July 2022 - Page 3 of 26

July 26, 2022

Saint Vincent to amp up local business services with new Latrobe community center

Saint Vincent University is having ways to make its little enterprise providers additional visible and accessible in downtown Latrobe.

This August, the faculty ideas to open up a group centre at 911 Ligonier St. The heart will residence the college’s Little Business Progress Heart and Rating Westmoreland.

“In this working day and age, the college ideal additional visibility and intentionality in building a heart that can provide the college’s requires and the surrounding local community,” said Jeff Mallory, the college’s executive vice president and chief functioning officer.

Regional business people use the Little Business enterprise Progress Center and SCORE’s absolutely free products and services to get started businesses or acquire help with present enterprises.

By way of the new center, these nonprofits will continue featuring consulting providers although ramping up their attempts to engage with local businesspeople as a result of little group classes, local community evening functions, one particular-on-one meetings and extra.

Briana Tomack, president and CEO of the Increased Latrobe-Laurel Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, described the group center as a “great concept,” adding that she thinks it will carry much more individuals to Latrobe.

“I feel the house is conducive to what (SBDC and Score) do and it will absolutely be effective to the downtown space,” Tomack reported.

A Saint Vincent alum donated the place to the college several many years in the past. Just after months of deliberation, college leaders resolved to use the developing to broaden the Unity Township college’s business enterprise footprint in its neighboring metropolis.

Mallory is eager to even further assist Westmoreland County corporations, which he mentioned have “not only survived, but thrived” considering the fact that the pandemic.

Jim Kunkel, the govt director of the college’s Modest Business enterprise Progress Middle, agreed.

“(Westmoreland County has) sturdy downtown districts with a good deal of independently owned, privately held companies,” Kunkel mentioned,” and that is actually our bread and butter.”

The Tiny Company Advancement Heart has provided cost-free consulting and instruction programming products and services to business people in Westmoreland and Fayette counties considering the fact that 1984. The SBDC at Saint Vincent is a person of 18 centers in the condition and about 1,000 in the country.

Throughout the 2021 fiscal yr, Saint Vincent’s Small Enterprise Improvement Heart served get started 25 new enterprises and labored with 420 clients in the space, according to Kunkel.

The heart also employs four to five university student interns who acquire actual-planet experience even though finding out the ropes of consulting.

Ideal now, SBDC operates out of Saint Vincent’s campus. Rating — a nonprofit that delivers counseling, mentoring and other products and services to present and start off-up enterprises — does, far too.

The faculty hopes to open the new heart just before the forthcoming academic year, which kicks off Aug. 29. Last month, the venture been given a $10,000 grant from the Revitalizing Westmoreland system.

Mallory is inspired by the “validation and affirmation” that the college has obtained as it strives to support additional businesspeople.

He thinks the community heart falls in line with Saint Vincent’s intention to be a group chief.

“It’s an additional nod to how we’re relocating forward collectively,” Mallory reported.

Maddie Aiken is a Tribune-Evaluate team author. You can contact Maddie by e-mail at maiken@triblive.com or via Twitter .

July 26, 2022

Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board Awards Record $3.4 Million in Grants to Reduce Underage and Dangerous Drinking

Harrisburg – Fully commited to giving economic assistance to cut down underage and harmful alcoholic beverages consumption, the Pennsylvania Liquor Regulate Board (PLCB) currently introduced it will award pretty much $3.4 million to 97 schools, group businesses, municipalities, regulation enforcement corporations, nonprofit corporations, for-earnings organizations, and establishments of larger training as a result of the 2022-24 Alcoholic beverages Education and learning Grant Plan.

“Funding jobs that support alcohol instruction and encourage public wellness and basic safety is a important element of our mission,” reported PLCB Chairman Tim Holden. “Considering the fact that 1999, the PLCB has awarded $21.1 million in liquor education and learning grants to avert underage and irresponsible consuming.”

This 12 months, of 110 grant programs gained, 97 corporations from 41 counties across Pennsylvania had been awarded a complete of $3,364,989 in grants. The greatest award for every single two-year grant is $40,000.

