CONNECTICUT BUSINESS HALL OF FAME NETWORKING & INDUCTION CEREMONY
You and your guests are cordially invited to the Connecticut Business Hall Of Fame's 2008 Induction Ceremony
Welcoming The "Class of 2007"
Business Leader - Paul Blanco, Barnum Financial Group Business Leader - Chris Campbell, Palace Production Center Company - Better Bedding Company - Splash Car Wash
Economic Development Award
Charles LeConche, Connecticut Laborers' District Council
Featured Speakers:
Susan Bysiewicz Connecticut Secretary of State & Richard Blumenthal Connecticut Attorney General & Nancy Wyman Connecticut Comptroller & Wendy E. Warring Senior VP & COO Connecticut Children's Medical Center
Guest Emcees: Ron Dresner, Dennis PR Group Adrian Myles, Myles Catering Steve Holtz, Productivity Resources Northeast Greg Guay, Stellar Ventures Laurie O'Neil, Innovative Financial Services Jeffrey Cohen, ImageWorks Mark Sakurada, 1-800-905-GEEK Anthony Santiago, Access for America
Happening on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Chris Campbell, Palace Production Center
Featured speaker Connecticut Childrens' Medical Center COO Wendy Warring
Pictured left to right are Paul Blanco, Barnum Financial Group; Attorney General Richard Blumenthal; Charles LeConche, Connecticut Laborers' District Council; Tom and John Wholley, Better Bedding
Background & Contact Information About The Four 2008 Inductees For Media Representatives
Connecticut Business Leader Inductee Chris Campbell, CEO & Creative Director, Palace Production Center, 29 North Main St., South Norwalk, CT, 06854, phone 203.853.1740, www.palaceproductioncenter.com, Media Contact: Wendy Lambert, wendy@palacedigital.com.
"I'm delighted to be receiving this honor from such a great organization. Being recognized as one of Connecticut's business leaders is really a reflection of the efforts of all of the people who work at Palace and make it one of the leading media businesses in the state," said Chris Campbell.
Chris Campbell is an award-winning film and television writer, producer, and director, as well as a successful business entrepreneur. Over the past quarter of a century, he has produced an impressive body of work in broadcast and corporate media as well as children’s entertainment, while building a premiere, independent creative and production facility that has served as one of the anchor businesses in the revitalization of South Norwalk, Conn.
Today he is chairman and CEO of Palace Production Center, Inc., one of the more successful mid-size television and electronic media production organizations in the country. Palace owns and operates Connecticut-based Palace Digital Studios and Praxis Media, Inc., and also has offices in the Tribeca Film Center in Manhattan. Additionally, he is a managing partner in Rabbit Ears Entertainment, LLC, an award-winning children’s and family publishing company; and Docere Palace Studios, a non-fiction television production company.
Since its founding in 1979, Praxis Media, Inc. has completed in excess of $55 million in contract programming and is rated one of the nation’s top 100 independent contract producers by Hope Reports.
Palace Digital Studios is home to numerous broadcast and cable television networks, independent producers, corporate communicators, and ad agencies, offering HD and SD audio and video production and post, a broadcast studio with motorized lighting grid, 2D and 3D computer graphics design and animation, video duplication, standards conversions and multimedia production services to the tri-state area’s production community. For several years the Tour de France was broadcast through Palace in Connecticut and Palace studios in New York were a major supplier of production services to the advertising community and to MTV, Viacom, and A&E, to name a few. Last year, Palace was tapped to produce the opening video for the December 2006 White House Summit on Malaria.
Rabbit Ears, which began at the Palace, is an award-winning children’s programming producer with more than 60 programs currently in distribution around the world on both broadcast and cable TV, as home DVDs, video and audio tapes and books. The signature Rabbit Ears production is The Velveteen Rabbit, narrated by Meryl Streep. Several new shows currently are in production, and Random House recently re-released the entire catalog as audiobooks. A select number of titles are being featured exclusively at Starbucks locations nationwide. AudioFile Magazine named the Rabbit Ears storybook recordings to its list of Top 7 Family Listening picks for 2006.
Docere Palace Studios produces original, non-fiction television for the U.S. and international broadcast markets. The most recent productions include Wings of Madness, a documentary about aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont, which aired on PBS-NOVA last November; Inside the Presidency with Bob Woodward, which aired on The History Channel in January 2005; and a project with Comcast/Outdoor Life Network called Last Breath. Other recent projects include a documentary on former New Jersey Governor Kean and another on the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The production company is also the recipient of a Corporation for Public Broadcasting grant to develop a multimedia series on American history targeted to middle school students.
The Palace Production Center draws its name from its headquarters building—The Palace Theater in South Norwalk, Conn. One of Chris’ labors of love has been the refurbishment and renovation of the historic vaudeville theater, once one of the many Palaces on the straw-hat circuit that new plays traveled on their way to Broadway. More recently, the Palace has been the site of a series of live play readings, a program initiated and sponsored by Chris to gain recognition for new playwrights. Chris has maintained the character of the theater while completing one of the few successful conversions of such an historic building to a high-tech purpose; it is currently one of the most advanced, digital production studios in the country.
