Advisory Committee

Kevin Galvin (Chair)
Kevin Galvin is the founding chair of the Small Business for a Healthy Connecticut, formerly known as Small Business for Health Care Reform.  He is well known both in and outside of Connecticut as an advocate on behalf  of the interests of small business particularly as they relate health care to reform  both on the state and national levels. 

Kevin participated in the national health care reform debate that culminated in the passage and signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March 2010. He along with the SBHC  Advisory Committee and a coalition of small businesses  played a vital  role in the 2009 passage of Connecticut’s SustiNet health care reform  legislation.

Kevin,  a West Hartford native,  has been a small business owner since 1972.  He spent 15 years promoting professional motor sports in the continental United States, Hawaii, Canada and the West Indies as part of his business, New England Pro Racing. Later, he managed, then purchased, a hardware store and founded a handyman business in West Hartford.  Kevin is the owner of the West Hartford-based Connecticut Commercial Maintenance, Inc., a commercial and residential facilities maintenance company, and a past president of the West Hartford Chamber of Commerce. 

Connecticut Commercial Maintenance, Inc
1245 Farmington Avenue, Box 204
West Hartford, CT, 06107
Phone: 860-523-1028
Fax: 860-519-7933
www.connecticutmaintenance.com
Kgalvin@connecticutmaintenance.com 

Robert Kennedy (Co-Chair)
Robert Kennedy is the Executive Vice President of the Connecticut Association of REALTORS, a professional trade association representing real estate professionals engaged in all aspects of the real estate business.

Executive Vice President
Connecticut Association of REALTORS, Inc. 
111 Founders Plaza, Suite 1101 
East Hartford, CT 06108 

Linda St. Peter 
Linda  St. Peter is the owner of IBIS Commercial Investment Real Estate.   She has been a  small business owner for 12 years.   Linda is concerned with access and coverage for small business and independent contractors.

2009 President 
Connecticut Association of REALTORS, Inc. 
111 Founder Plaza, Suite 1101 
East Hartford, CT 06108 

James B. Stirling
James Stirling is CEO of Stirling Benefits, Inc., a Third Party Administrator (TPA) of health plans.  The firm has 47 employees in Milford, Connecticut.  Stirling Benefits designs and administers health plans for over 200 small businesses, the State of Connecticut, and Connecticut municipalities.  

James served as Chairman of the Washington D.C. based Society of Professional Benefit Administrators, Secretary of the Connecticut Benefit Brokers, and a member of the CT Health First Cost Containment Committee.  He currently serves on the Medical Home Task Force for Connecticut’s SustiNet (Health Reform) Board, the Legislative Committee of the Milford Chamber of Commerce and is an elected member to the Amity Regional Board of Education. 

CEO
Stirling Benefits, Inc.
JStirling@Stirlingbenefits.com
www.StirlingBenefits.com
203-647-0628

Séan W. Moore
Séan Moore has served as President of the Greater Meriden Chamber of Commerce since 1998.  For the past 11 years, he has led the Chamber in its growth from 325 to more than 600 members, and continues to expand the Chamber's programs and services.

Séan was born, raised, and educated in Meriden, Connecticut.  He attended Middlesex Community College and after earning a B.S. in Business Administration from Central Connecticut State University in 1978, he began a 20-year career in banking.  During his banking career, he held numerous positions in the Audit, Consumer Credit, Debit and Credit Card Security, Accounting, Leasing, Sales and Management Information Systems divisions for both regional and community banks.

As leader of the Meriden Chamber, Sean has been recognized by his peers with the distinctive Chamber Executive of the Year Award, an honor of the Connecticut Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.
 
Séan lives in Meriden with his wife of 25 years, Kelley.  They have two adult daughters. 

President
The Greater Meriden Chamber of Commerce, Inc.
president@meridenchamber.com
www.meridenchamber.com
203-235-7901

Clodomiro Falcon
Clodomiro Falcon a native of Lara, Venezuela, came to the United States in 1986 and established Falcon Advertising 10 years later. 

In April 1996,  he founded Falcon Advertising in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  His  original goal was to  represent several Spanish-language advertising media as an independent agent.  Currently his company has  three  directories in distribution, two in the state of Connecticut serving Fairfield, New Haven and Hartford Counties, and one in Westchester County, New York.
Clodomiro graduated  with a degree in sociology from Universidad del Zulia in Maracaibo,  Venezuela.  In 1989,  he earned a Masters in  Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Bridgeport (Connecticut).

Clodomiro has numerous community involvements and volunteers at non-profit organizations throughout Connecticut and  New York's Westchester County.  He serves as President of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Bridgeport, Inc., as a board member of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council (BRBC) and The Workplace, Inc. He is a co-founder of the Venezuelan Association of Connecticut (ASOVEN-CT).  In conjunction with the University of Bridgeport and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Bridgeport, he is a co-founder of the Hispanic Business Expo.

Clodomiro Falcón defines himself as a family man.  He has been married to Aida Vargas Falcón for 30 years.  They have three children.

President 
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Bridgeport
LaGuia Hispana
www.laguiaonline.com
cfalcon@laguiaonline.com 
203-416-5699

Thomas (Tony) Sheridan
Tony Sheridan is the current President of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut.  There he  organizes regional forces to promote and support regional businesses.