Of the grants awarded:

29 will fund group regulation-enforcement endeavours for specific underage patrols, training, neighborhood outreach, and tools.
28 will be utilised to assistance community and nonprofit companies by funding initiatives these kinds of as MADD’s Ability of Parents®, and Mom and dad Who Host Lose the Most®, Task Northland, general public provider bulletins, and enforcement endeavours.
Four will go to primary and secondary educational institutions to fund different packages aimed at reaching learners, these kinds of as social norms media campaigns, guest speakers, and impaired driving simulation activities.
34 university and university grants will support schools build strategies to cut down underage and unsafe liquor use by way of surveys and assessments, enforcement endeavours, attendance at alcohol education conferences, instruction for resident assistants, peer education systems, and proof-informed systems like EVERFI AlcoholEdu®, and EdventiTM.
One particular will go to a for-income corporation aimed at peer-to-peer outreach and community service announcements.
A person will go to a publish-secondary education heart to fund applications for learners to involve virtual driving simulation alcoholic beverages-similar DVDs and avoidance-focused curriculums.

In addition to the provision of millions of dollars in liquor education and learning grants to communities, educational institutions, and law enforcement businesses, the PLCB is effective to educate the general public about the risks of underage and hazardous consuming via a wide range of other avenues, including a no cost yearly alcoholic beverages academic convention, an award-profitable avoidance marketing campaign – Know When. Know How.SM – qualified to underage consuming, the generation and distribution of a vast selection of instructional supplies, Accountable Alcohol Management System teaching and sources for licensees, and training and complex guidance for companies doing work to deal with the concerns related to irresponsible use.

The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates 600 wine and spirits shops statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcoholic beverages producers, merchants, and handlers. The PLCB also is effective to decrease and prevent perilous and underage drinking by partnerships with educational facilities, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and keep gains – totaling nearly $18.7 billion considering that the agency’s inception – are returned to Pennsylvania’s Common Fund, which finances Pennsylvania’s faculties, well being and human services plans, law enforcement, and community security initiatives, amid other significant public providers. The PLCB also offers fiscal assistance for the Pennsylvania State Law enforcement Bureau of Liquor Manage Enforcement, the Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other point out companies, and neighborhood municipalities across the point out. For more data about the PLCB, take a look at lcb.pa.gov.

MEDIA Make contact with: Shawn M. Kelly, 717.303.8522

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July 26, 2022

Student debt: Can Parent PLUS Loans be forgiven?

(NEXSTAR) – When the dialogue encompassing federal student mortgage forgiveness carries on, some dad and mom have been remaining questioning if the loans they took out on behalf of their university pupils will qualify for the exact aid.

The Immediate As well as Financial loan, typically regarded as the Guardian Additionally Mortgage, is offered for eligible mother and father of dependent undergraduate students. According to the most up-to-date details from the Division of Schooling, mothers and fathers of roughly 3.6 million college students owe above $107 billion in Guardian Additionally Financial loans as of March 2022. That is about 6{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} of the entire $1.6 trillion in federal pupil loan financial debt Individuals owe.

Biden, when asked in April about making use of govt authority to cancel student personal loan financial debt, told reporters he is not thinking of $50,000 in credit card debt reduction. Many sources have confirmed to The Hill that Biden was thinking of expunging at least $10,000 per borrower.

Although resources have indicated personal debt aid could be restricted dependent on money level or mortgage sort, more particulars of common federal personal loan forgiveness haven’t been announced. The most the latest update from the White Home has been President Biden telling reporters on Wednesday that he will make a final decision on student mortgage forgiveness by the conclusion of August.

That also implies it is not crystal clear who will and won’t qualify for university student credit card debt relief. An analysis from Peter Granville, senior coverage associate with The Century Basis, says if the Biden administration were being to restrict relief to “per student” somewhat than “per borrower,” the mother and father dependable for the Parent Plus Loans could be excluded from financial debt cancelation.

Outdoors of ready for opportunity common scholar loan forgiveness, parents can currently have their debt canceled in a minimal range of approaches.

In accordance to the Federal University student Assist workplace, mum or dad As well as loans can be discharged if the guardian dies or will become totally and permanently disabled, or if their bank loan is discharged in bankruptcy. Financial loans could also be discharged if the student for whom the loan was borrowed dies, doesn’t complete their method before their faculty closes, or withdraws from college and the university does not refund the parents’ loan money.

