Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 6, 2022 21 'Robust' sports market Meantime, Vale Sports Club, with a 35,000-square-foot facility in Middletown for dodgeball, soccer, Arrow Dodge, volleyball and Ultimate Frisbee games, is expanding. Owner Zach Eddinger plans to lease a 22,000-square-foot sports complex that's planned to be built at 500 Four Rod Road in Berlin. It will be mainly used for basketball. Berlin Economic Development Director Chris Edge said these facilities offer an extra incen- tive for visitors to check out his The project overview of a large-scale indoor/outdoor sporting venue proposed for MassMutual's former 65-acre campus in Enfield. IMAGE | CONTRIBUTED town, and could even entice prospective residents. Robert Murdock, president of the Connecticut Conven- tion & Sports Bureau, said he recognizes the recreational sports market is growing, a trend that likely came to a head during the pandemic, when many restrictions were placed on indoor activity, including gyms. There is also a post-pandemic urge to meet up in person. With more people working from home, getting up and away from the desk is driving more people to sports facilities, Murdock said. "The sports market is very robust," he said. Murdock said he's seen a push for new or expanded sports sites, and he has a growing list of smaller-scale recreational facilities to promote. "People want to be out, living their lives, and there's an even stronger demand for space than there was before and it's encouraging people to build new facilities," Murdock said. "They are raising the quality of life for towns and their residents." Movers & Shakers NBCUniversal announced that its local Connecticut stations are under- going a leadership change. Hank Guerrero has been promoted from vice president of sales for NBC Connecticut/ WVIT and Telemundo Connecticut/WRDM to lead the organizations as president and general manager. He's taking over the role from Diane Hannes who is retiring, NBCUniversal said. Hannes was named president and general manager in 2019. Guerrero brings 20 years of experience in leadership roles to his new role at NBC Connecticut and Telemundo Connecticut, including his decade-long run in sales positions with NBCUniversal's TV stations in Hartford and Boston. Easterseals Capital Region & Eastern Connecticut, a nonprofit provider of services to people with disabilities, announced the addition of three new members to its board of directors: David Hess, Dave Stevens, and David Verrone. For the last 10 years, Hess has been the CFO of for-profit compa- nies catering to many of the same individuals that Easterseals serves, including, most recently, at Numotion and Lifeway Mobility. Stevens is an Emmy Award-win- ning broadcasting professional who has worked for 37 years in sports television, including winning seven Emmys during his 20-year career at ESPN. Verrone is currently a Webster Bank senior vice president on the commercial banking side. Lou Gianquinto, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Connecticut, has been named chair of the American Heart Association's Greater New Haven Heart Walk for a second year. The annual Heart Walk will take place at Savin Rock in West Haven on May 6. As chair, Gianquinto, originally from West Haven, will lead organizational and recruitment efforts in Greater New Haven. Craig Werder recently joined Windsor-based specialty insurance underwriter Busi- ness Risk Partners as principal under- writer for its financial institutions practice. Werder previously served as the executive director of global rela- tionship management at JPMorgan for more than two decades. The Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute announced the addition of neuro-oncologist Dr. Alexis Demopoulos, whose areas of interest are cancer's effects on the nervous system, including benign and malignant brain tumors. Demopoulos, who sees patients in Hartford and Bridgeport, cares for patients suffering from brain tumors and those battling the spread of other cancers into the brain. He comes to Hartford HealthCare from Northwell Health System in New York. Francesca Kracht was named senior vice president, chief risk officer of Thomaston Savings Bank. Kracht transitioned into this role following the retirement of former Chief Risk Officer Nancy O'Donnell. Francesca joined the bank 15 years ago as assistant vice president, compliance officer. Most recently she served as vice president, senior project officer, and had been in that position since 2016. Avon marketing and advertising agency Adams & Knight recently announced five new hires. Three-time Emmy Award-winning journalist Michelle Bonner, who has worked for ESPN, CNN and FOX, has joined the agency as its new director of public relations. Malcom Little has joined Adams & Knight's paid media planning and buying team as a media account manager. He comes from Outfront Media. Karishma Pinto was recently hired as a senior marketing program manager. She previously served as a marketing specialist for New Park Creative in Hartford. Carson Bloomquist has been named creative producer over- seeing the agency's video projects. Tess Myers is the agency's new program manager. Glastonbury advertising and communications firm CashmanKatz has hired Stephen Rovetti as asso- ciate creative director. In his new role, Rovetti will provide design direction and creative lead- ership to a team of in-house graphic and web designers and will be responsible for all digital projects. He has more than 20 years of experi- ence in design, art and creative direction, marketing, branding, photography, video, motion and creative process management. Hank Guerrero Lou Gianquinto Francesca Kracht Stephen Rovetti Craig Werder PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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