Hello fellow CREW members, sponsors, and friends:
Welcome to the second edition of the 2022 CREW CT newsletter. I can hardly believe that September is around the corner but, of course, time flies when you’re having fun and CREW CT has had
a lot of fun this spring and summer. Don’t fret, though, we have some exciting things in store for the fall and winter too!
Recap of Events and Save the Dates:
We heard you all loud and clear earlier this year when you asked for more in-person networking events, and we certainly have delivered.
Over 120 of you attended our
27th Annual Blue Ribbon Awards, which was held on May 18
th at Hops on the Hill Brewery. I wish we could take credit for the phenomenal weather, but suffice it to say luck was on our side. We’re already working on next year’s ceremony, but in the interim, congratulations to our 2022 winners – Bravo!
Best in Class: Commercial -
Tecton Architects’ Hartford Studio
Best in Class: Education
- CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts
Best Specialty Project (Historic Preservation) -
Schwarzman Center
Best in Class: Healthcare -
Emergency Department at Bristol Hospital
Best in Class: Multifamily/Residential -
Montgomery Mill
Best in Class: Senior Living -
Harbor Chase of Evergreen Walk
Best Specialty Project (Adaptive Reuse) -
HORST Engineering (Ktaadn Project)
Community Impact Award -
Boys & Girls Club of Hartford, South End
Social Impact Award -
New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing
2021 BLUE RIBBON Award -
Montgomery Mill
People's Choice Award - CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts
Parts one and two of our three-part
Professional Development series, focused on honing your communications skills, and facilitated by the experts at The Latimer Group, were terrific. We all learned a lot about speaking up, even in a virtual environment. A big thank you to Sentry Commercial for hosting us at The Rec; what a fabulous space! Part three of the series is moving forward on November 3rd – stay tuned for a save the date.
Our
Programs Committee, also has been hard at work this year, hosting a number of events, ranging from substantive panels to project tours, networking, and beyond. We kicked off the season with an event on zoning reform at TPC River Highlands, where we learned from a panel of experts just how impactful zoning reform is to the commercial real estate industry. In July, we were lucky enough to tour the beautiful Hotel Marcel in New Haven, where the hotel’s owner and developer, Bruce Becker, schooled us on the redevelopment of the iconic Pirelli Tire building into the first and only Passive House certified and net-zero energy hotel in the United States. We stayed busy in August too, partnering first with CCIM for a networking mixer and a tour of the new LAZ Parking headquarters, and then touring the newly-renovated Memorial Boulevard Intradistrict Arts Magnet School in Bristol, followed by a happy hour at Pint & Plate down the street.
We're not stopping there, of course. The Programs Committee is now planning a joint event with CEDAS for September 29
th, where attendees will get a backstage pass to the new Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater in Bridgeport. This is not an event to be missed! Registration for the event will open soon, so keep an eye on your inboxes.
With all of the above events, we took a small break from our
Coffee & Conversation groups this summer, but rest assured, the next one is scheduled for September 7
th at Interscape Commercial Environments (
register here). We hope to see you there!
Community Involvement:
One of our Chapter goals for 2022 is to give back to the community, and we have stayed strong in achieving that goal. We sponsored, for the second year in a row, the
Building Foundations Breakfast in April, where CRE and building industry professionals came together to raise resources to prevent children and families from becoming homeless, and to secure stable housing for those living in shelters.
Thanks to our President Elect, Dinora Lopez, we have been able to donate food from a number of events this year to
The Open Hearth, a homeless shelter for men in Hartford. In addition, at our yearly members’ social at the Essex Yacht Club in June, we also raised over $400 for
CREW Network Foundation and Interval House, a non-profit that provides housing for women and children.
We will continue looking for additional ways to give back in the months (and years) to come. If you have any ideas, please reach out to anyone on the Board.
Trifecta Glory at CREW Network Convention:
We are proud to announce that we have met the
CREW Network Chapter Challenge Trifecta for the second year in a row by raising thousands of dollars for the CREW Network Foundation, which provides scholarships, industry research, and other resources with the goal of transforming the commercial real estate industry by advancing women globally. We couldn’t have met this lofty goal without all of your support so, on behalf of your CREW CT Board, we thank you!
We will have an opportunity to celebrate this achievement at the
2022 CREW Network Convention, which will be held in Chicago this year (September 21-23). We have extended the deadline for applications for the CREW Network Convention stipend until this
Friday, September 2nd. Get your applications in today by clicking
here!
New Members:
We are thrilled to have welcomed 8 new members since March! Please welcome:
David Brownell –
PES Structural Engineers, Inc.
Becky Canfield –
First American Title Insurance Company
Donna Ertel –
CIGNA
Alison Gain –
CIGNA
Jennifer McGrath –
CATIC
Katie Redican –
Marcus & Millichap
M Spiga -
CHK Architects
Joette Trinh –
Trinh Law
None of what our small yet mighty Chapter does would be possible without our sponsors – thank you! If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, or in sponsoring a particular event, feel free to reach out to anyone on the
Sponsorship Committee.
Stay well!
Andrea Gomes
2022 CREW CT President