Hartford Business Journal

4 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MARCH 18, 2024 BIZ BRIEFS Movers & Shakers company said. Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utili- ties, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. It owns United Illumi- nating, which provides electricity to 17 Connecticut towns and cities near the shoreline, and Connecticut Natural Gas. Mass. IT firm more than doubles employee count in CT A Massachusetts-based IT services company has expanded its Connecticut office, more than doubling the number of employees who are based there. EchoStor Technologies, head- quartered in Hopkinton, Massachu- setts, expanded into Connecticut in 2021. It grew to 12 employees at its Windsor office in 2023, and now has 25 employees at the location, which serves as its headquarters for Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. In Connecticut, EchoStor works with four of the top six insurance companies, and has a customer base that includes one-third of the 50 largest companies in the state, the company said. EchoStor, founded in 2005, provides IT services focusing on data centers, security, digital workflows and modern workplace. Trinity Health reaches multiyear agreement with Cigna Following months of negotiations, Trinity Health Of New England announced a multiyear agreement with Bloomfield-based health insurer Cigna. Cigna's contract with St. Francis Hospital, Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Hospital and Trinity Health Of New England Medical Group providers in Connecticut expired Jan. 1. The new agreement, which took effect March 1, applies to those facilities, as well as to St. Mary's Hospital in Water- bury and Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford, which had agreements that did not expire until April 30. The agreement with Cigna restores its commercial health plan coverage to all of Trinity Health's facilities in Connecticut. Other details of the agreement were not released. SBA names CT's 2024 Small Business Person of the Year A Norwich entrepreneur has been named the U. S. Small Busi- ness Administration's 2024 Small Business Person of the Year for Connecticut, and will compete for a national award in Washington, D.C. Maria Miranda founded the brand management firm Miranda Creative 35 years ago and now serves as chief creative officer. She was a pioneer in QR-code advertising and is active in the community. Hartford-based Amenta Emma Architects announces leadership transition Major Hartford-based architec- tural firm Amenta Emma Architects announced that its co-founder, Anthony Amenta, will be stepping down from his leadership post. Amenta, who founded the firm in Hartford with Robert Emma in 1985, will be relinquishing his president role, but will remain in an advisory capacity. Taking over as president is Michael Tyre. Tyre will serve as president-elect until assuming the role of president in January 2025. Meantime, Myles Brown will serve as vice president, and Robert Swain will serve as managing principal. Jenna McClure, who was named a principal in 2023, will become the director of personnel, and Craig Battisto will become the director of project operations, the firm said. St. Francis Hospital is part of Trinity Health Of New England. HBJ FILE PHOTO Maria Miranda Michael Tyre Anthony Amenta Multimedia broadcaster Connecticut Public has named Vanessa de la Torre its new chief content officer. De la Torre will lead all Connecticut Public content, including radio, tele- vision and digital content with a mission to inform, educate and inspire audiences across the state. She joined Connecticut Public in 2018 as a race, identity and culture reporter, after spending 11 years as a reporter at the Hartford Courant. Goodwill of Western and Northern Connecticut announced it has hired Jeff Neff as senior vice president of operations. Neff brings more than 23 years of experience managing nonprofit organizations at both operational and executive levels, including 13 years as the president and CEO of The National Kidney Foundation of Arizona. Law firm Goldberg Segalla said it has added Maxwell C. LaFrance to its civil litigation and trial group in Hartford. LaFrance concentrates his practice on counseling and defending clients in a variety of civil claims and disputes. He earned his law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law. The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art board of trustees recently elected five new members. They include: Susan Chan- dler (Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office); Burke Doar (TRUMPF Inc.); Camille Donald- Simpson (Beazley USA); Tamara Williams (Prudential Financial, retired); and Henry M. Zachs (MCM Holdings LLC). Several board members were also elected to new roles: Duffield Ashmead (chair); Cheryl A. Chase (vice chair); Emilie de Brigard (vice chair); Hy J. Schwartz (vice chair); Brook A. Hazelton (treasurer); and Lily DeJongh Downing (secretary). Hartford-based JCJ Architecture has named Eric Haggstrom director of sustainability. An architect with 15 years of experience in projects ranging from civic, higher education, health care and K-12 education, Haggstrom joined JCJ in early 2020. In his new role, he will work across regions and project types to integrate sustainable practices in the firm's projects. Hartford-based real estate firm Sentry Commercial recently made two new hires: Meagan Cordi has been named brand strategist and community outreach director, while Christie Howie is a property administrator. Cordi will oversee The REC Hartford, Sentry Commercial's office space and community outreach hub. Her responsi- bilities will include enhancing the Sentry brand's visibility and impact in the commercial real estate sector, both locally and beyond. She previ- ously worked at Avison Young and RM Bradley. Prior to joining Sentry Commer- cial, Howie worked with SHP Management as a multi-site property manager. Barbarajean Marshall has been named marketing and sponsorship director of Westfarms mall in West Hartford. Marshall will lead marketing and spon- sorship initiatives for the mall, including corporate accounts and advertising. She brings 20 years of marketing experience to the role. Most recently, she served as a multimedia sales executive with FOX61 and CW20. Hartford architec- ture firm Amenta Emma Architects has promoted Jenna McClure to principal. McClure joined the firm in 2008 and serves as a senior project manager. She has overseen some of the firm's most complex and notable projects. In the community, she mentors young women pursuing degrees in the architecture industry. New Haven-based Babbidge Construction Co. has hired Chad Bergeron as its new director of estimating and preconstruction. Bergeron will be spearheading the development and manage- ment of Babbidge's estimating and preconstruction department. He has over 25 years of experience in the industry. Most recently, Bergeron was director of estimating and preconstruc- tion for Massachusetts-based Fontaine Brothers, a major regional contractor. Avon-based Oma's Pride Raw Pet Food, a multi-gen- erational family business, announced that Adam DeJulius, fourth-generation owner and operator, has been promoted to president, CFO and will lead the company's entire pet division. He was previously head of operations and finance. Capri Brighenti, third-gen- eration owner and operator and previously the president of Oma's Pride, will continue to lead the parent company Miller Foods as CEO, and serve as president of Miller Farms. Vanessa de la Torre Jeff Neff Meagan Cordi Barbarajean Marshall Jenna McClure Christie Howie

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