Guardian Plus personal loan borrowers are also only suitable for a single income-driven repayment choice, the Money-Contingent Reimbursement Program, or ICR. To use this strategy, dad and mom will have to first consolidate their In addition loans into a Direct Consolidation Personal loan, then repay that loan beneath ICR.

Payments on the ICR approach are possibly 20{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} of the borrower’s discretionary income or what they would “pay on a compensation approach with a fixed payment around the study course of 12 many years, altered in accordance to your profits.” The lesser of the two is used, according to FSA. Mother and father can go after Public Provider Loan Forgiveness for their Moreover loans, but can only do so although working with the ICR program.

Eventually, it’s far too shortly to tell no matter if Father or mother Moreover Financial loan debtors are getting thought of in possible pupil financial loan forgiveness by the Biden administration.

So considerably, around 1.3 million debtors have observed $26 billion in student debt forgiveness considering the fact that President Biden took office.

In addition to the 1000’s of borrowers that have obtained debt cancellation underneath the revamped PSLF plan, a further 690,000 borrowers have experienced a total of $7.9 billion in university student financial loans erased by means of discharges owing to borrower protection and college closures. Around 400,000 debtors have acquired a lot more than $8.5 billion in personal debt forgiveness by total and permanent disability discharge.

The Biden administration agreed to terminate $6 billion in federal college student debt for about 200,000 borrowers as component of a proposed class-motion settlement. The debtors claim their college defrauded them and their applications for reduction from the Section of Instruction were delayed for several years.

July 26, 2022

Here’s why federal student loan forgiveness could be coming soon

The Biden administration is thinking of wiping out hundreds of billions of pounds in university student financial debt. Its announcement could come as shortly as subsequent month.

Why would the federal government decrease a large portion of the financial loans it gave out?

These are some of the key factors, in accordance to authorities.

1. A increasing sense the procedure is damaged

With the expense of attending larger schooling ballooning and household wages sputtering above the past couple decades, far more people have had to convert to financial loans to protect their kid’s higher education charges. Average university student mortgage balances at graduation have practically tripled considering the fact that 1980, from all over $12,000 to a lot more than $30,000 now.

The country’s fantastic instruction personal debt harmony now exceeds $1.7 trillion and poses a much larger burden to households than credit card or auto debt.

Debtors complain that the lending process is riddled with troubles.

About 20{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} of federal scholar mortgage borrowers attended for-revenue faculties, many of which have come below hearth for deceptive pupils and failing to supply them with a high-quality education and learning. Fifty percent of pupils who leave these educational facilities end up defaulting on their loans.

The U.S. Section of Education has also not designed very good on lots of of its promises, stated Persis Yu, policy director for the College student Borrower Protection Heart.

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Millions of folks enrolled in applications that supposedly direct to financial debt forgiveness just after a specific interval of time have not been given promised assist. That consists of borrowers in income-driven repayment plans and the well known public provider personal loan forgiveness software, who have been trapped continuing to spend following getting turned down for the aid, generally for specialized and bewildering motives.

The businesses that support federal college student financial loans also have been accused of offering borrowers mistaken and incomplete information and facts.

“There have been decades of mismanagement, abusive tactics and basic incompetence, which has resulted in millions of borrowers lacking out on quite a few of the crucial systems and advantages afforded below the regulation,” Yu explained.

2. Concern that substantially personal debt won’t be repaid anyway

Alexsl | E+ | Getty Visuals

Just one of the arguments for forgiving student financial loans is that hundreds of thousands of debtors will hardly ever shell out off their debt in any case.

In accordance to a rough estimate by greater schooling skilled Mark Kantrowitz, just about 50 percent of federal scholar financial loan borrowers, or 20 million people, were being in repayment prior to the pandemic. A quarter — or far more than 10 million folks — have been in delinquency or default. Several some others had applied for temporary reduction for battling borrowers, together with deferments or forbearances.

These grim figures led to comparisons to the 2008 home loan disaster.

In the meantime, student personal loan borrowers encounter a host of repercussions from acquiring tens of thousands of dollars on their particular stability sheets, including trouble getting a residence and commencing a small business.

