, contractor for Michael Stern. Perform replacement alterations at 14 West End Ave., Old Greenwich. Estimated cost: $15,000. Filed June 2019.

Tolles, Paul, Greenwich, contractor for Manufacturers Hanover/JPM. Replace stairs, modify attic closet and install hardwood floor in attic at 12 Sidney Lanier Lane, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $75,000.

Filed June 2019.

Meehan, Tim, Stratford, contractor for 116 Oneida Drive I LLC. Construct swimming pool and required safety barrier at 116 Oneida Drive, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $95,000.

Filed June 2019.

TR Building & Remodeling Inc, New Canaan, contractor for Alan E. Gilbert and Marlene C. Gilbert. Renovate master suite, bathroom and guest bathroom at 39 Edgewood Drive, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $220,000. Filed June 2019.

Norell, Lars R. and Lynn N. Norell, Old Greenwich, contractor for Lars R. Norell. Rebuild outdoor wooden deck, outdoor stone fireplace and chimney at 12 Eggleston Lane, Old Greenwich. Estimated cost: $135,000. Filed June 2019.

Vaclavik, Peter, Yonkers, New York, contractor for Clay E. Ellis and Lisa A. Ellis. Renovate kitchen and bathroom at 39 Valley wood Road, Cos Cob. Estimated cost: $10,000. Filed June 2019.

Raymond J. Forehand Association, Fairfield, contractor for Harbor Bruce. Build fireplace and install of new French doors at 47 Arcadia Road, Old Greenwich. Estimated cost: $25,000. Filed June 2019.

Voye, Nancy S. and Weissler M., Riverside, contractor for Nancy S. Voye and Weissler M.Voye. Convert bookcases to stationary glass panels at 39 Willow mere Circle, Riverside.

Estimated cost: $37,400. Filed June 2019.

Redwood Construction, Bethel, contractor for Ryan Brucato. Add new garage and renew interior at 24 Pecks Land Road, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $1,200,000. Filed June 2019.

Wistrand, Betty, Greenwich, contractor for Betty Wistrand.

Replace deck at 50 Chapel St., Greenwich. Estimated cost: $10,000. Filed June 2019.

Richardson, Michele, Greenwich, contractor for Michele Richardson. Construct front porch at 176 Hobart Ave., Greenwich. Estimated cost: $10,000. Filed June 2019.

Zakhar, Theodore, Norwalk, contractor for Frank Corvino.

Replace roof at 31 Horseshoe Road, Greenwich. Estimated cost: $16,800. Filed June 2019.

Facts & Figures COURT CASES Bridgeport Superior Court Allen, Susanne M, Wilton.

Filed by JPMorgan Chase Bank National Association, Columbus, Ohio. Plaintiff’s attorney: Bendett & McHugh PC, Farmington. Action: The plaintiff was assigned the defendant’s mortgage. The defendant defaulted on the terms of the agreement and has failed to pay the plaintiff the amount due. The plaintiff claims foreclosure of the mortgage, possession of the mortgage premises, monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate. Case no. FBT-CV-196087522-S. Filed June 28.

Casciato, Thomas R., et al, Bridgeport. Filed by Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co., Plaintiff’s attorney: Bendett & McHugh PC, Farmington. Action: The plaintiff was assigned the defendants’ mortgage. The defendants defaulted on the terms of the agreement and have failed to pay the plaintiff the amount due. The plaintiff claims foreclosure of the mortgage, possession of the mortgage premises, monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate. Case no. FBT-CV-196087236-S. Filed June 19.

Eady, James, et al, Stratford.

Filed by Nationstar Mortgage LLC DBA Champion Mortgage Co., Coppell, Texas. Plaintiff’s attorney: Bendett & McHugh PC, Farmington. Action: The plaintiff was assigned the defendants’ mortgage. The defendants defaulted on the terms of the agreement and have failed to pay the plaintiff the amount due. The plaintiff claims foreclosure of the mortgage, possession of the mortgage premises, monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate. Case no. FBT-CV-196087521-S. Filed June 28.

Perry, J. Aaron, et al, Stratford. Filed by Lakeview Loan Servicing, LLC, Coral Gables, Florida. Plaintiff’s attorney: Mccalla Raymer Leibert Pierce LLC, Hartford. Action: The plaintiff was assigned the defendants’ mortgage. The defendants defaulted on the terms of the agreement and have failed to pay the plaintiff the amount due. The plaintiff claims foreclosure of the mortgage, possession of the mortgage premises, monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate. Case no. FBT-CV-196087014-S. Filed June 12.

Danbury Superior Court Great Northern Insurance Co., et al, Whitehouse Station, New Jersey. Filed by Shelly Persaud, Yonkers, New York.

Plaintiff’s attorney: Moore O’Brien & Foti, Middlebury.

Action: The plaintiff suffered a collision allegedly caused by the defendants and sustained severe and painful personal injuries. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate. Case no.

DBD-CV-19-6031233-S. Filed May 7.

Moros, Stefan, Bethel. Filed

by Phyllis Drake, New Milford.

Plaintiff’s attorney: Ventura Law, Danbury. Action: The plaintiff suffered a collision allegedly caused by the defendant and sustained severe and painful personal injuries.

The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate. Case no. DBD-CV19-6032021-S. Filed July 19.

