CBIA BizCast

CBIA BizCast

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CBIA BizCast episodes

  • Giving Girls a Roadmap to Success
    The Girl Scouts have always held a special place in Elicia Pegues Spearman’s life.
    “My mother was a Girl Scout Brownie when she was growing up,” Pegues Spearman told the CBIA BizCast. “I was a Brownie here in Connecticut, and my daughter was a Girl Scout, and I was a coach, troop leader.”
    Despite that history, Pegues Spearman never imagined leading Girl Scouts of Connecticut.
    “I’ve enjoyed my career as a lawyer,” she said. “I’ve had a really good career.”
    Her career included legal counsel and HR roles at the State of Connecticut, the FBI, Aetna, Hubbell Incorporated, General Dynamics Electric Boat, and Quinnipiac University.
    She reconnected with Girl Scouts in 2022 when she received a Breakfast Badge, an award honoring woman for community contributions.
    She stayed in touch with the then-CEO and, in 2024, became CEO herself.
    “The Girl Scouts is a lot of fun,” she said about making the career shift. “I don't like to be bored.”
    While cookies often come to mind when you think of the Girl Scouts—it’s the organization’s biggest initiative teaching entrepreneurship, customer service, and money management—the organization’s purpose runs deeper.
    “We are more than cookies, camps and badges,” Pegues Spearman said.
    “Our whole mission is to build girls of confidence, character, and courage.
    “To do that, we have many programs and skill building that build leadership development that our girls are involved in.”
    Pegues Spearman said the Girl Scouts of Connecticut focus on outdoor skills, life skills, business skills, and STEAM education.
    Pegues Spearman highlighted Camp Sikorsky and Camp CEO as examples of programs that give girls experiential learning opportunities.
    The Girl Scouts of Connecticut focus on outdoor skills, life skills, business skills, and STEAM education.
    “I just feel like we're giving them the secrets to success earlier on in their lives,” Pegues Spearman said.
    “They kind of have a roadmap about what it means to be successful.”
    One of the best parts, she said, is watching girls interact and grow in confidence.
    “Seeing that sparkle in their eye and that like, ‘wow, I just did that,’” she said.
    As the leader of a nonprofit, Pegues Spearman said being successful means navigating challenges.
    “I think the biggest challenge is obviously resources. We're a nonprofit. We have tight budgets, and we depend on volunteers,” she said.
    Pegues Spearman credits her team of paid employees and volunteers for the success of the organization.
    “My staff loves our mission, and we work every day with that mission in mind,” she said. “It's easy when you’re supporting youth.”
    As part of its mission, the Girl Scouts of Connecticut is working to expand access for girls of all abilities and backgrounds, with a special focus on underserved communities.
    “We want all girls of all abilities to be able to access Girl Scouts,” she said.
    In addition to her role with the Girl Scouts, Pegues Spearman serves as the North Atlantic Regional Director of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
    The sorority is the oldest Greek-letter organization established by African American college-educated women.
    Pegues Spearman said she finds natural alignment between her work with the sorority and her role with the Girl Scouts.
    “Being the leader of the Girl Scouts, going to an all-women’s college, being in an all-women’s sorority—it's natural for me to be involved with girls and youth,” she said.
    “This is my special passion—to mentor girls and have them be their best and have them try things they would have never tried.”
    Related Links:
    Girl Scouts of Connecticut
    Website: https://www.gsofct.org/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/gsofct/
    Elicia Pegues Spearman LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliciaspearman/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    26 min
  • Brewing Family Business Success
    If you ask Omar Coffee CEO Nicolas Bokron how to run a successful, fourth-generation business, he’ll tell you about the core values posted on the walls around his company.
    “Trust, not tricks” is one of them.
    “Generally, the coffee business is about on-going relationships, so it’s very important to take care of issues and make them right,” Bokron said.
    “People need to trust and rely on you.”
    Bokron recently sat down to talk about all things coffee—and his family’s always-evolving 88-year-old business—with first-time CBIA BizCast guest host Ari Santiago, well-known for his Made in America podcast series.
    Founded in 1937 by Bokron’s great-grandfather John Costas, Omar Coffee started in Hartford’s South End.