3. Midterms are looming

The Biden administration has explained that its announcement on pupil mortgage forgiveness is coming before long, which implies the information could break shortly ahead of Individuals vote in the midterm elections in November.

Advocates have mentioned that forgiving college student financial debt will impress young voters at the polls, which is likely desirable to the president. He is been shedding level of popularity with the demographic.

“It could make or break the Democrats in battleground states,” explained Astra Taylor, co-founder of the Debt Collective, a union for debtors.

Nevertheless sweeping college student personal loan forgiveness will also possible anger lots of Americans, like these who never borrowed for their instruction or went to college or university. Some Republicans have said they will test to block an effort and hard work by the president to cancel the debt. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, position member of the Property Techniques and Means Committee, recently identified as university student personal loan forgiveness “a giveaway to highly educated faculty grads.”

Overall, however, the majority of voters (62{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550}) assist university student personal loan forgiveness, according to a poll by Morning Talk to.

July 26, 2022

Five Tips On Recruiting The Best Talent For Your Small Business

Founder at JustReachOut.io – 5K+ businesses use our software package to pitch podcasts, publications, blogs to get highlighted without having support of PR companies

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Most persons like the idea of doing work for a large-title enterprise, and small corporations are up versus these huge brands when competing for talent.

Not only have I turned down the likelihood to function for an A-listing corporation, but I did so to start out my have business enterprise. In 2014, instead than joining Google, I started out JustReachOut following shelling out two a long time increasing the startup Polar from zero to a lot more than 40 million pageviews ahead of Google obtained it.

The hustle was on. I understood that the crucial to setting up a thriving organization was to use the ideal persons. Proficient workforce are extra effective and can develop a business 100 instances more quickly than mediocre employees.

My small business was new with a tiny client foundation and a modest revenue. How was I going to find skilled folks who were passionate about what they do and enthusiastic about supporting me in escalating a compact small business?

To begin with, I went the regular route. I hired a ton of recruitment organizations, but none of them sent what I necessary. Why? Due to the fact the most effective staff ended up by now doing work someplace else. How was I likely to find them and make myself interesting to them?

If you’re the place I was a couple of a long time back, in this article are my major five suggestions on recruiting the best talent for your little small business.

1. Find people today whose work you admire. To come across talented people today, all you need to do is scout all over the world-wide-web.

• If you’re employing a designer, test out the designer portfolios on web sites like Dribbble.

• If you need a information author, do a search for blogs in your industry. If you discover a author that is nailing it, your upcoming move is to come across their email deal with. Look at working with a free variation of an email finder to arrive at out and come across out if they’re in the sector for a work or will operate with you on a freelance basis.

• To uncover an application developer, believe of apps you like and locate out who produced them.

• To obtain wonderful marketing and advertising expertise, make a list of firms you feel are crushing it at internet marketing strategies. Then, do a tiny sleuthing to come across out who worked at all those organizations or at the advertising and marketing or advertising organizations that created the campaigns.

You can also faucet into your particular connections. For occasion, is there an ex-coworker whose function you admired? Get in touch and see if they are open up to functioning with you.

2. Come across folks who like you. Once again, the web is a fantastic source of possible talent. Glance by way of your followers on social media, e mail subscribers and even your consumer databases. Does any one with the relevant abilities jump out at you?

You can also put out a “we’re hiring” notice on your internet site and social media channels as very well as in e-mails.

3. Talk to the top rated men and women in your field for referrals. It is not likely you can recruit the head of Search engine optimization at Shopify to be part of your little startup, but you can check with him for a referral. Most folks who are at the top of their sport are effectively linked, and you could get some fantastic referrals.

There’s a challenge, although. These men and women are busy. How can you get them to aid you? First, find techniques to interact with them beforehand so they start off to realize your name. Remark on their get the job done, projects or interviews on their social media channels.

Then, attain out with a message. Hold it short and specific—they will not wade by way of prolonged emails. Something alongside these lines really should suffice:

Hi Bob,

I saw you know John on LinkedIn. Would like an intro. I consider he would have a fantastic time doing the job with us.

Can you ahead this e-mail below to him?

—-

Hey X,

My outdated buddy Dmitry arrived throughout you on LinkedIn and wanted to join. He is a great man running an amazing company and currently employing, definitely another person you really should have in your Rolodex.