Poole, John S., et al, Crestview, Florida. Filed by Mutual Security Credit Union Inc., Shelton. Plaintiff’s attorney: Frankel & Berg, Norwalk. Action: The plaintiff is owner of the defendants’ mortgage note upon which agreement they have defaulted on the terms failed to pay the plaintiff the amount due. The plaintiff claims foreclosure of the mortgage, possession of the mortgage premises, monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate. Case no. DBD-CV19-6031790-S. Filed June 10.

Puppy Kisses LLC, et al, Danbury. Filed by Andrea Hernandez, Brookfield. Plaintiff’s attorney: Cotter Cotter & Mullins, Trumbull. Action: The plaintiff purchased a dog from the defendants and agreed to apply for financing. She was pushed to sign the paperwork quickly, which was a pet lease agreement and not a loan as she had been told. The defendants committed unfair or deceptive practices and sold a dog for a price that exceeded the fair market value of the animal. The plaintiff seeks a declaration that the lease is void, monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate. Case no.

DBD-CV-19-6031487-S. Filed May 23.

Stamford Superior Court City of Norwalk, et al. Filed

by Marjorie Partch, South Norwalk. Plaintiff’s attorney: Self-represented. Action: The plaintiff is the owner of real property in New Canaan and filed a claim for relief against a wrongful assessment of her property by the defendants.

The plaintiff appealed to the defendants’ tax department claiming the evaluation of her property was grossly excessive, disproportionate and unlawful. The plaintiff seeks a new evaluation of the property and monetary damages exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate. Case no. FST-CV-195021879-S. Filed July 1.

Seccurra Jr., Frank A., et al, Wilton. Filed by Maldonado A. Lanette, Trumbull. Plaintiff’s attorney: Owens Schine & Nicola PC, Trumbull. Action: The plaintiff agreed to allow the defendants to use her personal credit cards with the understanding that the defendants would pay. To date, the defendants are in default of making the payments. In addition, the plaintiff gave an amount of money to the defendants for safe keeping in his personal account and plaintiff demands the return of the money. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate. Case no. FST-CV-196042590-S. Filed July 3.

Shrage, Lauren Morrow, Trumbull. Filed by Louis Cutrone, Stamford. Plaintiff’s attorney: John W Madigan 111, Norwalk. Action: The plaintiff and defendant entered into an agreement in which the plaintiff agreed to provide technology services to the defendant.

The defendant failed to comply with the payment terms and thereby breached the terms of the agreement. The plaintiff seeks monetary damages less than $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs. Case no.

FST-CV-19-6042849-S. Filed July 24.

Spring Landscape Corp., West Harrison, New York.

Filed by Alfred Blanchard, Sparta, New Jersey. Plaintiff’s attorney: Dolan & Dolan LLC, New Haven. Action: The plaintiff was lawfully on the premises that the defendant controlled, when he fell due to a ground-level rear doorway that was unlit, thereby causing him to suffer injuries.

The plaintiff seeks monetary damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of interest and costs and such other and further relief as the court deems appropriate. Case no. FST-CV-196042772-S. Filed July 15.

MacLean, Charles, Stamford. Seller: Keith Grabow and Laurinda Grabow, Stamford.

Property: 1552 Hope St., Stamford. Amount: $695,000. Filed July 18.

Uguna, Fausto, Bridgeport.

Seller: Jordan LLC, Fairfield.

Property: 204 Wheeler Ave., Units 3, 4 and 5, Bridgeport.

Amount: $170,000. Filed May 8.

Miller, Lori Ellen, Fairfield. Seller: Heather Lindsay Lewsey, Fairfield. Property: 357 Harvester Road, Fairfield.

Amount: $382,000. Filed July 9.

Winogradow, Victor and Carol Winogradow, Fairfield. Seller: Westway Road LLC, Trumbull. Property: 469 Westway Road, Fairfield.

Amount: $1,175,000. Filed July 9.

Mills, Travis and Sharon Mills, Bronx, New York. Seller: Nobles Estates LLC, Brooklyn, New York. Property: 1153 Iranistan Ave., Bridgeport. Amount: $340,000. Filed May 6.

Munoz, Ramos and Miguel A. Ramos, Stamford. Seller: Hedgerow Properties LLC, Bridgeport. Property: 1165 Reservoir Ave., Bridgeport.

Amount: $180,000. Filed May 6.

PropTech Home LLC, Trumbull. Seller: Sam Vaddana, Bridgeport. Property: 130 Olive St., Bridgeport. Amount: $35,000. Filed May 6.

Commercial

Pruszko, Rafal and Andrew Pappas, Monroe. Seller: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. Property: 211 Stratfield Place, Bridgeport. Amount: $210,100. Filed May 7.

JP LLC, New York, New York.

Seller: Sengbun Ing and Ngim Chaing Ing, Fairfield. Property: 1335 Park Ave., Bridgeport.

Amount: $105,000. Filed May 6.

Ramos, Israel Angel, Norwalk. Seller: Brookfield Relocation Inc., Scottsdale, Arizona. Property: Scribner Avenue, Norwalk. Amount: $387,500.

Filed June 25.

Farah, Roger N. and Vivian S. Farah, Greenwich.

Seller: 34 Circle Drive LLC, Old Greenwich. Property: 34 Circle Drive, Greenwich.

Amount: $10. Filed July 10.

Sauveur, Iveline and Ivel Sauveur, Stamford. Seller: Quayside Properties LLC, Stamford. Property: 9 Renwick St., Stamford. Amount: $445,000. Filed July 18.

Krasniqi, Azdren and Valbona Krasniqi, Stamford.

