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WATERBURY REGIONAL CHAMBER ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF THE 2023 HAROLD WEBSTER SMITH AWARDS
WATERBURY—The owners of Sweet Maria’s, Inc.; UniMetal Surface Finishing, LLC; and Prospect Memorial Funeral Home will each be honored during the 2023 Harold Webster Smith Awards breakfast in October.
The Waterbury Regional Chamber will present the awards on Tuesday, October 24 from 7:45 a.m. to 9:30 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. The keynote speaker for the event will be Connecticut State Treasurer Erick Russell.
Recipients of the 2023 Harold Webster Smith Awards are: Entrepreneur of the Year: Maria Bruscino Sanchez, baker and owner of Sweet Maria’s, Inc.; Small Business of the Year: Prospect Memorial Funeral Home; Manufacturer of the Year: UniMetal Surface Finishing, LLC.
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. “Businesses of all sizes are important fixtures in our region, providing jobs, donating their time and resources to their communities, and constantly finding ways to innovate and best meet the needs of their customers.”
The 2023 Harold Webster Smith Entrepreneur of the Year Award recipient is Maria Bruscino Sanchez, the owner of Sweet Maria’s, Inc., the Waterbury-based bakery that she started in 1,800 square feet of space in 1990. Within nine years, the success of her business, based on delicious sweets derived from living with her mother and grandmother, led her to move to a new location and double the size of her space, employing 12 full-time employees and seasonal help. She published her first cookbook, “Sweet Maria’s Italian Cookie Tray,” in 1995 and has since published several other baking books. Sanchez has been a longtime member of the Waterbury Regional Chamber and is a frequent supporter of many area non-profits and events, including the Business Women’s Forum.
The 2023 Harold Webster Smith Small Business of the Year Award recipient is Prospect Memorial Funeral Home. Owners Kim and Mike Palmerie, who oversee a staff of nine employees, recently expanded their business with the construction of a brand new, 10,000 square foot facility in Prospect on Waterbury Road. The new Prospect Memorial Funeral Home is a modern facility with expanded parking and is fully handicap accessible. Prospect Memorial opened in 2013 with a mission to serve the families of Prospect, Waterbury, and surrounding towns with compassionate, individualized care.
The 2023 Harold Webster Smith Manufacturer of the Year Award recipient is UniMetal Surface Finishing, LLC, which is headquartered in Thomaston and has a facility on East Waterbury Road in Naugatuck. UniMetal Surface Finishing is a diverse metal finishing shop offering several surfaces and finishes across many industries. Recently, UniMetal was selected as a Products Finishing Top Shop in electroplating and anodizing for 2023 and Senior Vice President Patrick Hayden was honored with the Silvio C. Taormina Award at the SUR/FIN surface finishing industry trade show in Cleveland. The company currently employs around 130 individuals.
The event’s Premier Sponsor is Webster Bank; the Supporting Sponsor is UniMetal Surface Finishing, LLC; and the Small Business Sponsor is Selim and Linda Noujaim.
To register for the 2023 Harold Webster Smith Awards breakfast and to join the growing list of companies who are sponsoring the event, click here, or call 203-757-0701.
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