Cool if I intro you?

4. Use a recruitment expert. Just for the reason that I failed to have considerably luck with recruitment organizations would not signify you should not use them. Considerably of it depends on who you use. I endorse using businesses that focus in a individual industry. For illustration, if you are seeking to grow your tech crew, use an company that specializes in technological know-how position placements.

Alternatively, if you happen to be a niche business, you may perhaps want to hire a recruitment professional who understands the field. For instance, if you might be a health care startup, glimpse to employ someone who has a health care recruitment history alternatively than a generalist HR practitioner. The median wage for junior health care recruiters is $46,000 a 12 months. That expense is invaluable if it suggests you devote fewer on recruitment expenditures since you happen to be acquiring the right candidates more quickly.

5. Produce a captivating career submitting. We have all yawned our way by uninteresting occupation adverts, and they almost certainly will not encourage you to want to apply. Dull occupation ads can give individuals the perception that your company is tedious. Talented individuals you should not want to operate for boring corporations. They want to work for pretty businesses.

If you want a vivid group which is bursting with clean modern strategies, then your position advertisement requires to mirror that. Do not just tell them what the task involves paint a image of what it can be like to function for your enterprise.

Discovering Good Expertise Is Tough—But Not Impossible

Modest-enterprise recruitment is challenging. You need to have to entice people today to get the job done for a fledgling company relatively than a major manufacturer. Finding wonderful expertise is feasible if you expand your research radius and emphasize the rewards of operating for a smaller company, of which there are lots of.

Nowadays, eight several years down the line, I have a crew of 15 wonderful people today I am very pleased to operate with. You can also obtain the very best expertise for your little business by basically having a more proactive tactic to recruitment.

Forbes Technological know-how Council is an invitation-only group for entire world-course CIOs, CTOs and technological know-how executives. Do I qualify?

July 25, 2022

West Hartford Business Buzz: July 25, 2022 – We-Ha

A round-up of openings, closings, and other news about West Hartford businesses.

By Ronni Newton

I complain about the cold so I won’t let myself complain about the heat – but it certainly has been hot for the past week!

I went for a few early-ish (7 a.m.) runs last week, and after Thursday’s run I had to get ready somewhat quickly for a meeting, and the portable air conditioner in our bedroom decided to stop working and flash an error code that made no sense to me, and I couldn’t get it to work, and I pretty much felt like I never stopped sweating for the entire rest of the day.

I do still prefer the heat to the cold though.

Summer is usually somewhat quiet, but I went to two ribbon cuttings last week (see below) and there were also quite a few breaking news stories. Maybe August will be quiet …

After buying food to make dinner Friday night, Ted and I made the last-minute decision to instead attend the Michael Cavanaugh: Music of Billy Joel concert by the Hartford Symphony at the Talcott Mountain Music Festival. We enjoyed the fantastic music, and a wonderful picnic on the lawn.

Flatbreads, hummus, and some chilled chardonnay at the Talcott Mountain Music Festival. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

No dinner out Saturday night because we didn’t want to waste the ingredients we had bought but to make sure we supported a West Hartford business – and because we wanted a cold treat on a hot night – we had some frozen custard from Rita’s. (The waffle cone was Ted’s, but he let me hold it for the photo.)

Rita’s in a waffle cone. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Rita’s chocolate and vanilla twist in a cup. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

We did enjoy a delicious brunch in Boston on Sunday with Sam and his girlfriend, Kate – before picking up Katie and Matt at Logan Airport. We discovered a new thing: pancake tacos!

Pancake tacos from Amrheins in Southie. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Mushroom and spinach omelet from Amrheins in Southie. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Corned beef hash with eggs over easy from Amrheins in Southie. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

I’m going to write this again and continue to email all who try to post comments to stories with their first name only (or some made-up moniker): I will not publish your comment until you provide your full name! Once a commenter gets through the approval queue the first time, future comments are posted automatically, and there are some commenters who are grandfathered because this requirement is only a year or two old. I have emailed all who have tried to comment without complete names, and in every case they haven’t bothered to respond or provide their names. If there’s silence for a week, I delete the request. Just wanted readers to know. Despite my including this message in both the introduction and as a bullet point in last week’s column, someone attempted to comment on the column with an obviously made-up name!