Seller: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., Carrollton, Texas. Property: 69 Maple Tree Ave., Unit 1, Stamford.

Amount: $293,000. Filed July 22.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Seller: Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, Rocky Hill. Property: 15 Janet Circle, Unit A, Bridgeport. Amount: $1. Filed May 8.

LPM 401K Trust, Cedarhurst, New York. Seller: Beverly G. Carswell, Bridgeport. Property: 924 Noble Ave., Bridgeport. Amount: $138,000. Filed May 8.

Sun, Ning, Norwalk. Seller: The Bank of New York Mellon, Coppell, Texas. Property: 161 Sunrise Hill Road, Unit 150, Norwalk. Amount: $233,625.

Filed June 24.

DEEDS

FCBJ

Residential Aibel, Hasmig Melkonian and Howard Richard Aibel, Greenwich. Seller: Margaret C. Lutz, Cos Cob. Property: 98 Valley Road, Unit 3, Greenwich. Amount: $555,000. Filed July 11.

Baker, Matthew and Katelin L. Baker, Fairfield.

Seller: Virginia M. Desel, Fairfield. Property: 135 Butternut Lane, Fairfield. Amount: $808,775. Filed July 10.

Beltre, Luis M., Richmond Hill, New York. Seller: Dhanmatie Sookhoo, Bridgeport.

Property: 6 Armstrong Place, Bridgeport. Amount: $240,000. Filed May 6.

Blake, Kimberly S., Weston.

Seller: Katherine K. Hodge and Ronald Hodge II, Fairfield. Property: 167 Salt Meadow Road, No. 167, Fairfield.

Amount: $810,000. Filed July 9.

Brady, Berdie, Greenwich.

Seller: Mairtin Brady and Berdie Brady, Greenwich. Property: 42 Winding Lane, Greenwich. Amount: $1. Filed July 12.

Camargo, Daniel Fernando, Bridgeport. Seller: Victor Navarro, Seymour. Property: 95 Nautilus Road, Bridgeport.

Amount: $290,000. Filed May 6.

Campbell, Chandy C., New Jersey. Seller: Jesus Ortiz, Bridgeport. Property: 272274 Carroll Ave., Bridgeport.

Amount: $127,000. Filed May 7.

OCTOBER 7, 2019

23

Facts & Figures

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Campbell, Chandy C., New Jersey. Seller: Jesus Ortiz, Bridgeport. Property: 276278 Carrol Ave., Bridgeport.

Amount: $132,500. Filed May 7.

Maedina, Aimee, Greenwich. Seller: Laura Marino and Susan Marino, Greenwich. Property: 14 Harold Ave., Unit 2, Greenwich. Amount: $396,000. Filed Sep. 3.

Vance, Robert and Chunling Vance, Norwalk. Seller: Manish Lulla and Sadhna Lassi, Norwalk. Property: 2 Girard St., Norwalk. Amount: $440,100. Filled June 25

Crumpton, Shawndell, Corona, New York. Seller: Danielle M. Lenois, New York, New York. Property: 2773 Fairfield Ave., Apartment 6, Bridgeport.

Amount: $120,000. Filed May 6.

Palhete, Jessica, Norwalk.

Seller: Paul Seeger and Elizabeth Seeger, Norwalk. Property: 22 Fair St., Norwalk.

Amount: $386,000. Filed June 25.

Yazbak, Alfred and John D. Dimenna III, Bridgeport.

Seller: Joanmarie Rose Zoeller and Victoria Lynne Zoeller, Norwalk. Property: 237 Brewster St., Bridgeport. Amount: $350,000. Filed May 6.

Da Mata Patricio, Miguel Nuno and Jill Angelica Vukelja Patricio, Greenwich. Seller: Miguel Nuno Da Mata Patricio and Jill Angelica Vukelja de Patricio, Greenwich. Property: 38 Round Hill Road, Greenwich. Amount: $1.

Filed July 10.

Duran, Jiniana A., Bronx, New York. Seller: Sergay M. Mihaylo and Dale L. Mihaylo, Junction City, California. Property: 89 Robert St., Bridgeport.

Amount: $167,600. Filed May 8.

Flores, Wyatt A. and Laura Flores, Riverside. Seller: Jun Shen, Greenwich. Property: 26 Twin Lakes Lane, Riverside.

Amount: $2,400,000. Filed July 12.

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Gordon, Glenval and Heslyn Gordon, Stratford. Seller: Vinton Peterkin and Valzie Peterkin, Orange. Property: 652-656 Bishop Ave., Bridgeport. Amount: $265,000. Filed May 6.

Kaur, Amandeep, Richmond Hill, New York. Seller: Krishna Vuppala and Sridevi Vuppala, Southport. Property: 40 Southport Ridge, Southport. Amount: $705,000. Filed July 10.

Kee-King, Jorge, Bridgeport.

Seller: Almedin Ahmetovic, Bridgeport. Property: 183 Livingston Place, Unit 4, Bridgeport. Amount: $52,000. Filed May 8.

Lauro, Amanda Elizabeth, Bridgeport. Seller: Angela Reichelt, Bridgeport.

Property: 462 Glendale Ave., Unit 16, Bridgeport. Amount: $107,000. Filed May 6.

Lawten, Victoria and Kelly Lawten, Fairfield. Seller: Renee Davis-Whatley and Susan Davis-Whatley, Fairfield. Property: 500 Katona Drive, Fairfield. Amount: $0. Filed July 9.

