Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com February 6, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 5 Berthiaume embraces second act as N. Britain baseball GM By John Stearns jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com G erry Berthiaume was home over the holidays working as treasurer for his church when Mike Pfaff, co- owner of the New Britain Bees baseball team, called about his interest in becom- ing general manager. Ironically, Berthiaume, 61, was wear- ing a Bees cap he bought during the team's 2016 inaugural season. "I said, 'Mike I'm sitting here doing book- work for my church and … I'm wearing my Bees hat,' " Berthiaume recalled. "He was like, 'Really? I swear to God, Mike, I'm wearing my Bees hat.' " Whether divine intervention or incredi- ble coincidence, Berthiaume seems meant to "bee" the team's GM after 18 years away from the game. He started Jan. 23. Berthiaume was executive vice presi- dent and GM of the New Britain Red Sox and New Britain Rock Cats from 1984 to 1999, until the team was sold, and oversaw the move into New Brit- ain Stadium in 1995 from Beehive Sta- dium. The stadium was refurbished for the Bees and has never looked better, he said. "How great it is that someone gets to do their dream job twice in their lifetime?" Ber- thiaume said. Berthiaume, who is married to Jenny, a Bristol middle school teacher and has two grown sons, is grateful to return, but also loved his last nine years at Capital Workforce Partners teaching employment skills to youth. The nine years prior to that included several different jobs. Baseball taught him resilience, he said, noting a Major Leaguer can fail in seven of 10 at-bats and go to the Hall of Fame as a .300 hitter. "I think that's what I've learned … it's a game of failure, but getting up, brush- ing yourself off, trying it again and I think people see that you're genuine about that and they gravitate to you," he said. Pfaff said Berthiaume is passionate about baseball, genuinely connected to the community and a great face for the franchise. "He's the right person in so many respects," Pfaff said. "You always exit a conversation with Gerry feeling good, and that's something that's important." Berthiaume played two years of col- lege ball in Maine and pro ball "for all of 22 games" with the Billings (Mont.) Mustangs of the Cincinnati Reds organization in 1975. A strong-armed outfielder, he convinced his coach to let him pitch two innings in a game the Mustangs led by 10 runs against an affil- iate of the then-Montreal Expos. The first three batters got hits, cutting the lead to nine runs with runners on first and third with no outs. He retired the next three batters and three straight in the ninth. "That third batter who got the base hit and a single and the RBI was Andre Daw- son," Berthiaume said of the future Expo and Hall of Famer. "My claim to fame is that I held him to a single." Berthiaume is in the University of Southern Maine Hall of Fame as the first player to sign a pro contract and in the Maine Hall of Fame for his time in the game, including his New Britain roles. He's thrilled to be back in baseball and believes there's room in the market for two pro teams. The Bees, an unaf- filiated team in the Atlantic League, filled the void left in New Britain last year after the Rock Cats moved to Hartford as the Yard Goats, a Double-A affiliate of the Colo- rado Rockies. The Bees' talent is comparable, "possi- bly even better," Berthiaume said. "We've got players with Double-A, Triple-A and some Major League experience on our roster, they've just been released, unfor- tunately." The Atlantic League, while not affiliated, has a contract with Major League Baseball where MLB can buy out players' contracts, which happened six times last year on the Bees, he said. Like before as GM, Berthiaume believes in trust, transparency, fun, being visible and working as a team. "I basically told you what you were going to get for your dollars' worth," he said. "I stood at the front gates every night to greet everybody. I made sure that there was positiveness and energy throughout the ballpark. That's what I want to bring back and I think that works for our fans and for our sponsors." n H B J P H O T O | J O H N S T E A R N S Gerry Berthiaume is back in the game he loves, baseball, as new general manager of the New Britain Bees. He's seen here Jan. 27 at the end of his first week on the job at the team's offices in New Britain Stadium. Gerry Berthiaume General manager, New Britain Bees. Highest education: Bachelor's in health and physical education, West Chester University, West Chester, Pa., 1981. Executive insights: "Trust is a big thing for me, it's that nice firm handshake, that good eye contact to make people feel comfortable about who we are, what we have to offer for them and I try to pass that along to my staff." EXECUTIVE PROFILE Check out a video clip of Gerry Berthiaume's interview at hartfordbusiness.com. PDS has been meeting the needs of the construction industry since 1965. Our dedicated team of design and construction professionals welcomes the challenge of serving its past and future customers on their most demanding projects. 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com DESIGN BUILDERS • GENERAL CONTRACTORS • CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS SPOTLIGHT ON: Education Global Communications Academy | Hartford, Connecticut PDS served in the role as Construction Manager at Risk for this LEED Gold K-12 School. This project was a two story renovation and addition project. Demolition and remediation occurred to 110,000 square feet of the building. An addition of 23,000 square feet was also completed. The entire project included new classrooms, kitchen, cafeteria, gymnatorium, multipurpose rooms, exam rooms, and offices. Project Size: 133,000 SF PDS ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. THINK • PLAN • BUILD SENIOR DEVELOPER (Hartford Fire Insurance Company — Windsor, CT) Provide support for program development & future Claims apps enhancements. Apply via Careers section of www.thehartford.com & submit resume to Job ID: 1700159 Eligible for employee referral bonus. From Central Connecticut's trusted business news source. It's the up-to-date information you need to do better business! Get local breaking business news daily! Sign up today at HartfordBusiness.com: Click on the 'subscribe' button HBJToday and

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