Record Breaking Attendance at Business Leaders Breakfast

After last year’s record-breaking attendance at its popular Business Leaders Breakfast, the Simsbury Chamber of Commerce relocated the breakfast to Dunkin Donuts Park in Hartford for this year’s event, held on Friday, March 9. Now in its 10th year, the annual Business Leaders Breakfast hosted another record-breaking 260 registrants. Those who attended this year’s breakfast heard Tim Restall, President of the Hartford Yard Goats, and Randy Edsall, UConn’s head football coach, speak on team-building and success.

Tim Restall, winner of the 2017 Eastern League Executive of the Year award, spoke on how important it is to have a great team. He spoke of surrounding oneself with smart and willing people to create a stronger team, as well as a more cohesive brand. Mr. Restall helped spearhead the move of the New Britain Rock Cats to Hartford to be rebranded as the Hartford Yard Goats. While a difficult and arduous task, keeping in constant contact with sponsors and ticket holders about construction delays kept the Yard Goats from losing any sponsors during the 2016 season.

Randy Edsall, now in his second stint coaching the UConn football team, last coaching for the 1999-2010 seasons, continued to elaborate on the importance of teamwork. He advised those in attendance to not be afraid of hiring people smarter than they are and to let them grow and use their talents because that will only elevate a company. In his time as coach at UConn, he has used those skills to cultivate exemplary classroom performance during the fall 2017 semester, with 361 student athletes earning a spot on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll for achieving a grade point average of 3.0 or better, including two members of the coach’s football team who achieved a 4.0 GPA.

Lou George, President of the Simsbury Chamber of Commerce, and principal in the law firm of Hassett & George, P.C., noted that the decision to move the event to Hartford wasn’t an easy one. “Our Board of Directors discussed and contemplated the move over the course of several weeks before finally making the decision to test the waters in Hartford,” he stated. “One of the concerns was that our members in Simsbury might not support the move and attend the breakfast, but our concerns were clearly unfounded judging by the attendance we had today. We are extremely grateful for the support of our members and others who came from the Hartford area to make this such a successful event.”

The Simsbury Chamber of Commerce is a 340-member organization that puts the needs of area business people at the forefront of all they do. To learn about future Chamber events, visit the Simsbury Chamber of Commerce website at simsburycoc.org and click on the Event Calendar, or call (860) 651-7307.

PHOTO: The Simsbury Chamber of Commerce hit it out of the park at their 10th annual Business Leaders Breakfast. Pictured left to right are: UConn Head Football Coach, Randy Edsall; Simsbury Chamber of Commerce President, Louis N. George, of Hassett & George, P.C.; Simsbury Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Lisa Gray; and Hartford Yard Goats President, Tim Restall.