24

OCTOBER 7, 2019

FCBJ

Palmieri, Deborah G., Trumbull. Seller: Scott W. Wolfe and Mary Lynne Wolfe, Greenwich. Property: 289 Sasco Hill Road, Fairfield.

Amount: $855,000. Filed July 9.

Pav, Jennifer, Setauket, New York. Seller: Joy LevineAbrams, Fairfield. Property: 25 Perry St., Fairfield. Amount: $430,000. Filed July 9.

Preci, Nikoll S. and Victor DiMenna, Monroe. Seller: Joseph Szamotula, Bridgeport. Property: 119 Seabright Ave., Bridgeport. Amount: $345,000. Filed May 8.

Schual, Laurie Morris, Greenwich. Seller: Elizabeth R. Ryan, Boynton Beach, Florida.

Property: 613 W. Lyon Farm Drive, Greenwich. Amount: $1,262,500. Filed July 11.

Smith, Niquan, Bridgeport.

Seller: Juan M. Figueroa, Naugatuck. Property: 30 Ash St., Bridgeport. Amount: $235,000. Filed May 8.

Staack, Shirley S., Norwalk.

Seller: Robin A. McCaul, Lake Mary, Florida. Property: 33 Grey Hollow Road, Norwalk.

Amount: $1. Filed June 26.

Stephens, Kristin L., Greenwich. Seller: Joe Stroud and Kelly Stroud, Riverside. Property: 34 Crescent Road, Greenwich. Amount: $1,677,500.

Filed July 10.

Toohey, Deanna, Shelton.

Seller: Eileen Adams, Fairfield.

Property: 62 Dwight St., Fairfield. Amount: $630,000. Filed July 10.

Travis, Christopher and Melissa A. Fairfield. Seller: Terese A. Travis, Fairfield.

Property: 270 Warde Terrace, Fairfield. Amount: $340,000.

Filed July 10.

FORECLOSURES 271 Charles Street L and Trust, et al. Creditor: Cazenovia Creek Funding I LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana. Property: 271 Charles St., Bridgeport.

Mortgage default. Filed Aug. 13.

Aladin, Regina, et al. Creditor: Santander Bank NA, Lake Zurich, Illinois. Property: 226 Worth St., Bridgeport. Mortgage default. Filed Aug 13.

Blackjack LLC, et al. Creditor: City of Bridgeport. Property: 2-8 Beachview Rear Ave., Bridgeport. Mortgage default.

Filed Aug. 9 Cuadrado, Freddy, et al.

Creditor: Christiana Trust, Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

Property: 569 Huntington Turnpike, Bridgeport. Mortgage default. Filed May 7.

Flip Properties LLC. Creditor: Lending Home Funding Corp., San Francisco, California. Property: 609 Queen St., Bridgeport. Mortgage default.

Filed April 23.

Ford, Eric M., et al. Creditor: GMAC Mortgage LLC, Waterloo, Iowa. Property: 123 Roosevelt St., Bridgeport. Mortgage default. Filed May 6.

Giannos, William J. Creditor: US Bank National Association, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Property: 135 Balmforth St., Bridgeport. Mortgage default.

Filed April 18.

Givans, June P., et al. Creditor: Deutsch Bank National Trust Co., Armonk, New York.

Property: 1206 Sylvan Ave., Bridgeport. Mortgage default.

Filed May 13.

Facts & Figures Jones, Sheila, et al. Creditor: Wells Fargo Bank NA, Fort Mill, South Carolina. Property: 121 Hillcrest Road, Bridgeport.

Mortgage default. Filed April 24.

Lino, Rigoberto, et al. Creditor: PNC Bank National Association, Miamisburg, Ohio.

Property: 412 Intervale Road, Bridgeport. Mortgage default.

Filed May 1.

Minami, Kenji, et al. Creditor: Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, Owensboro, Kentucky. Property: 325 Lafayette St., Bridgeport. Mortgage default. Filed May 1.

Sainvil, Rouchon, et al.

Creditor: US Bank National Association, West Palm Beach, Florida. Property: 407 Jackson Ave., Bridgeport. Mortgage default. Filed April 18.

Samuel, Frank, et al. Creditor: Freedom Mortgage Corp., Fishers, Indiana. Property: 80 Rocton Ave., Bridgeport. Mortgage default. Filed Aug. 19.

Valdivia, Roxana M. Creditor: Carrington Mortgage Services LLC, Anaheim, California. Property: 264 George St., Bridgeport. Mortgage default.

Filed Aug. 12.

JUDGMENTS 1347 Pembroke LLC, Bridgeport. $4,849, in favor of Brani VM LLC, Branford, by Kolb & DiSilvestro, East Haven, Property: 1347 Pembroke St., Bridgeport. Filed April 9.

Blake, Paul, Bridgeport. $946, in favor of Midland Funding LLC, San Diego, California, by Schreiber & Cohen LLC, Salem, New Hampshire.

Property: 41 Fern St., Bridgeport. Filed April 10.

Creighton, Phyllis, Bridgeport. $1,905, in favor of The United Illuminating Company, New Haven, by Nair & Levin PC, Bloomfield. Property: 985 Briarwood Ave., Bridgeport. Filed April 2.

Dempsey, Dontay R., Bridgeport. $20,694, in favor of The United Illuminating Company, New Haven, by Nair & Levin PC, Bloomfield.

Property: 284 Grandfield Ave., Bridgeport. Filed April 4.