The state changed its COVID reporting a few weeks ago and while detailed reports aren’t issued daily the number of positive tests over the past week for each town is updated each day. The most recent report (as of Saturday) indicates 78 positive tests in West Hartford over the previous seven days – a number that’s higher than it was last week. The positivity rate is at 13.5{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} – and of course that doesn’t include the home tests that are positive but not reported. I have several friends who have tested positive recently, but thankfully all have had relatively mild symptoms. One day I hope to be able to delete this paragraph completely, but in the meantime, please continue to have patience since not everyone has the same level of comfort, continue to look out for each other, support our local businesses – and stay safe and healthy.

If you have information to share about local businesses, please provide details in the comments or email Ronni Newton at [email protected].

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Connecticut Physical Therapy Specialists is the sponsor of this week’s Business Buzz!

Here’s this week’s Buzz:

Boqueria, a New York-based Spanish restaurant, will be opening in the former Balos (and before that Besito) space in Blue Back Square. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

I have confirmed that Boqueria has signed a lease for the sizable restaurant space most recently occupied by Balos (and before that, Besito) at 46 South Main Street in Blue Back Square. I don’t have any details yet from the ownership (I have reached out) but what I have been advised is that the opening is planned for early 2023. According to their website, Boqueria specializes in Spanish paella and tapas, as well as creative cocktails, and is also known for a festive atmosphere. There are several New York location as well as two locations in Washington, DC, and one in Chicago and Nashville. Balos, which an upscale Greek restaurant, was only open for about 18 months following an extensive renovation that they did before opening. The initial plan when Balos closed in January 2020 was that it was temporary and they planned to rebrand, but we all know what happened shortly after that, and then sadly the owner, George Chatzopoulos, passed away earlier this year. It’s hard to believe that Besito (which I really liked!) has been gone for long, but it closed abruptly in July 2017.

Kilwins will be opening at 38 Isham Road in Blue Back Square. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Another exciting new business coming to Blue Back Square is Kilwins – which will be opening at 38 Isham Road, where most recently Trollbeads was located until it closed, along with all other New England locations other than Holyoke, MA, in mid-June. “Since 1947 Kilwins has been a celebrated part of Americana having earned a reputation for providing high quality chocolates, ice cream, and confections [including Mackinac Island Fudge] combined with excellent service,” the website states. The franchise business has locations throughout the country, but the West Hartford shop will be the first in Connecticut. The Kilwins website says they will open in 2023, but it can’t come soon enough!

Nothing Bundt Cakes is now open in Corbin’s Corner. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Nothing Bundt Cakes is open in Corbin’s Corner as of Sunday, and will be the subject of a feature story later today!

Brook Goff (center) cuts the ribbon at the new headquarters of Goff Law Group at Corporate Center West in West Hartford. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Congratulations to Goff Law Group, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary and move to a beautiful new office suite at Corporate Center West. Attorney Brooke Goff, whose personal injury practice continues to grow and now includes four locations spread throughout the state of Connecticut, cut the ribbon Friday along with staff, business partners, and the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce.

Attorney Brooke Goff

Brooke Goff (left) and law partner Annette Smith. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Brook Goff (center) cuts the ribbon at the new headquarters of Goff Law Group at Corporate Center West in West Hartford. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Goff Law Group celebrated its new offices and anniversary with custom doughnuts from Donut Crazy. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Conference room at the new Goff Law Group office at Corporate Center West. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Congratulations also to Oath Pizza, which had its grand opening and ribbon cutting on Thursday! CEO Drew Kellogg said it was the first new location the business has opened in four years, and Chief Marketing Officer Stacie Hayes added that the West Hartford location, which is corporate-owned, is the first to showcase the new branding. I’ve already tasted many of the pizzas – all of which get a thumbs up – and sampled the Farmer’s Garden veggie pizza this time. I’ll definitely order it again!

Oath Pizza CEO Drew Kellog (center, in blue shirt) and West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor cut the ribbon at the new Blue Back Square location on July 21. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Farmer’s Garden Pizza from Oath Pizza. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Where Healing Begins Wellness Center will have its grand opening celebration on Saturday, July 30, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., at their offices at 10 Grassmere Ave., West Hartford. Founder Lorena Soto Bunker said she is dedicating the center to her parents, who are from Puerto Rico. Among the activities that differentiate this wellness center are that salsa lessons will be offered “to connect my community and roots,” she said, in addition to yoga for adults and kids, Reiki healing, and various forms of therapy.