    Over the years, it gradually grew into a regional company that roasts raw coffee beans, then sells, packs and distributes them to customers throughout the Northeast and beyond.
    Omar also provides and services coffee brewing equipment for food service establishments.
    On the retail side, Omar sells its coffee online.
    “We’ll give you everything you need to get set up and get brewing so you can sell coffee by the cup,” Bokron said.
    In line with its business culture and family values, Bokron says when it comes to hiring new employees, the first thing the company looks for is character.
    “If someone has the right attitude, shows up at the right time, day in and day out, and they’re reliable, then we’ll try to give them the appropriate skills, whether its manufacturing, sales, or service,” he said.
    The family’s values and strong culture built on hard work and integrity run deep at Omar.
    “We’re big believers of training from within,” he said.
    “There are people who work at Omar now whose parents worked for my grandfather.
    “They share the same connection and affinity to the business because it means more to them than just a job.”
    When it comes to keeping a family business evolving with the times—and staying competitive regardless of industry trends—Bokron said he’s learned to maintain a long-term perspective.
    “My grandfather taught me you just sort of have to remain steady,” he said.
    “Good things are going to happen, and bad things are going to happen.
    “So I feel like it’s my responsibility to take the information in, try to solve the problems, and remain cool, calm and collected.
    “I mean after all we’re making coffee here. We have to remain steady because we have a long-term focus.”
    Related Links
    Omar Coffee
    Website: https://www.omarcoffee.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/omar-coffee-company/
    Nicholas Bokron LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-bokron-09a0a823/
    Made in America Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/c/MadeinAmericaPodcastwithAri
    Made in America Podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/made-in-america-podcast-with-ari/
    Ari Santiago LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asantiago104/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    The CBIA BizCast is made possible through the generous support of Google. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Amanda Marlow.
    39 min
  • CBIA BizCast: CBIA Foundation’s Nord Goes GeoPolitical
    The CBIA BizCast is turning the tables a little.
    In June, Fairfield Woods Middle School Arav Kapoor was the runner-up in the National Civics Bee Connecticut State Finals, narrowly edged out by Tomlinson Middle School's Aarav Pradeep Sahu.
    The annual competition aims to improve civics education and literacy among middle school students, their families, and communities.
    The CBIA Foundation hosts the Civics Bee in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and local chambers across Connecticut.
    Kapoor has his own podcast, The Geopolitical, where he discusses politics, policy, and more with a variety of state and municipal leaders.
    In this special crossover episode, he sits down with CBIA Foundation director Dustin Nord to talk about the foundation, Connecticut’s economic future, the state’s political landscape, even the best pizza in the state.
    We’re excited to share the episode with you.
    Related Links:
    Arav Kapoor
    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tgpnow
    Arav Kapoor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aravka/
    CBIA Foundation
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/foundation/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia-foundation/
    The CBIA BizCast is made possible through the generous support of Google. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Amanda Marlow.
    35 min
  • ‘The Universe Is Setting Me Up’
    Jacqueline Laramee didn’t realize it at the time, but the course of her life and career trajectory shifted when—while still in high school—she met Melissa Sheffy.
    “When I met her, I didn’t know that I was meeting my future boss, my future business partner, my future best friend,” Laramee, now president of Plainville-based NDC Commercial Construction, told the CBIA BizCast.
    “It was just kind of like, the universe is setting me up.”
    Larmaee and Sheffy, then president of Network Interiors and Network Framing Solutions, first met as members of a local YMCA board—Laramee as a high school representative.
    Sheffy said she saw something special in Laramee almost immediately, recalling a conversation about where she planned to go to college.
    “’It doesn’t matter where I graduate from,’” Sheffy recalled Laramee saying. “’My college isn’t going to make me successful. I will make me successful.’
    “That stuck with me, because I was like, ‘this one is different.’
    “I’ve had a lot of young people over the years, and I tell people, ‘I’m going to hire you, and I’ll create an opportunity, but you have to run through the holes that I create on the field.’
    “She was the first to really kind of break the mold.”
    Sheffy started Network Interiors—a commercial metal framing and drywall company—about 34 years ago.