Feola, Denise L., Bridgeport. $14,147, in favor of Hewitt Health & Rehabilitation Center Inc., Shelton, by the Law Office of Nicole A. Veno LLC, Simsbury. Property: 183, 185 and 195 Lawrence St., Bridgeport. Filed April 10.

Santiago, Jose, Bridgeport. $4,669, in favor of The United Illuminating Company, New Haven, by Nair & Levin PC, Bloomfield. Property: 25 Lansing Place, Bridgeport. Filed April 4.

Jeter, Kizzy, Bridgeport. $601, in favor of Women’s Health Connecticut, Bridgeport, by Flanagan & Peat, Danbury.

Property: 1492 North Ave., Unit 105, Bridgeport. Filed April 16.

Sarker, Moinuddin, Bridgeport. $26,584, in favor of Mantis Funding LLC, New York, New York, by Jacobs & Rozich LLC, New Haven. Property: 1376 Chopsey Hill Road, Bridgeport. Filed April 2.

Kaczanowski, Karen, Bridgeport. $1,999, in favor of The United Illuminating Company, New Haven, by Nair & Levin PC, Bloomfield. Property: 80 Cartright St., Unit K8, Bridgeport. Filed April 2.

Thompson, Donna, Bridgeport. $1,116, in favor of Women’s Health Connecticut, Bridgeport, by Flanagan & Peat, Danbury. Property: 352 Woodlawn Ave., Bridgeport.

Filed April 16.

Malenge, Nono B., Bridgeport. $1,989, in favor of Atlantic Credit & Finance, Roanoke, Virginia, by the Law Offices of Howard Lee Schiff PC, East Hartford. Property: 725 Hart St., Bridgeport. Filed April 3.

Toms, William M., Bridgeport. $4,260, in favor of The United Illuminating Company, New Haven, by Nair & Levin PC, Bloomfield. Property: 1443 Stratford Ave., Bridgeport. Filed April 2.

Morrison, Georgia, Bridgeport. $1,259, in favor of Women’s Obstetrics & Gynecology, Trumbull, by Flanagan & Peat, Danbury. Property: 127 Englewood Ave., Bridgeport. Filed April 16.

Nelson, Shelleann, Bridgeport. $634, in favor of Women’s Health Connecticut, Bridgeport, by Flanagan & Peat, Danbury. Property: 403 Ridgefield Ave., Unit 405, Bridgeport. Filed April 16.

Plummer, Maxine, Bridgeport. $999, in favor of Midland Funding LLC, San Diego, California, by the Law Offices of Howard Lee Schiff PC, East Hartford. Property: 74 Leonard Drive, Bridgeport. Filed April 9.

Rivera, Katherine, Bridgeport. $1,377, in favor of Atlantic Credit & Finance, Roanoke, Virginia, by the Law Offices of Howard Lee Schiff PC, East Hartford. Property: 75-Wheeler Ave., Unit G03, Bridgeport.

Filed April 3.

Saez, Reuben, Bridgeport. $679, in favor of Midland Funding LLC, San Diego, California, by the Law Offices of Howard Lee Schiff PC, East Hartford. Property: 165 Marigold Ave., Bridgeport. Filed April 4.

LIENS Federal Tax Liens Filed Bahera, Bohdan, 67 Ward St., Norwalk. $61,032, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 21.

Brown, Dean A. and Emilyn C. Brown, 7 Southwind Drive, Norwalk. $2,202, civil proceeding tax. Filed June 10.

Cossuto, Thomas A., 46 Lakeview Drive, Norwalk. $88,409, civil proceeding tax.

Filed May 20.

Costaldo, Augustus J., 5 Rockland Road, Unit A2, Norwalk. $21,320, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 20.

Devingo, Sandra and Edward Devingo, 6 Thistle Cottage, Norwalk. $20,090, civil proceeding tax. Filed June 11.

Dolcetti, Jane, 68 Rowayton Woods Drive, Norwalk. $225,056, civil proceeding tax.

Filed May 20.

Fairfield County Antique and Design Center LLC, 39 Knight St., Norwalk. $20,409, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 20.

Fedor, Allen D., 8 Thistle Cottage, Norwalk. $25,337, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 29.

Tavella, Lisa, 4 Suburban Drive, Norwalk. $20,627, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 20.

Gomez, Angela M. and Bernardo Gomez, 13 Elmwood Ave., Norwalk. $62,591, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 20.

Tavolacci, Michael, 48 Karen Drive, Norwalk. $3,314, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 22.

Hill, Jean, 300 Ely Ave., Apt. 10, Norwalk. $5,401, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 21.

Howley, Roland P., 150 Fillow St., Norwalk. $600, civil proceeding tax. Filed June 3.

Kennedy, Robert, P.O. Box 2942, Norwalk. $50,763, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 21.

Martinez, Water and Marlyn Martinez, 31 Betts Place, Unit 9, Norwalk. $32,762, civil proceeding tax.

Filed June 11.

Meadows, Linda M., 40 Raymond Terrace, Norwalk. $1,487, civil proceeding tax.

Filed May 20.

Milanese, Jason, 8 Splitrock Road, Norwalk. $3,000, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 21.

Mundra, Dheetal, 105 Richards Ave., Norwalk. $11,600, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 28.

Olson, Douglas R. and Lauren W. Olson, 55 N. Water St., Unit 304, Norwalk. $25,474, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 20.

Ovares, Pedro, 28 Catherine St., Norwalk. $13,968, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 21.

Pampoukidis, Theo, 277 Judd Road, Norwalk. $10,680, civil proceeding tax. Filed June 3.