Courtesy image

The West Hartford Chamber of Commerce held its golf tournament last Tuesday at Wampanoag. Among the 84 golfers participating were Kevin Keenan and Paul Listro, who joined their successors, Westfarms General Manager Alberto Arebalo and Head of Security Jerry Erwin.

From left: Alberto Arebalo, Kevin Keenan, Jerry Erwin, and Paul Listro. Courtesy photo

Congratulations to West Hartford resident Michelle Bonner who has been named director of Public Relations at Adams & Knight in Avon. Bonner was previously marketing director at the Mandell Jewish Community Center in West Hartford, and she also shared that at the JCC Kelly Boscarino is the new marketing director and Kate Sullivan is the new assistant marketing director.

Branden Kaufmann. Courtesy photo

Congrats to West Hartford resident Branden Kaufmann, a student at Johnson & Wales, who was recently named a 2022 recipient of the Max CaresFoundation Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Scholarship. Twelve scholarships, totaling $25,000, have recently been awarded to recent high school graduates from The Hartford or Springfield areas and currently enrolled college students that are pursuing an education in the fields of culinary arts and hospitality management. “As the restaurant industry continues to rebound, the Max Cares Foundation is proud to continue its investment in the next generation of our industry’s leaders,” Max Cares Foundation Board President Rich Rosenthal said. “We are particularly excited to have grown our number of awardees in the Greater Springfield region as well as served our most diverse applicant pool ever. Based on this years scholarship recipients, we think the future of the culinary arts and hospitality sector looks very bright!”

Joyce Aparicio. Courtesy photo

Coldwell Banker Realty in Connecticut and Westchester County, New York announced in a news release that a West Hartford resident is one of two locally affiliated real estate agents and teams that have been honored by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) with the Top 250 Latino Agents in America Award for 2022. According to a news release, this award recognizes the most successful Latino real estate agents in the United States, whose hard work, ambition and contributions have helped thousands of individuals to realize their dream of homeownership while supporting NAHREP’s mission to advance sustainable Hispanic homeownership. The winners include Joyce Aparicio, affiliated with the Coldwell Banker Realty office in West Hartford, who is ranked No. 20 among the Top 100 Latino Agents in the Northeast and No. 241 among the Top 250 Latino Agents in the entire United States, with 50 transactions in 2021.

Joshua Woods. Courtesy photo

Halloran Sage has announced that West Hartford resident and attorney Joshua Woods has recently their Hartford location. He practices in corporate transactions and real estate, guiding clients through negotiations, documentation, due diligence reviews, and closings. He also provides legal counsel to private companies in financings, day-to-day affairs, and mergers and acquisitions. He earned his JD from Western New England University School of Law and his BBA from Hofstra University.

Sivan Hines. Courtesy photo

The Board of Directors of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the community foundation for Hartford and 28 surrounding communities, has appointed Beatriz Gutierrez and Sivan Hines to join the Board. According to a news release, Dr. Hines is a new resident of West Hartford and is the inaugural senior director of College Partnerships and Scholar Success for Hartford Promise, a large-scale scholarship organization for Hartford public school students. In her role Hines focuses on operationalizing Hartford Promise’s integrated college success model that provides students the financial resources, support services and key relationships that lead to college success and economic mobility. Prior to moving to West Hartford, Hines worked as a pediatrician for more than twenty years in the Atlanta-based Wellstar Pediatric & Adolescent Center, helping to grow the practice into one of the region’s largest and most successful pediatric practices. In addition, Hines has demonstrated a deep commitment to community, serving on the boards of directors of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Covenant House of Georgia, Atlanta Youth Academy, Girls Inc. of Greater Atlanta, and the Brown Medical Alumni Association (current president-elect). Dr. Hines earned both her Bachelor of Arts in American Civilization and Neuroscience and her Doctorate of Medicine from Brown University.

Courtesy photo

Remember, if you have any business news to share, add it in the comments section below or email Ronni Newton at [email protected].

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