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WATERBURY REGIONAL CHAMBER ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF THE 2022 HAROLD WEBSTER SMITH AWARDS WATERBURY—The owner of Viron Rondo Osteria restaurant, Fascia’s Chocolates, and local rehabilitation clinic Peak Physical Therapy will each be honored during the 2022 Harold Webster Smith Awards breakfast in October. The Waterbury Regional Chamber will present the awards on Thursday, Oct. 27 from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at Aria Wedding and Banquet Facility, 45 Murphy Road in Prospect. The annual awards recognize smaller companies and small business executives who have achieved excellence. Recipients of the 2022 Harold Webster Smith Awards are: Entrepreneur of the Year: Viron Rondos, restaurateur and owner of Viron Rondo Osteria; Small Business of the Year: Peak Physical Therapy; Manufacturer of the Year: Fascia’s Chocolates. Harold Webster Smith founded First Federal Savings of Waterbury in 1935 to help people build and buy homes. He served as CEO until 1937, and as chairman of the board until 1995, when First Federal was renamed Webster Bank in his honor. Today, Webster Bank is a leading commercial bank in the Northeast, and each year, the Chamber honors small business leaders, who like Smith, have the vision to expand, diversify, and prosper. “In honor of Harold Webster Smith’s legacy and longtime support of small businesses, we are proud to recognize small companies and entrepreneurs who share in his passion for creating change and new opportunities in the Greater Waterbury region,” said Lynn Ward, President and CEO of the Waterbury Regional Chamber. “Over the last two years, we’ve really seen how small business owners have stepped up during times of hardship and found ways to not only innovate to keep their company surviving, but also found ways to look beyond their walls and give back to the community.” The 2022 Harold Webster Smith Entrepreneur of the Year Award recipient is Viron Rondos, the owner of Viron Rondo Osteria, an award-winning Italian restaurant located in Cheshire. A native of Greece, Rondos immigrated to New York City as a young man armed with the hospitality and gastronomical knowledge he honed in his home country with the dream of someday having his own restaurant business. After working at Patsy’s Pizzeria, Trata, and Avra in New York City, Rondos moved to Connecticut in 2007 and became a partner/manager in the Italian de Capo restaurants in Litchfield and Avon, later opening Viron Rondo Osteria in 2015. During the pandemic, Rondos offered “essential workers discounts,” provided “at cost” groceries to his staff, pivoted the entire restaurant to take-out, and later created an outdoor seating area with a capacity for over 200 diners. In 2021, Viron Rondo Osteria was awarded the 2021 Connecticut Restaurant Association’s Restaurant of the Year for the Southern Region of Connecticut and SBA’s Connecticut Small Business Person of the Year for 2022. The restaurant has been featured in architectural magazines for its interior design, including a vintage Art Deco chandelier that hangs over the New York City-style bar, and carefully kept, lush gardens that afford visitors a European feel. The 2022 Harold Webster Smith Small Business of the Year Award recipient is Peak Physical Therapy, a rehabilitation and sports medicine clinic in Waterbury. Peak Physical Therapy was established in 2011 and in March 2020 moved into its new state-of-the-art space on Chase Avenue in Waterbury. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, daily office visits fell by 65 percent, but the business did not lay off a single employee or reduced any benefits. Instead, the extra time was used for professional development for staff, which now numbers 10 full-time employees. In addition to physical therapy services, the company also now offers fitness classes and massage therapy. For more than a decade, the company has given back to the community in various ways, including fundraising for the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Angel Flight, and various food drives. The business also created a college scholarship awarded through the non-profit Rivera Memorial Foundation. The 2022 Harold Webster Smith Manufacturer of the Year Award recipient is Fascia’s Chocolates of Waterbury. Fascia’s Chocolates started in 1964 when electronic technician John Fascia needed to supplement his income and went from roasting nuts to selling chocolate nut clusters, caramels, toffees, and creams out of his home. In 2008, the business moved to a new location on Thomaston Avenue and a year later the Fascias transitioned ownership to their son-in-law, Carmen Romeo, though their daughters and grandchildren are still heavily involved in running the business today. In 2013, the company moved to its current home on Chase River Road, where tours are offered and gelato is now being made. Fascia’s Chocolates has been a longtime supporter of community organizations, including the United Way of Greater Waterbury, the Exchange Club, Seven Angels Theatre, and many others. They’ve done outreach into the community in other ways too, including a partnership with the Naugatuck Railroad that started in 2015. To register for the 2022 Harold Webster Smith Awards breakfast and to learn more about sponsorship opportunities, visit: www.waterburychamber.com or call 203-757-0701. ###
WATERBURY REGIONAL CHAMBER ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF THE 2022 HAROLD WEBSTER SMITH AWARDS
WATERBURY—The owner of Viron Rondo Osteria restaurant, Fascia’s Chocolates, and local rehabilitation clinic Peak Physical Therapy will each be honored during the 2022 Harold Webster Smith Awards breakfast in October.