In addition to his work as a business organizational communications consultant to many Fortune 500 companies over the past 25 years, Chris has taught at several universities, including Fairfield University and Sacred Heart University, and at various professional institutes. The winner of numerous awards, Chris’ honors include various Emmy nominations and more than 100 other industry citations and film competition awards, including the New York Film Festival, Tellys, and ITVA.
For the past two decades, his companies have been active contributors to the National Corporate Theatre Fund (NCTF) and have produced many of its promotional and fund-raising materials. He serves on the Board of Directors of NCTF, helping the membership organization raise corporate dollars to support the country’s 11 top regional theaters (among them, New Haven’s Long Wharf). In 2005, he was honored with the NCTF’s Chairman’s Award for outstanding contributions.
During his early directing career, Chris adapted and directed several stage productions for public television. One original production broadcast nationally by PBS earned the "Best Drama Award" from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He has also strayed into producing and distributing live music specials for home video, among them shows shot at Carnegie Hall and the oldest dance hall in Texas. Chris produced and directed programming for PBS when he served as program director and then station manager for Connecticut Public Television’s Fairfield studio, before founding his own company.
He holds a BA in Psychology and a Masters in Education from Fairfield University, and a Doctorate in Communications, Computing and Information Technology from Columbia University in New York. He has served on the Board of Directors of Summit Bank, Conn., as well as on the boards of a variety of non-profits, in addition to National Corporate Theater Fund, including Connecticut Public Broadcasting, The Evergreen Foundation for Aids Relief, The Fairfield University Trustee Advisory Board and the Film Makers Educational Cooperative in Bridgeport.
Connecticut Business Leader Inductee Paul Blanco, Managing Director, Barnum Financial Group, 6 Corporate Drive, Shelton, CT., phone 203.513.6229, www.barnumfinancialgroup.com, Media Contact: Jane Snaider, jsnaider@metlife.com.
"Becoming a member of the Connecticut Business Hall Of Fame's 'Class of 2007' and being inducted is truly a recognition about the accomplishments of the Barnum Financial team and our community involvement over the years. At Barnum, we have continued to raise the bar and it has not gone unnoticed. We can achieve so much only because of each and everyone of the associates that make up the Barnum Financial family. I look forward to the induction ceremony on March 25th along with the other business leaders," said Paul Blanco.
Paul is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the Barnum Financial Group, MetLife’s number one sales office for the last 3 consecutive years. Under Paul’s guidance, Barnum has grown to a sales force of more than 200 Financial Services Representatives and Financial Planners located in over 15 sites in Connecticut and New York. Paul establishes and gains commitment for the BFG mission, vision, values, strategy and optimal organization of the firm.
A 15-year MetLife veteran, Paul is the youngest inductee into the MetLife Manager’s Hall of Fame, having qualified for 14 consecutive Management Leaders Conferences and five Chairman’s Council Conferences. In 2004, Paul received MetLife’s prestigious Triskelion Award, recognizing him for outstanding management leadership for three consecutive years.
GAMA International recognized Paul as a First in Class Award Recipient (2005 & 2006) for distinguished leadership in the art and science of agency building. Paul qualified for the International Management Awards for three years at the bronze level and three years at the silver level before propelling his organization, over a three year time period, to the Master Agency Award level in 2005 & 2006.
Paul currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the GAMA Foundation, and he has had articles published in a variety of industry publications focusing on Agency Marketing. Paul was inducted into the Junior Achievement of Western Connecticut Hall of Fame in 2006. Paul serves on the Board of Directors for both the Valley Boys and Girls Club and the Valley United Way. His passion for sports and youth in the community has inspired him to sponsor a number of sports teams in the area, including the Stratford Youth Football Camp, Shelton Boys Softball and Shelton Men’s Softball teams. He resides in Shelton with his wife Mindee, and their three children, Jennee, Sydnee, and Paul.
Connecticut Company Inductee - Better Bedding, John Wholley, President & Tom Wholley, Vice-President, 30 Prestige Park Road, East Hartford, CT 06108, phone 860.289.4321, www.betterbedding.com, Media Contact: Natalie Fusco, nfusco@betterbedding.com.
In May of 1976 our father, John T. Wholley Sr., founded Better Bedding. He opened the first store in East Hartford following a successful career as a manufacturer’s representative, where he sold bedding to furniture and department stores. In addition to mattresses, the original merchandise assortment included brass beds, sleep sofas, La-Z-Boy recliners and waterbeds. We were involved in the business from the start serving in many capacities from sales to warehousing and delivery.
After the death of our father in 1984, we took over the business and today are the names and faces behind Better Bedding. Since taking over the reins it has been our vision to take Better Bedding from a "mom and pop" store to the dominant chain of specialty sleep shops in New England. That vision has become reality. Better Bedding has grown from a single store location to 21 stores throughout Connecticut and Western Massachusetts and from a staff of 4 to a staff of 100.
