Hartford Business Journal

22 Hartford Business Journal • June 29, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com ▶ ▶ Connecticut Technical High School System's SkillsUSA received a $30,000 donation from the Grainger Foundation. The funds will go toward student travel expenses as they head to the national SkillsUSA competition in Louisville, Ky. SkillsUSA guides students in becoming responsible citizens by hosting a leadership conference and skills championship, which allows students to compete in their chosen trade or leadership events. Competitions are held regionally and statewide in each chapter's state of origin. The nationals are held in a different state each year. SKILLSUSA CT RECEIVES DONATION FROM GRAINGER FOUNDATION COHN REZNICK VOLUNTEERS FOR JA IN A DAY ▶ ▶ Pratt & Whitney employee Alice Straight led a Pratt-sponsored team and completed a half-mile leg with her daughter Nicola, a Special Olympian from Meriden, and Nicola's two friends, Yasmin Rancourt and Athena Lapointe, in the first-ever Special Olympics Unified Relay Across America. The Unified Relay included the Flame of Hope, which the Pratt & Whitney team helped carry through Connecticut. The Flame of Hope will be relayed across the United States and eventually reach California in time for the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles. Pratt & Whitney is a long-time supporter of Special Olympics, providing more than 38 consecutive years of volunteer support to Special Olympics programs in Connecticut. PRATT & WHITNEY HELPS CARRY SPECIAL OLYMPICS TORCH OF NOTE CHARLES MATHEWS RECEIVES R.C. KNOX DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP AWARD Charles Mathews of West Hartford received the 2014 Robert C. Knox, Jr. YMCA Distinguished Leadership Award at the YMCA of Greater Hartford's 162nd annual meeting. Since being appointed board chair of the Wilson-Gray Y, Mathews, with the support of many volunteers, has increased the Wilson-Gray YMCA's annual campaign giving from $20,000 to more than $100,000 for the past three years. He's also helped to expand community engagement with the state and Hartford city officials and increase the Y's presence within the local neighborhood by establishing community events. • • • NORMAN LACROIX INDUCTED INTO UCONN BUSINESS HALL OF FAME Norman W. LaCroix of Westport was recently inducted into the University of Connecticut School of Business' Hall of Fame at the CT Convention Center in Hartford. LaCroix earned his MBA from UConn in 1972. In 2013, LaCroix became CEO and a founding part- ner of Decision Analytics Group, a startup provider of business intel- ligence and analytics software. He's also on the board of the Connecticut Food Bank. • • • WRIGHT-PIERCE EARNS RANKING AS 'TOP 500' U.S. DESIGN FIRM Middletown engineering firm Wright-Pierce was selected as one of Engineering News Record's "Top 500" U.S. design firms in 2014. Engineering News Record, an architecture, engineering and construc- tion trade publication, compiles and publishes annual rankings of the largest engineering and construction firms in the U.S., measured by gross revenues. Wright-Pierce has been ranked in the top 500 for six consecutive years, and with 10 percent revenue growth in 2014, the firm attained its highest ranking to date. • • • O&G NAMED U.S. 'TOP 400' CONTRACTOR O&G Industries of Torrington was ranked 210th on Engineering News-Record's 50th annual "Top 400" contractors list. O&G is one of only two Connecticut contractors to rank on ENR's inaugural and 50th anniversary list. The company is one of only five Connecticut contractors to make the 2015 top 400 list. To date, O&G has com- pleted more than 230 school construction projects — more than any other Connecticut-based contractor. • • • ST. FRANCIS RECOGNIZED WITH GOLD-PLUS AWARD FOR HEART FAILURE CARE St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center has received the Get With The Guidelines Heart Failure Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation's secondary prevention guidelines for patients with heart failure. St. Francis earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the patient, proper use of medications, and aggressive risk-reduc- tion therapies. This marks the sixth year that St. Francis has been recognized with a Get With The Guidelines quality achievement award. Pictured (from left) are Jim Scherer, interim CEO, YMCA of Greater Hartford; JoAnn Price, vice chair, YMCA board of directors and Wilson- Gray YMCA board of advisors; Charles Mathews, 2014 RC Knox recipient; and Jerry Gooden, chairman of the board, YMCA of Greater Hartford. Norman W. LaCroix ▶ ▶ CohnReznick's Hartford office employees (shown above) recently volunteered for Junior Achievement in a Day in 11 classrooms at the Betances STEM Magnet School in Hartford, teaching students in grades four through six about entrepreneurship. ACCOLADES & MORE

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