Tony  came to New London from Ireland  when he was 19 years old.  He became a licensed plumber and pipe fitter with Local 305, earned his high school equivalency with New London Continuing Education,  and graduated from Connecticut College with a bachelor's degree in urban affairs.  The College awarded him a Watson Fellowship to study worker participation in decision-making in several European countries.

Years later,  Tony served one term as minority Selectman of Waterford and subsequently was elected First Selectman for four terms.  Some of his major accomplishments as Selectman included: three separate town charter changes to streamline the management of town government, the organizing of a plan for conservation and development for the town,  and founding and chairing the Council of Governments (COG).  Additionally, he helped construct affordable housing for seniors and reduced staffing levels which resulted in lowering the general government budget by $800,000 during  his term of office.

Tony lives in Waterford with his wife Peggy, a professor at Connecticut College.  They have two sons. 

President
Chamber of Commerce of Eastern CT
www.chamberect.com
tsheridan@chamberect.com
860-464-7373

Cornell Wright
Cornell N. Wright is a management consultant and executive coach with more than 30 years of business experience.  He worked in the large corporate environment with IBM for more than 19 years.  In 1994, he established his own management consulting firm, The Parker Wright Group, Inc.  Since then he has worked extensively with small to mid-sized companies specializing in customer service, SWOT analysis, organizational assessments, strategy development and non-profit board development.

Cornell holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Bridgeport, is a Certified Focus Group Director, and is designated as a Practitioner in Inventory Management from the American Production and Inventory Control Society.  He teaches courses in customer service, consumer behavior and management at Housatonic Community College, Bridgeport, Connecticut. 

In  2008, his firm was honored with the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Leadership Award.   Additionally he has been  recognized in Who’s Who of American Teachers. 

Parker Wright Group Inc.
www.parkerwrightgroup.com
cornell@parkerwrightgroup.com
203-377-4226

Ed Rodriguez
Ed Rodríguez is President of Penmar Industries, Inc., a Norwalk, Connecticut based and headquartered company with facilities in Erlanger, Kentucky. Penmar is a leading manufacturer of pressure sensitive tapes and labels. It is a major supplier of packaging, shipping, and industrial supplies to companies across the Northeast.

Ed  has more than 30 years of international sales/marketing, internal controls, and general management experience in both profit and nonprofit sectors. Most recently, he was a founding member and President of Sandoval Associates, a world-class, full service management-consulting firm serving clients in all areas of business management and value creation.

Ed  holds Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico. He also holds a Master's of Business Administration (MBA) from the Dolan School of Business, at Fairfield University, and is a graduate of Union Carbide’s Executive Management Program. He has facilitated and lectured at conferences across the nation including such venues and organizations as the Dolan School of Business, Hispanic Support Organization, Connecticut Minority Development Council Trade Expo, and United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Ed is an active member of his community and serves on many boards.   He resides in Stratford, Connecticut with his wife Vivian and their two children.

Sandoval Associates
www.sandovalassociates.com 
ewr@sandoval.com
203-380-8818

Lesley Mills
Lesley Mills is the Owner/Director of  Griswold Special Home Care in New Haven, Connecticut.  She is a graduate of the Epidemiology and Public Health School at Yale University and a current Yale Associate Fellow. 

Griswold Special Home Care's expertise is helping to  keep people especially elders,  independent at home and in assisted living communities.  The company has 5 offices that  supply 500 caregivers.  

Lesley is well-known at the Connecticut State Capitol. She was one of the founders of Small Businesses for Health Care Reform, the group that helped pass Sustinet, Connecticut’s universal health care legislation. Earlier in her business career she was a founding partner in a 50-person medical consulting company spin-off from Yale University research that developed the current national Medicare hospital reimbursement system. 

Her work on health care issues has been frequently published. She has often been featured as a national and international keynote speaker for groups including but not limited to the National Medical Records Association,  Professional Standards Review Organizations, State Hospital Associations, the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization.

Lesley's passion is in giving to others. She created and funded the  private foundation, LifeTales, that mentors aspiring writers and pays them to interview and write stories about elders. (The first anthology was published in 2007).   Further, she established ElderCare Connections, a geriatric consulting company that donates all proceeds to LifeTales, as an on-going funding source.

Owner
Griswold Special Home Care
116 Sherman Avenue
New Haven, CT 06510
203-882-0831
Lesley@homecare-ct.com

Kate Emery
Kate Emery is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Walker Systems Support, one of the largest computer consulting firms in Connecticut providing network support, security and web services. 

Walker Systems Support is structured as a "social enterprise", and changed its mission from maximizing shareholder profits to maximizing social contribution. 

Kate founded of reSET, the Social Enterprise Trust whose mission is to promote, preserve, and protect Social Enterprise.  She also established Computer Contributions, a nonprofit program designed to refurbish old computers and give them to area nonprofits. 

Kate,  a Magna Cum Laude  graduate of UCONN’s business school, also earned her Master’s Degree in Management Information Systems from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

In further service to the community, Kate serves on the Board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hartford.  She lives in Farmington with her husband and son and in her spare time loves figure and portrait oil painting.
 
Founder & CEO
Walker Systems Support
20 Waterside Dr.
Farmington, CT 06032
(860) 678-3530
www.walkersystemssupport.com