FAIRFIELD COUNTY
BUSINESS JOURNAL YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS | westfaironline.com
February 17, 2014 | VOL. 50, No. 7
WBDC TAKES HOLISTIC APPROACH
FCBJ this week no rocKing chairs
A thousand people came to Old Greenwich to consider their leisure years ā¦ 8
MEN, TOO, BENEFIT FROM EFFORTS
say, ahhhh
St. Vincentās Health Services opts for the āno appointment necessaryā format in Stratford ā¦ 10
BY BILL FALLON bfallon@westfairinc.com
I
Frontier has called Stamford home since 1946. But never before has the Fortune 500 company served Connecticut customers. Now as executives prepare to switch the Connecticut plug, theyāre anticipating one obvious question from customers: Who is Frontier Communications?
f the world slowed down this month to make way for all the ice and snow, the Womenās Business Development Council in Stamford ā often known by the shorthand WBDC ā has instead put the pedal to the metal. From its Bedford Street headquarters, the WBDC operates with a budget āgreater than $1.5 million annually,ā according to its founder and director, Fran Pastore. On a recent afternoon in the WBDC second-floor offices, she waxed enthusiastic about a pair of programs for nascent entrepreneurs, a coming physical expansion in Danbury and a cinematic star turn for African ice cream. Whatever the programs, according to Kimberly Cranston-DeSousa, a WBDC senior manager and project director, āWeāre consistently about the economic equity of women.ā The WBDCās two classes focus on: āPassion to Profit: Business Plan Development Programā and a four-month budget coaching program. āThe business plan class is about testing the feasibility of your idea,ā Pastore said. āThere is critical analysis of the idea and then we figure out how to make it work.ā The deadline of Feb. 17 has been extended, but the two separate classes ā one in Norwalk and one in Shelton, each with 15 students ā will begin as scheduled: Feb. 24 at the
Ā» frontier, page 6
Ā» wbdc, page 6
inTo The wild
The Greenwich Audubon chapter showcases sustainability and an extensive web of trails ā¦ 15 newsmaKers
Friends and colleagues on the move ā¦ 18
MEDIA PARTNER
Executives brigid Smith and cecilia mcKenney with frontier communicationās buffalo mascot, frank.
Frontier ļ¬nds itself in familiar territory ACQUISITION LETS STAMFORD TELECOM FINALLY SERVE ITS OWN BACKYARD
BY JENNIFER BISSELL jbissell@westfairinc.com
by The end of The year, some 1.5 million customers in Connecticut will see the letterhead on their Internet and phone bills change from AT&T Inc. to Frontier Communications Corp.
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