Connecticut is home to more than 360,000 small businesses – more than 99% of all businesses in the state.
Ten of these companies were honored on May 4 during the National Small Business Week SBA Awards & Resource Expo at Rentschler Field.
The event concluded National Small Business Week as the US Small Business Administration highlighted the impact of outstanding small business owners and champions across the country.
“Every day in Connecticut is a little work day,” said CBIA President and CEO Chris DiPentima.
“We have such great businesses throughout our state, and our small businesses are truly the backbone of our economy.”
Cooperation
The event was a collaboration between the CBIA and the US Small Business Administration’s Connecticut District office.
“Today we want to highlight our award recipients and showcase our wonderful partners who strengthen our ecosystem every day as we set the stage to ignite the American Dream,” said SBA Connecticut District Director Catherine Marx.
Small businesses account for 48% of all workers in Connecticut, a number that continues to grow.
Since 2021, 92,000 people have applied to start businesses in Connecticut, a 59% increase.
“Connecticut has a rich heritage of brave minds transforming the world with their ideas and innovations.”
CBIA’s Chris DiPentima
“You are the entrepreneurs, the innovators,” DiPentima told the crowd.
“Connecticut has a rich heritage of brave minds transforming the world with their ideas and innovations.”
“And we know it won’t come easy,” added SBA New England Regional Administrator Mike Vlacich. “It requires strategy and hard work.”
Entrepreneurial spirit
It is that effort and entrepreneurial spirit that connects the 10 award winners who were honored at the event.
“This is what small business is all about,” said U.S. Rep. John Larson (D-CT 1). “People who are America’s entrepreneurs, the backbone of our economy and our industry.”
The award winners are:
- Manufacturer of the Year: Pedro Soto, Hygrade Precision Technologies LLC. Soto acquired Hygrade, a Plainville company that provides grinding, lapping and machining services to the aerospace, automotive, commercial, homeland security, pharmaceutical and power generation industries in 2019.
“It is an absolute honor to receive this award on behalf of the fantastic team at Hygrade,” he said. “It is their tireless, tireless efforts to provide perfect parts and services to our customers that make this award possible.” - Micro Business of the Year: Carol DiCarlo, Cheshire Equestrian Centre. DiCarlo started Cheshire Equestrian in 2018 and offers products for the equestrian community, including customer education.
“I want to thank my family, my friends who supported my business and my crazy vision of opening an equestrian shop in the middle of Connecticut,” she said. - Veteran-Owned Small Business of the Year: Jeffrey Nodden, Manchester Awning. Nodden, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in the Gulf War, started Manchester Awning in 2004. The company manufactures and sells custom awnings, architectural canopies, shade structures and stitching.
“I wasn’t expecting an award, I’m actually kind of emotional about it,” Nodden said. “The one thing I’ve learned over 20 years is you can’t do it alone. And that’s what I like to do is give all my people all the credit because it’s not about me and I couldn’t do it alone.” - Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year: Alisha Lynn Simpson-Watt, Collaborative ABA Services LLC. Simpson-Watt is a former social worker at the school. In 2019, she started Collaborative ABA Services, a behavioral health practice in Middletown that specializes in services for children diagnosed with autism and developmental disabilities.
“We also appreciate being able to give back to our community and we also appreciate the schools, our families that we work with because without them we wouldn’t be here today either,” she said.
Top row left to right: Collaborative ABA Services’ Alisha Lynn Simpson-Watt, flanked by SBA Connecticut’s Catherine Marx and SBA New England Administrator Mike Vlacich; Element 119’s Andrew Zeppa with Marx, Vlacich and DECD Commissioner Alexandrea Daum; BRVC’s Brianna Regine Walston. Middle row, left to right: Cheshire Equestrian Center’s Carol DiCarlo; DICIN Electric’s Cindy Hersom; Manchester Awning’s Jeff Nodden. Bottom row, left to right: Hygrade Precision Technologies’ Pedro Soto; Balance Point Capital Partners’ Seth Alvord.
- Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Brianna Regine Walston, Brianna Regine Visionary Consulting LLC. BRVC is a Bridgeport-based strategic communications firm that increases client exposure through brand development, digital marketing, public relations and operations.
“When I started my business six years ago, it was purely because I had faith,” said Regine Walston. “I knew I was a hard worker and that I would give opportunities to people who had an idea in mind but had no idea how to do it.” - Region 1 Exporter of the Year: Andrew Zeppa, Element 119 LLC. Zeppa founded Element 119 in 2010, developing ceramic composite coatings for the automotive, aerospace and marine industries. “We believe that the core of the backbone of our economy is small business and we are proud to be a part of the community,” he said. “By investing in our people and R&D, we will continue to innovate and create new technology that improves our products year after year.”
- Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year: Jay McLaurin and Henry Smith III, FAD Mechanical. McLaurin and Smith of North Haven-based FAD Mechanical were not present. They will be given their award separately during a visit by Marx and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT 3).
- National Subcontractor of the Year: Cindy Hersom, DICIN Electric Company, Inc. DICIN Electric was started by Hersom’s parents in 1973, and she became the sole owner in 2015. “I never thought for a second that this wouldn’t work,” she said. “Failure wasn’t an option. It wasn’t in my vocabulary. I just knew I had to do what was necessary.”
The company is best known for marine and pier construction projects, including existing and new pier construction, subsea berthing facilities and installation of new electrical distribution systems.
“Such an incredible honor to be recognized by the Small Business Administration as Federal Subcontractor of the Year for the United States,” Hersom said. - National Small Business Investment Company of the Year – Established Manager: Seth Alvord, Balance Point Capital Partners. Westport-based Balance Point provides capital to lower middle market companies across a range of industries, including business services, food and beverage, healthcare, media and information services. “We’re all humbled to receive this and be recognized with this,” Alvord said. “I also want to congratulate everyone who was awarded here today. It’s businesses like this that we invest in and support. “I’m proud to be in the state, and I’m proud to give back to the state, and the state has given me a lot.”
Small Business Person of the Year
Dennis Nash, the president and CEO of Control Station, Inc. was named small business person of the year.
Douglas Cooper, a retired professor at the UConn School of Engineering, started Control Station as an educational tool for students.
Nash took over the company in 2004, moved it to Manchester and transformed the academic tool into a leader in industrial process analysis and optimization, meeting the technology needs of industrial manufacturers.
“It’s really humbling to stand in front of this audience today,” said Nash, who shared some of the lessons that led to his success.
“Hire people you can build a relationship with, hire people you can build a future with,” he said. “Life is too short not to enjoy the people you work with.”
He also spoke of the belief they have that they will make more correct decisions than bad decisions, adding that they have adopted the mantra “move fast and break things.”
“The lesson, don’t be afraid to fail,” Nash said. “Embrace it.”
As national SBA award winners, Hersom and Alvord were both honored at a recent ceremony in Washington, DC
The National Small Business Week SBA Awards & Resource Expo was produced by CBIA and Connecticut District SBA and made possible by Liberty Bank, JP Morgan Chase and Connecticut Wealth Management, with additional support from Live Oak Bank, BDC Capital/CDC New England, Savings Bank of Danbury, M&T Bank, Comcast, Berkshire Bank and Webster Bank.
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