We continue to operate the business based on the values established by our father, incomparable customer service and product value.
We continue to operate the business based on the values established by our father, incomparable customer service and product value. While recliners are a thing of the past, our stores now offer an incredible selection of name brand mattresses like Sealy, Simmons, Stearns & Foster, Serta, Tempur-pedic and Simmons Beautyrest Black. We also carry decorative, iron, metal and wood beds, futon furniture and accessories and an array of pillows, mattress pads and sheet sets. As the "Bedding Brothers" we handle everything from merchandising to training and in-house advertising. It is not uncommon to find us filling in at a store on any given day. We are in complete control of our business and because our personal reputations are at stake, we want everything done right. We aren’t just selling mattresses; we’re selling a better night’s sleep. There has been a definite effort to carry that idea out into our stores.
Better Bedding prides itself on salespeople that are truly trained sleep experts - certified by the National Sleep Foundation. Our sales people aren’t doctors, but they are trained and experienced in helping our customers find a mattress that will fit their needs, including special medical needs.
Better Bedding is celebrating 32 years of helping Connecticut sleep better. If the next 30 years are as successful as the first 30 nearly every person in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts will be enjoying a better night’s sleep and a healthier, better quality of life.
John Wholley has been with Better Bedding since its inception. As President of the company, John, along with his brother and Vice President, Tom, has taken Better Bedding from a "mom and pop" store to the dominant chain of specialty retail sleep shops in Connecticut.
As President of Better Bedding, John oversees many aspects of the business including but not limited to in-house advertising, merchandising, customer service and retail space contracting.
John graduated from Trinity College where he earned a BS with a double major in Economics and Psychology. In 1986, John received a Juris Doctor degree from Quinnipiac College School of Law and was admitted to the Connecticut Bar.
He has been an active member of the Better Business Bureau since 1992 and strives to continue Better Bedding’s healthy success for years to come. John can be reached at the corporate office at (860) 289-4321 x121.
Tom Wholley has been with Better Bedding since its first days of operation in 1976. Tom holds the position of Vice President of Better Bedding and serves as the leader of the sales team, spending most of his days at the 20 Better Bedding locations training and helping to improve Better Bedding’s sales force.
Tom grew up in South Windsor, CT attending South Windsor High School, Milford Academy Preparatory School and finally American International College in Springfield.
Tom is a board member for the Connecticut Retail Merchant’s Association and has been involved in the Chamber of Commerce. He is very active in the Catholic Church and serves as Vice President of the Parish Council.
Tom plans to continue his work at Better Bedding for many years to come saying, "mattresses are in my blood." Tom can be reached at the corporate office at (860) 289-4321 x129.
Connecticut Company Inductee - Splash Car Wash, Mark Curtis, CEO, 66 A Gate House Rd., Stamford, CT. 06902, phone 203.324.5400, www.splashcarwashes.com, Media Contact: Solange Manco, solangemanco@yahoo.com.
It was Spring of 1981 and an ad in the Sunday New York Times that led to over two decades of car washing and the creation of one of the largest car wash operations in the country. Chris Fisher and Mark Curtis, both lifelong Greenwich, CT residents, cast aside their business suits and ties, to immerse themselves in suds and water. What they then supposed to be a simple, turnkey business, morphed into a major operation employing more than 250 people and washing over one million cars per year.
What caused the meteoric growth of over 3000% in the past ten years is what Splash has coined "The Great Differentiation." Take a car-care need, and convert it to a car-care experience.
One of the first signs of distinction at Splash occurred when Curtis and Fisher developed the concept of washing cars in-line – on conveyor – by hand. In 1994 they opened their first hand wash in Greenwich and called it Splash. The response was overwhelming and resulted in the opening of similar operations in Darien, Norwalk, Wilton, and Fairfield, Connecticut and Bedford Hills, New York.
In the case of markets that are not large enough to support a full service hand wash operation, Splash developed the express wash. Our express washes are more traditional than the hand washes, equipped with ultra-soft cloth and new-glide foam. Each delivering exceptionally clean cars without diminishing the Splash experience.
Splash Car Wash is the 8th largest car-care company in the country, and with over 25 years experience, Splash has fast become a leader in the car wash industry. In 1999 Splash became the only car wash company to have employees win both the "Most Valuable Car Washer" and "Car Wash Manager of the Year" awards in the same year. Splash has won the prestigious Mass Mutual Blue Chip Award, has been voted #1 Car Wash of Fairfield and Westchester Counties for nine years running and was a finalist for the prestigious American Business Awards.
Even during its rapid expansion, Splash has continued to maintain its commitment to the communities it serves. Since our first fundraising event in 1985 with ARC, Splash has raised nearly one million dollars for many local organizations, charities and sports associations throughout Connecticut and New York.
Splash constantly strives to bring car washing to a new level. We use the latest technologies and the most highly trained employees to get your vehicle clean. We’ve even created Splash University to train our employees to deliver an exceptional customer experience.
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