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22 Hartford Business Journal • June 22, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com ▶ ▶ The Mayor's Charity Ball in West Hartford brought about 350 guests and raised almost $75,000 through a live auction hosted by Fox's Jim Altman as well as other donations. Proceeds from the auction will go directly to two youth programs, Playhouse on Park's Literature Alive program and The Town That Cares' Backpack Program. The Mayor's Charity Ball was created to bring awareness to and raise funds for West Hartford nonprofits. 16TH ANNUAL MAYOR'S CHARITY BALL RAISES $75,000 ▶ ▶ Nearly 60 Hoffman Audi employees and their families (shown above) came together to cheer and encourage the hundreds of Special Olympics athletes that participated in track and field as well as aquatics events in the 2015 Northern Time Trials in Windsor. Athletes, along with over 100 Unified partners from the participating schools, competed in order to place in the upcoming summer games. As a presenting sponsor of the Northern Time Trials, the Hoffman Audi/Auto Group provided financial support to the event as well. HOFFMAN AUDI VOLUNTEERS AT SUMMER SPECIAL OLYMPICS ▶ ▶ The Real Estate Finance Association of Connecticut (REFA) recently participated in a Habitat for Humanity project in Hartford. Young professionals from the REFA Hartford Chapter stepped out of the office and onto a construction site to help the community with its housing needs. Kelsey Rath of Talcott Realty Investors and a member of the REFA board chaired the event, along with Shannen Tack from the REFA CT staff. Pictured (from left) are Mitch Insero, John Pember, Ed Engberg, Tom Humphrey, Kelsey Rath, Rebekah Reid, Nick Pinto, Shannen Tack and Christopher Anderson. REAL ESTATE FINANCE ASSOCIATION REPRESENTED AT HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INITIATIVE OF NOTE HARTFORD HEALTHCARE NAMED BEST IN NEW ENGLAND FOR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS Hartford Healthcare has claimed top honors in the New England Society for Health Care Communications annual Lamplighter Awards competition for the second consecutive year. HHC's Behavioral Health Network won the 2015 Golden Lamp, Best in New England award for its "National Dialogue on Mental Health," a series of public forums following the Sandy Hook tragedy. Hartford Healthcare also won the Best in New England Award in 2014 for an internal communications campaign. • • • SIMSBURY BANK'S GEITZ NAMED BUSINESS LEADER OF THE YEAR The Simsbury Chamber of Commerce recently present- ed Martin Geitz, president and CEO of Simsbury Bank, with the 2015 Business Leader of the Year Award at the chamber's annual meet- ing and awards luncheon at Hop Meadow Country Club. Additionally, the Simsbury Chamber's 2015 Public Servant of the Year Award was presented to former First Selectman Mary Glassman, and the recipient of the Chamber's 2015 Educator of the Year Award was Melissa Fearrington, a mathematics and computer science teacher at Simsbury High School. • • • PRATT'S ENGINEERING VP SABNIS INDUCTED INTO CT ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering inducted Jayant Sabnis, Pratt & Whitney's vice president of engineering (module centers), recog- nizing him among the state's leading experts in science, engineering and technology. Sabnis' induction is in recog- nition of his significant technical contri- butions to the development of Pratt & Whitney's PurePower geared turbofan engine family in the areas of thermody- namics, aerodynamics and system performance. • • • WEBSTER BANKER RECEIVES LEADERSHIP AWARD Cheryl Poryanda, senior vice president, market manager of communi- ty bank at Webster Bank, received the 2015 Leadership Award from the Meriden-based Women and Families Center. Poryanda has been involved with the United Way of Meriden-Wallingford for more than 20 years, with leadership roles including loaned executive to president of the board of directors. She currently serves on the board and is the chair of the allocations process panel. Poryanda volunteers as a United Way reader in the Hartford Public School system, facilitates seminars on elder financial abuse prevention, and has helped a team of Webster bankers adopt a family during the holiday sea- son for the past 10 years. Pictured (from left) are Charles Houlihan, Simsbury chamber presi- dent; and Martin Geitz, president and CEO of Simsbury Bank. Jayant Sabnis Cheryl Poryanda Members of Hartford Healthcare's marketing and communications team. ACCOLADES & MORE