The Waterbury Regional Chamber will present the awards on Thursday, Oct. 27 from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at Aria Wedding and Banquet Facility, 45 Murphy Road in Prospect. The annual awards recognize smaller companies and small business executives who have achieved excellence.
Recipients of the 2022 Harold Webster Smith Awards are: Entrepreneur of the Year: Viron Rondos, restaurateur and owner of Viron Rondo Osteria; Small Business of the Year: Peak Physical Therapy; Manufacturer of the Year: Fascia’s Chocolates.
Harold Webster Smith founded First Federal Savings of Waterbury in 1935 to help people build and buy homes. He served as CEO until 1937, and as chairman of the board until 1995, when First Federal was renamed Webster Bank in his honor. Today, Webster Bank is a leading commercial bank in the Northeast, and each year, the Chamber honors small business leaders, who like Smith, have the vision to expand, diversify, and prosper.
“In honor of Harold Webster Smith’s legacy and longtime support of small businesses, we are proud to recognize small companies and entrepreneurs who share in his passion for creating change and new opportunities in the Greater Waterbury region,” said Lynn Ward, President and CEO of the Waterbury Regional Chamber. “Over the last two years, we’ve really seen how small business owners have stepped up during times of hardship and found ways to not only innovate to keep their company surviving, but also found ways to look beyond their walls and give back to the community.”
The 2022 Harold Webster Smith Entrepreneur of the Year Award recipient is Viron Rondos, the owner of Viron Rondo Osteria, an award-winning Italian restaurant located in Cheshire. A native of Greece, Rondos immigrated to New York City as a young man armed with the hospitality and gastronomical knowledge he honed in his home country with the dream of someday having his own restaurant business. After working at Patsy’s Pizzeria, Trata, and Avra in New York City, Rondos moved to Connecticut in 2007 and became a partner/manager in the Italian de Capo restaurants in Litchfield and Avon, later opening Viron Rondo Osteria in 2015. During the pandemic, Rondos offered “essential workers discounts,” provided “at cost” groceries to his staff, pivoted the entire restaurant to take-out, and later created an outdoor seating area with a capacity for over 200 diners. In 2021, Viron Rondo Osteria was awarded the 2021 Connecticut Restaurant Association’s Restaurant of the Year for the Southern Region of Connecticut and SBA’s Connecticut Small Business Person of the Year for 2022. The restaurant has been featured in architectural magazines for its interior design, including a vintage Art Deco chandelier that hangs over the New York City-style bar, and carefully kept, lush gardens that afford visitors a European feel.
The 2022 Harold Webster Smith Small Business of the Year Award recipient is Peak Physical Therapy, a rehabilitation and sports medicine clinic in Waterbury. Peak Physical Therapy was established in 2011 and in March 2020 moved into its new state-of-the-art space on Chase Avenue in Waterbury. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, daily office visits fell by 65 percent, but the business did not lay off a single employee or reduced any benefits. Instead, the extra time was used for professional development for staff, which now numbers 10 full-time employees. In addition to physical therapy services, the company also now offers fitness classes and massage therapy. For more than a decade, the company has given back to the community in various ways, including fundraising for the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Angel Flight, and various food drives. The business also created a college scholarship awarded through the non-profit Rivera Memorial Foundation.
The 2022 Harold Webster Smith Manufacturer of the Year Award recipient is Fascia’s Chocolates of Waterbury. Fascia’s Chocolates started in 1964 when electronic technician John Fascia needed to supplement his income and went from roasting nuts to selling chocolate nut clusters, caramels, toffees, and creams out of his home. In 2008, the business moved to a new location on Thomaston Avenue and a year later the Fascias transitioned ownership to their son-in-law, Carmen Romeo, though their daughters and grandchildren are still heavily involved in running the business today. In 2013, the company moved to its current home on Chase River Road, where tours are offered and gelato is now being made. Fascia’s Chocolates has been a longtime supporter of community organizations, including the United Way of Greater Waterbury, the Exchange Club, Seven Angels Theatre, and many others. They’ve done outreach into the community in other ways too, including a partnership with the Naugatuck Railroad that started in 2015.
To register for the 2022 Harold Webster Smith Awards breakfast and to learn more about sponsorship opportunities, visit: www.waterburychamber.com or call 203-757-0701.
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