Around this time last year, The Commercial Record held its annual reader poll. Respondents gave us insights into how 2013 had gone for them, and how they thought 2014 would turn out. The results were, in some ways, unremarkable; readers across all industries thought 2013 was better than 2012, and that 2014 would be better than 2013.
At a recent conference for family business owners and members, keynote speaker Leo Vercollone, second generation president of VERC Enterprises, told his audience to “celebrate failure.” His point was that if you don\’t try, you don\’t achieve – but not every attempt is a surefire success, and that\’s ok. Failure is a learning experience.
Each year in August, The Commercial Record honors a select group of women from the finance, insurance and real estate sectors in Connecticut with our Women of FIRE Awards. This year\’s winners continue a tradition of excellence in business, community involvement and leadership.
As we ease into the slower summer months, it seems Connecticut\’s housing recovery is keeping pace with the weather – it may be getting warmer, but it\’s still sluggish. Month-over-month, the number of single-family home sales is rising, but not keeping pace with last year, according to data from The Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record.
I don\’t think I need to tell you, readers, but it\’s been a hell of a winter. It was cold, and then it was bitterly cold, and then it was subzero – and then it was merely cold again. It snowed for days on end. We dug out. It snowed again. I\’m pretty sure it\’s been snowing since last August.
According to her 13 Women of FIRE nominators, Brenda Maher is everything you could ever want in a mentor. With more than 25 years of experience in Connecticut’s residential real estate industry, she’s seen a number of changes along the way, and imparts that knowledge to her staff of more than 60 Realtors at Prudential Connecticut Realty.
The mission statement of The Citizens National Bank is “to remain an independent community bank, providing quality products and services to our customers and the community with superior value to shareholders,” and it\’s a position that the bank\’s president and CEO, David Conrad, takes very seriously.
Scott Nardozzi began working at his local community bank the day he turned 16, and never looked back. For nearly 30 years, the joy of working within his community, and giving back to it, has made his job a pleasure.
Susan Murphy came to community banking in a roundabout way. In high school, her dream was to become a professional musician – and she achieved it. After earning her associate\’s degree in marketing, she spent a decade playing guitar and singing, including two appearances at Carnegie Hall. But as is often the case, after awhile, she realized she “needed a day job.”
Robin DiNicola, in her 26 years in banking, has hop-scotched all over Connecticut, working for many of the state\’s community banks. But no matter where she goes, the communities she works in and the banks she works for benefit from her time there.
