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Health & Fitness

Breakfast With Geno Auriemma Starts Busy Biz Week at Chamber

Chamber President Larry McHugh reflects on a busy week and looks ahead to two major Chamber events.

Today, we are honored to welcome UCONN Women’s Basketball Coach Geno Auriemma as guest speaker at our March Member Breakfast Meeting.  This Breakfast is a sold out event, and we are looking forward to a great meeting at the Crowne Plaza Cromwell. 

Coach Auriemma will preview the Lady Huskies 2013 NCAA Tournament run and our members will have the chance to wish Geno and the team the best of luck as they embark on what we all hope is another championship run.  I want to thank Geno for his annual visit to our Member Breakfast Meeting and also, Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP for their sponsorship. 

We are very excited for the 29th Annual Member Business After Work Auction and Taste of Downtown to be held tomorrow, March 19th.  This major event, will run from 5:00 P.M. until 8:00 P.M. at the Italian Society Hall in Middletown, and will feature samplings from 15 downtown Middletown restaurants along with a live auction, silent auction, complimentary beer, wine, soda and even Chamber Hurricanes. 

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This year’s event has a Mardi Gras theme so don’t miss out! The following Middletown restaurants will be represented at the event: Café 56, Esca Restaurant & Wine Bar, First & Last Tavern, Fusion Bakery & Patisserie, Iguanas Ranas, Jerry’s Pizza/Matty’s Next Door Sports Bar, Krust, Mattabesett Canoe Club at Harbor Park, Mezzo Grille, Mondo, NoRA Cupcake Company, Stella D’Oro II Restaurant, Tavern at the Armory, La Boca Mexican Restaurant and Zen Roasters. 

This Wednesday, March 20th, I will attend a reception at the Inn at Middletown to celebrate the opening of the Sterling National Bank, Residential Mortgage Division Middletown office.  I look forward to welcoming Sterling to the Middletown business community. 

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I would like to take a moment to publicly commend Governor Malloy for proposing $15 million for tourism marketing in both fiscal years 2014 and 2015.  This Chamber has always stressed the importance of tourism and I want to thank the Governor for his leadership on this issue.  Middlesex County, and Connecticut as a whole, has many terrific tourist destinations and we must be out there competing with other states for visitors.  This tourism marketing funding is critical and the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce will continue to promote our region and our state. 

Last week was another busy one in Middletown, and throughout Middlesex County.  Last Sunday, March 10th, I attended a terrific performance of The Morgans - St. Patrick’s Day Irish Program at the MHS Performing Arts Center.  Morgan’s member Tom Callinan, who is originally from Middletown, was Connecticut’s first “Official State Troubadour”.  The residents of Middletown should be proud of Tom, and the good work he is doing.  I want to thank Barbara Arafeh and the Greater Middletown Concert Association for hosting a very enjoyable performance.

Last Tuesday featured two key Chamber events.  The Chamber’s Legislative Committee hosted a Special Meeting with Brendan Sharkey, Speaker, Connecticut House of Representatives.  The meeting was held at the Inn at Middletown and was sponsored by Updike, Kelly and Spellacy, P.C.  I want to publicly thank Speaker Sharkey for addressing our members at this terrific event.  I also want to thank our friends at Updike, Kelly and Spellacy for sponsoring the event and for their consistent support of our Chamber.  The Legislative Committee, Co-Chaired by Rich Carella of Updike, Kelly and Spellacy, P.C., and Rick Parmelee of Blum Shapiro, hosts three major events each year: The Legislative Breakfast, which features all of the legislators that represent Middlesex County, and special meetings with both the Speaker of the House and the Senate President Pro Tem.

That same morning, the Middlesex Businesswomen’s Alliance (MBA), a council of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce that provides challenges and opportunities to educate, enrich, and explore issues for women in business, held a terrific meeting at Tat Wong Kung Fu Academy in Middletown.  The meeting featured a complimentary Continental Breakfast, courtesy of Disaster Restoration Services (DRS), along with a presentation on Women’s Self Defense: Techniques, Movements and Ways to Defend Yourself.  Daniel Ostrow, SIFU instructor at Tat Wong Kung Fu Academy and Chairman of the Chamber’s Central Business Bureau, led the presentation and did a great job as always.  MBA continues to put together high quality events for Chamber members. 

Wednesday morning, our Durham and Middlefield Divisions welcomed Kevin Lembo, Comptroller, State of Connecticut, to their March meeting.  Kevin gave another great presentation which reviewed exactly what the State Comptroller does, and offered some important comments on the state’s budget process.  I can’t thank Comptroller Lembo enough for visiting each of the Chamber divisions every year. 

Later on Wednesday I visited with the Kiwanis Club of Middletown at their weekly meeting held at Cantina Cafe Ristorante.  I enjoyed the meeting and I appreciate the Kiwanis’ kind invitation to attend and address their members. 

Last Wednesday evening, Middletown’s Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a zoning code text amendment to the Mixed Use Zone.  Jeff Pugliese from the Chamber staff attended the meetings, and the Chamber supported the text amendment from the beginning.  As I have previously noted, the Chamber’s Executive Committee, our top governing body, voted to support the text amendment at its February meeting.  I want to publicly thank the full Planning and Zoning Commission and staff for doing what is best for the City of Middletown.  The Chamber looks forward to being a constructive partner in this process as we move forward and will always support quality economic development that creates jobs and taxes for all of our citizens. 

For more information on Chamber events and activities, please contact Jeff Pugliese at jpugliese@middlesexchamber.com.

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