Polidoro, Matthew C., 11 Ravenwood Road, Norwalk. $10,285, civil proceeding tax.

Filed June 10.

RFH Company Inc., 73 County St., Norwalk. $5,705, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 29.

Rofhok, Darrow and Saida Rofhok, 243 Flax Hill Road, Norwalk. $14,424, civil proceeding tax. Filed May 28.

Tomaselli, James C. and Sandra D. Tomaselli, 12 Ludlow MNR, Norwalk. $2.300 civil proceeding tax. Filed June 7.

Mechanic’s Liens Cardoso Enterprises 1 LLC, Fairfield. Filed by West End Lumber Co., by Sargent Hurd Shaw. Property: 653 Holly Dale Road, Fairfield. Amount: $16,265. Filed Aug. 19.

Cito, Jerome and Shanna Cito, Fairfield. Filed by Selma’s Granite and Marble Fabrication LLC, by Zouhdi Abourneameh. Property: 56 Wagon Hill Road, Fairfield.

Amount: $7,816. Filed Aug. 21.

LIS PENDENS

Childakos, Melissa, et al, Stamford. Filed by McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce LLC, Hartford, for JPMorgan Chase Bank National Association.

Property: 81 Soundview Ave., Stamford. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed Aug. 30.

Chimera, Charles A., et al, Greenwich. Filed by Bendett & McHugh PC, Farmington, for Bank of America NA. Property: 20 Church St., Greenwich.

Action: foreclosure of a mortgage to plaintiff. Filed July 9.

Cortez, Nydia, et al, Bridgeport. Filed by Bendett & McHugh PC, Farmington, for Wells Fargo Bank NA. Property: 195 Lakeside Drive, Bridgeport. Action: foreclosure of a mortgage to plaintiff. Filed April 11.

Derosier, Denis, et al, Bridgeport. Filed by Bendett & McHugh PC, Farmington, for Nationstar Mortgage LLC. Property: 169 Alfred St., Bridgeport. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed May 24.

AAMES Funding Corp., Stamford. Filed by Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP, New York, New York, for US Bank National Association.

Property: 21 Revere Drive, Unit 19C, Stamford. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage.

Filed Aug. 30.

Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., et al, Bridgeport.

Filed by The Marcus Law Firm, North Branford, for Water Pollution Control Authority Bridgeport. Property: 39 Elizabeth St., Bridgeport.

Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed April 15.

Adler, Eric, et al, Stamford.

Filed by McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce LLC, Hartford, for Wells Fargo Bank NA. Property: 1 Strawberry Hill Court, Unit 8G, Stamford. Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage. Filed Aug. 26.

Gonzalez, Jesus, Stamford.

Filed by the Law Offices of Debra Marino LLC, Orange, for Elaine Decarlo-Gonzalez.

Property: 15 Greenwich Ave., No. 27, Stamford. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage.

Filed Aug. 30.

Charter Oak Communities Inc., Stamford. Filed by Bendett & McHugh PC, Farmington, for Connecticut Housing Finance Authority. Property: 359 Ezra St., Bridgeport. Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed May 24.

Harte, Heath D., et al, Stamford. Filed by Vincent J. Freccia, Stamford, for the city of Stamford. Property: 122 Brook Run Lane, Stamford. Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage. Filed Aug. 29.

Chen Chung Chow, Greenwich. Filed by Patrick R. Gil, Greenwich, for Eugenio Pirri.

Property: 52 Oak Ridge St., Greenwich. Action: foreclosure of plaintiff’s mortgage.

Filed July 10.

FCBJ

Hopkins Veras, Stephen Brewster, et al, Bridgeport.

Filed by the Law Office of Juda J. Epstein, Bridgeport, for Cazenovia Creek Funding I LLC. Property: 3250Fairfield Ave., Unit 326, Bridgeport. Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage. Filed April 8.

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Facts & Figures Kolesnikov, Igor, Bridgeport. Filed by Rosenberg, Miller, Hite & Morilla LLC. Stratford, for Bridgeport Park Apartments Inc. Property: 59 Rennell St., Unit 11, Bridgeport.

Action: foreclose defendant’s mortgage. Filed April 9.

Lato, Anne E., et al, Bridgeport. Filed by Halloran & Sage LLP, Hartford, for Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, Property: Lot 18 Lindley St., Bridgeport. Action: foreclose defendants’ mortgage. Filed April 18.

Legister, Oliver, et al, Bridgeport. Filed by Bendett & McHugh PC, Farmington, for Deutsche Bank National Trust Company. Property: 536 Savoy St., Bridgeport. Action: foreclosure of defendants’ mortgage.

Filed April 10.

Liscinsky, George M., et al, Bridgeport. Filed by McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce LLC, Hartford, for US Bank National Association. Property: 129 Hale Terrace, Bridgeport.

Action: foreclosure of defendants’ mortgage. Filed April 5.

Vojtek, Mark, et al, Bridgeport. Filed by McCalla Raymer Leibert Pierce LLC, Hartford, for The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company NA. Property: 122 Burnsford Ave., Bridgeport. Action: foreclose of defendants’ mortgage. Filed May 22.

LEASES Armstrong Court Phase I, Limited Partnership, by Anthony L. Johnson. Landlord: Housing Authority of the Town of Greenwich. Property: 249 Milbank Ave., Greenwich.

Term: 84 years, commenced April 30, 2019. Filed May 2.

