UConn Head Football Coach Paul Pasqualoni Will Guest at Chamber Breakfast

This week, we at the Chamber look forward to welcoming — for the first time — new University of Connecticut head football coach Paul Pasqualoni as a guest speaker at our August breakfast meeting this Thursday.

Coach Pasqualoni has come in at a time when UConn athletics is at a major high point, with the football team coming off of a Fiesta Bowl appearance last winter. I am sure that Coach Pasqualoni will continue the success that he enjoyed at Syracuse and in the National Football League at UConn and that he will make everyone in Husky Nation very proud.

We have invited all of the area schools and members of their football programs to the breakfast and I think it is very important to expose our young student athletes to events like these.

The opportunity to hear a Division IA coach of a successful, local program can oftentimes be something that will motivate a young person to work harder and be a better student and athlete to some day play at some collegiate level. 

The beginning of football season marks the unofficial ending of summer and summer vacation for the elementary, high school, and college students in our area. With the end of these students’ summer vacation comes the end of the Chamber’s Youth @ Work program.

This was the sixth year of the program, and the Chamber was able to place 30 students in jobs within the local business community.

It is important to note that this terrific program would not be possible without the funding of Workforce Alliance. Big thanks to Bill Villano, Frank Milone and Bill Pitre of this organization for once again stepping up to the plate to bring some positive opportunities to the young people in our County. 

The 30 students who were a part of this year’s program ranged from 14 to 24 years of age, and put in up to 25 hours of work per week in various organizations throughout the county.

These organizations included: the Chamber, Community Renewal Team, Mike’s Barber Shop, Prudential Real Estate, North End Action Team, Northern Middlesex YMCA, Allstate Insurance, Cross Street AME Zion Church, City of Middletown Purchasing Department, Trevor Davis Commercial Real Estate, Walgreens, Stylz by Q, Green Street Arts Center, The Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts & Cultural Center, Pamela Roose Specialty Hand Nits and Courtyard by Marriott Cromwell.

Also last week there was a very productive Arrigoni Bridge committee meeting at the Chamber on Friday with local officials, elected leaders and state Department of Transportation officials. Over the course of the summer, the towns and state DOT have forged a great working relationship and we will continue to monitor the progress of the project as we move into the fall season.

As we push forward into September, the Chamber’s award-winning Side Street to Main Street Business & Leadership Development Program is accepting applicants for the fall/winter session. All applicants are required to attend the mandatory program orientation and application registration meeting  which will be held Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce, 393 Main St., Middletown.

The program enters its 15th year, and is fully funded by a grant from Aetna. It is a year-long entrepreneurial and business development course, specifically designed to assist minority small business owners in the community who have not had formal business training. 

These individuals are able to become more successful by developing the attitudes, skills and qualities necessary for effective business ownership and success, taking them from the Side Street to the Main Street of the business community. 

For information, contact Matt Fraulino at (860) 347-6924 or mfraulino@middlesexchamber.com.