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7 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | AUGUST 23, 2021 Trey Bongiovanni Albert Cheng Foster Charles Age: 36 Company: Bongiovanni Insurance & Financial/BSP Insurance Title: Managing Partner No. of years with current company: 13 Town where I live: Plantsville Town where I work: Meride College: Eastern Connecticut State University Highest degree: Bachelor's degree in Health & Physical Education Age: 37 Company: The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine Title: Assistant Professor No. of years with current company: 7 Town where I work: Farmington College: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (BSc, MPhil); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D) Highest degree: Doctorate in Computational & Systems Biology Age: 33 Company: Charles IT Title: Founder & CEO No. of years with current company: 15 Town where I live: Middletown Town where I work: Middletown Highest degree: High School T rey Bongiovanni is a managing partner of both Bongiovanni insurance & Financial and BSP Insurance, which provides holistic insurance and financial solutions for individuals and businesses. The organization was founded in 1987 by his father, Terry Bongiovanni. The first non-family team member was hired just 5 years ago, and with Bongiovanni's guidance and leadership the agency has grown to have 24 total team members today. Four reasons why you deserve to be a 40 Under Forty: 1. Managing partner of two successful organizations with continued exponential growth. 2. Always strive to ensure I lead and motivate team members in the most productive and enthusiastic way. 3. Long-standing board member of the Boys and Girls Club and encourage the organizations' continual activity in the community. 4. One of the original founding members and chairman of the Young Business Leaders of CT that encourages young professionals. What's been your biggest professional/work accomplishment so far in your career? Our biggest accomplishment as an organization is the culture and work environment that we have worked hard to create. We invest heavily in our team member's professional and personal growth. The family environment we have created translates into the way our team members treat every client. F oster Charles founded Charles IT in December of 2006, his senior year of high school, with a simple goal of helping others with their technology. He began by fixing computers for individuals in town. As of today, Charles has 48 employees and has built Charles IT into a $10 million dollar company with over 110 contract clients. Charles works with many high compliance clients, establishing Charles IT as a standout compliance expert in Connecticut. Four reasons why you deserve to be a 40 Under Forty: 1. Founded a company that has profited and grown by 20% or more each year for 15 years. 2. Grew a team from one to 48 employees while maintaining a Google-like, family-friendly office culture 3. Member of Entrepreneurs' Organization, as well as IT Nation Evolve, so he continues to learn and share strategies for business growth and development in the IT field. 4. Founder and chair of LEAD CT — a division of the Middlesex Chamber focused on empowering the growth of local leaders. What's been your biggest professional/work accomplishment so far in your career? My greatest accomplishment is not only growing my company to $10 million dollars, but more importantly growing a team of like-minded individuals who truly enjoy what they do. My very first employee still works at Charles IT 15 years later — a tribute to my dedication to take great care of my team. Fun Fact Each year, I plan an "epic outing" and fly my entire company somewhere. A s an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington, Albert Cheng, Ph.D. leads his own team, the Cheng laboratory, to develop technologies that are distributed around the world to improve precise genome editing and accelerate genomic discovery. Four reasons why you deserve to be a 40 Under Forty: 1. Is the youngest person to ever hold a faculty position at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine. 2. Has invented two very important technologies for the research community that make entire areas of research feasible that were previously impossible. 3. Has issued patents for his Casilio technology in Australia, Japan and South Korea. 4. Was awarded a five-year $3.2 million grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute for epigenetic studies to advance precision medicine. What's been your biggest professional/work accomplishment so far in your career? One of my most notable accomplishments has been the development of Casilio. This technology expands the capabilities of the well-known gene editing platform, CRISPR- Cas9. It's enhanced functionality greatly expands a researcher's ability to study gene function and chromosome structure. I have received patents from countries around the world. ALBERT CHENG C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S A N D A L L T H E 4 0 U N D E R 4 0 H O N O R E E S 40 UNDER FORTY | TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY 2021