Manager, SC Finance (Nestlé Waters North America, Inc. – Stamford, CT) Lead bdgt’g, finan rprt’g & anlyss actvts for U.S. manfctr’g faclts.

Prfrm finan anlyss on monthly, qrtrly & annual basis, idntfy’g trends for areas of imprvmnt incl bnchmrk’g of crtcl expense catgrs to dtrmne cost sav’gs opprtnts. F/T. Resumes: K. Weiss, Nestlé USA, Inc., 1812 N Moore St, Arlington, VA 22209. Job ID: 3388731.

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OCTOBER 7, 2019

Greenwich Hospital, by Daniel Benedict. Landlord: 75 Holly LLC, Great Neck, New York. Property: 75 Holly Hill Lane, Greenwich. Term: 10 years, commenced March 29, 2019. Filed May 7.

Hoffman, Ray A., Stamford,

by Alan Chong. Lender: Quicken Loans Inc, 1050 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Michigan. Property: 200 Gary Road, Stamford. Amount: $519,000. Filed July 2.

Shapiro, Jonathan S. and Rosalind E. Shapiro, by Sharon Mathews. Landlord: Putnam Hill Apartments Inc., Greenwich. Property: 1 Putnam Hill, Unit 3D, Greenwich.

Term: 41 years, commenced May 22, 2019. Filed May 23.

Kavanagh, Mark J., Stamford, by James Kavanagh.

Lender: Morgan Stanley Private Bank, 4270 Ivy Pointe Blvd., Suite 400, Cincinnati, Ohio. Property: 20 Bend of River Lane, Stamford. Amount: $590,000. Filed July 2.

MORTGAGES

Moore, Damon and Kiya Fountain, Stamford, by James T. Maye. Lender: Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp., 4201 Marsh Lane, Carrollton, Texas.

Property: 65 Glenbrook Road, Unit 1D, Stamford. Amount: $196,270. Filed July 2.

Arena, Jason, Stamford, by Toni Marie Gelineau. Lender: Contour Mortgage Corp., 990 Stewart Ave. Suite 660, Garden City, New York. Property: 214 Hope St., Stamford. Amount: $650,750. Filed July 3.

Begley, Robert J. and Barbara S. Begley, Stamford,

by Dina Tpmheim. Lender: Ridgewood Savings Bank, 1981 Marcus Ave., Suite 101, Lake Success, New York. Property: 1042 Cove Road Stamford.

Amount: $270,000. Filed July 2.

Chummar, George B. and Tania Ann Philip, Stamford,

by James T. Maye. Lender: First County Bank, 117 Prospect St., Stamford. Property: 7 Lantern Circle, Stamford. Amount: $522,000. Filed July 2.

Doubrava, Suzette and Michael Doubrava, Stamford,

by Mario P. Musilli. Lender: Wells Fargo Bank, NA, 101 N. Philips Ave., Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Property: 15 Barmore Drive, Stamford. Amount: $448,400. Filed July 2.

Garcia-Berg, Leonardo and Veronica Calomarde, Stamford, by Christina M. Colbert.

Lender: Newtown Savings Bank, 39 Main St., Newtown.

Property: 87 Den Road, Stamford. Amount: $804,000. Filed July 2.

Gomes, Anthony and Sarah Hunt, Stamford, by Julie R. Fasano. Lender: CrossCountry Mortgage Inc, 6850 Miller Road, Brecksville, Ohio.

Property: 584 Hope St., Unit 2, Stamford. Amount: $472,500.

Filed July 2.

FCBJ

Schramm, Bryan and Kimberly Schramm Stamford,

by Mayra M. Rios. Lender: CrossCountry Mortgage Inc, 6850 Miller Road, Brecksville, Ohio. Property: 16 Black Twig Place, Stamford. Amount: $543,200. Filed July 2.

Sharitkin, Dimitry, Stamford, by Nathaniel W. Shipp.

Lender: Guaranteed Rate Inc., 3940 N. Ravenswood, Chicago, Illinois. Property: 950 Cove Road, Unit 2B, Stamford.

Amount: $200,000. Filed July 2.

Singher, Thomas and Elena Singher, Stamford, by Stephen J. Schelz. Lender: Wells Fargo Bank NA, 101 N. Philips Ave., Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Property: 256 Ocean Drive W., Stamford. Amount: $1,170,000. Filed July 2.

Spaziante, Bethany M. and Richard J. Spaziante, Stamford, by Stephen J. Schelz.

Lender: Wells Fargo Bank NA, 101 N. Philips Ave., Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Property: 1871 Long Ridge Road, Stamford.

Amount: $593,750. Filed July 2.

Whitaker, Philip A. and Kaitlyn Marcinek, Stamford, by George W. Boath Jr. Lender: JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, 1111 Polaris Pkwy., Columbus, Ohio. Property: 132 Stamford Ave., Stamford. Amount: $576,922. Filed July 2.

Williams, Cynthia and Jordan Brock Williams, Stamford, by Alan Chong.

Lender: Quicken Loans Inc., 1050 Woodward Ave., Detroit, Michigan. Property: 77 Wascussee Lane, Stamford.

Amount: $471,356. Filed July 2.

Zens, Deborah A., Stamford,

by Mario P. Musilli. Lender: Wells Fargo Bank NA, 101 N. Philips Ave., Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Property: 2437 Bedford St., Unit 2-2, Stamford.

Amount: $150,000. Filed July 2.

Zhang, Xuezhi and You Lu, Stamford, by Robert J. Yamin.

Lender: US Bank Natinal Association, 4801 Frederica St., Owensboro, Kentucky. Property: 115 Colonial Road, Stamford.

Amount: $464,000. Filed July 2.

NEW BUSINESSES Apex Paper Rolls and Supplies, 6 Landmark Square, Fourth floor, Stamford 06901, c/o Matthew J. Basileo. Filed July 23.

Daymon Creative Services, 333 Ludlow St., Fourth floor, Stamford 06902, c/o Galileo Global Branding Group Inc, Filed July 22.

Eric’s Bagels LLC, 67 Greenleaf Drive, Stamford 06902, c/o Eric Aleman. Filed July 23.

Gallivanting Around, 28 McGregor Drive, Stamford 06902, c/o Donna Katz. Filed July 25.

Great Nail, 111 High Ridge Road, Stamford 06905, c/o Great Nail Inc. Filed July 23.

Ibrow Studies, 990 Hope St., Stamford 06907, c/o Himalayan Beauty LLC. Filed July 22.

Lauren Herlihy, Ph.D., 28 First St., Stamford 06905, c/o Lauren Herlihy Flash. Filed July 23.

Magana’s Cleaning Service, 5 Ridge Place, Stamford 06901, c/o Jose Nivar. Filed July 22.

Miami Life Insurance Services, 6 Landmark Square, Fourth floor, Stamford 06901, c/o Met Life Inc. Filed Aug. 2.

Oceans Spa, 79A High Ridge Road, Stamford 06905, c/o HengYong Pu. Filed July 25.

Perfect Limo, 111 Morgan St., Apartment 219, Stamford 06905, c/o Ahmed Jaafari.

Filed July 23.

Seek + Find, 100 Hope St., Apartment 7, Stamford 06906, c/o Gianella Solorzano. Filed July 24.

Stamford Corners, 1455 Washington Blvd, Stamford 06902, c/o Stamcon Holdings LLC. Filed July 22.

The Plastic Surgery, dermatology, 2777 Summert St., Stamford 06905, c/o Chang Soo Kim, M.D., manager. Filed July 23.

Ultra-Gutter Service, 32 Plymouth Road, Stamford 06906, c/o Matthew Connor.

Filed July 23.

PATENTS Automatic suppression of unrecognized spot colors from a raster image. Patent no.

10,432,826 issued to Arindam Das, Konnagar, India; David C. Robinson, Penfield. Assigned to Xerox, Norwalk.

Beverage container augmentation for social media. Patent no. 10,425,777 issued to George A. Gibson, Fairport. Assigned to Xerox, Norwalk.

Outdoor loudspeaker with integral lighting. Patent no.

10,433,041 issued to James Garrett, Simi Valley, California; Fred Tubis, Northridge, California; An Duc Nguyen, West Hills, California; Aaron L. Butters, Thousand Oaks, California; Timothy Gladwin, Pakenham, California.

Assigned to Harman, Stamford.

Printer and dryer for drying images on coated substrates in aqueous ink printers. Patent no. 10,427,421 issued to Jason M. LeFevre, Penfield; Paul J. McConville, Webster; Doughlas K. Herrmann, Webster; Chu-Heng Liu, Penfield; Seemit Praharaj, Webster. Assigned to Xerox, Norwalk.

Printing module replacement cart. Patent no. 10,427,434 issued to Christopher D. Atwood, Rochester; Wayne D. Drinkwater, Fairport; Mark A. Adiletta, Fairport. Assigned to Xerox, Stamford.

Remote post-scanning workflow using scan job in scan job queue. Patent no. 10,432,807 issued to Xing Li, Webster; Sherry W. Zhang, Webster. Assigned to Xerox, Norwalk.

Systems and methods for detecting surprising events in vehicles. Patent no. 10,427,655 issued to Axel Nix, Birmingham, Michigan. Assigned to Harman, Stamford.

System and method for monitoring performance characteristics associated with user activities involving swinging instruments.

Patent no. 10,427,017 issued to Salman Hussain Syed, Stamford; Milan Ammad Faisal, New York; Fabrice Claude Blanc, Stamford; Collin David Phillips, Stratford; Joon Hyuk Park, New Haven.

Assigned to Arccos Gold LLC, Stamford.

Techniques for updating components of a computer device while enabling components for availability. Patent no. 10,430,173 issued to Abhinand Pissey, Ramanagara, India; Shyju Thekkumbadan, Kannur, India. Assigned to Harman, Stamford.

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FCBJ

OCTOBER 7, 2019

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lin e.co m n o ir a f t s e w g o to r 18

Deadline is O

c to b e

Winners will go on to be our thriving thirty and will be honored at a special event in April.

Large company, midsize company or small company; all will be considered.

NOMINATION REQUIREMENTS: • To be nominated the company must be a member of a business organization and have a physical location in Fairfield County.

• The nominator must also be a member of a business organization and be a Business Journal subscriber. If not – no worries. We will gift you a year’s subscription.*

AWARD CATEGORIES: • Most Entrepreneurial company • Most Family-friendly company • Greenest company • Most Pet-friendly company • Most Promising for the upcoming generations • Most Socially Conscious company • Most Visionary company

Business organizations partnering with the Fairfield County Business Journal are: Bridgeport Regional Business Council, The Business Council of Fairfield County, Darien Chamber of Commerce, Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce, Greater Norwalk Chamber of Commerce, Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce, Stamford Chamber of Commerce, Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce For information, contact: Olivia D’Amelio at odamelio@westfairinc.com.

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