    At the time, it was one of the few 100% women-owned companies in a male-dominated industry.
    “It was different than it is now,” Sheffy said. “There still are not enough women, as far as I’m concerned, but it’s become a lot more professional.”
    During the 2008-2012 economic downturn, Sheffy saw the need to diversify, eventually launching Network Design and Construction and later branching off NDC Commercial Construction in 2016.
    Laramee joined Network Design and Construction in 2008 while still in high school.
    “I just said, ‘I want a job that I can work with people’,” Laramee recalled.
    “I want a job that I could do anywhere, and I want a job that I can learn something new every day.”
    That’s when the mentor-mentee relationship began.
    During that period, Laramee worked multiple jobs while going to school full-time.
    “I’m not the smartest person,” Laramee said. “But I will work and work and work.
    “There’s no shortcut, no hack. You can’t replace hard work.”
    Over the years, Laramee and Sheffy became closer as they spent more time together.
    “Melissa helped raise me,” Laramee said. “We spent a lot of time driving to job sites, just bonding and being there for each other.”
    Laramee continued to grow with the company, becoming president of NDC Construction in 2024.
    “It was a true mentor-mentee situation,” Sheffy said. “I trusted her.
    “She always had my and the company’s best interest at heart, and her level of honesty and integrity is very similar to mine.”
    Laramee, who was elected to CBIA’s board of directors last year, said one of the biggest lessons she learned from Sheffy was to engage with people at every level.
    “I love that connectivity,” Sheffy said. “We’re building buildings, but we’re building relationships.
    “So people matter to me, and I think that’s different.”
    As their relationship has grown, both women said they’ve helped each other step outside their comfort zones to develop as business leaders.
    “I’ve converted her to systems and processes,” Laramee said. “She has converted me into being a hugger and being open.”
    Sheffy said their relationship has now come full circle—where she is learning from Laramee.
    “The sign of a good teacher is that the student surpasses the teacher,” Sheffy said. “That’s what’s happening here, and that’s exciting.”
    “I get to work with some of the most amazing, talented people,” Laramee said.
    “I love learning from them, and I think that that’s what keeps life interesting—we get to learn every day if we want to.”
    Related Links:
    Melissa Sheffy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissasheffy/
    Jacqueline Laramee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueline-laramee-1aa02544/
    33 min
  • Bridging Technological, Generational Divides
    Over the past 10 years, Middletown-based AI Engineers has more than tripled in size.
    The architecture, construction, and engineering firm has grown from 90 employees to 350 in the U.S., with an additional and 70 employees working overseas.
    And annual revenue from $18 million to $77 million.
    Now factor in the speed of technological change, the challenge of finding qualified new employees, and the need to manage a multi-generational workforce.
    So how does a mid-sized company navigate that much change successfully?
    “We’re known for agility and rapid decision-making,” Tariq Islam, AI Engineers’ new chief of staff, said during a conversation on the CBIA BizCast.
    “So we’re able to react a lot quicker than a lot of other organizations, and that kind of sets us apart for a company of our size—our ability satisfy the customer.”
    “Plus, we’re always looking for new technology to implement quickly. We leverage partnerships to find qualified engineers and we’re very focused on succession planning,” he added.
    Seven years ago, the company established a group of 15 people to look for new technology from start-ups, pilot programs, and places outside their industry.
    “We were early investors in drones,” said Tariq’s father Abul Islam, who founded the company in 1993.
    “We’re always looking for new trends and ways to create operational efficiencies.” With new technology comes a new workforce with new skills, Tariq said.
    To find qualified civil engineers, the company partners with academic institutions to attract graduate and international students.
    They also rely on statewide resources, including support from CBIA on immigration licenses.
    “We have a whole program in place for helping engineers from overseas get their Connecticut licenses, as well as licenses in other states,” Abul Islam said.
    “It doesn’t matter where they get their degrees from, it’s the war of talent right now.”
    And as it seeks out new technology, the company tries to recruit employees from startups and pilot programs.
    “We’ve been successful at recruiting people as we find new technology,” Tariq Islam noted.
    The challenge of connecting different generations of employees is one that the company has taken head on.
    “A lot of institutional knowledge comes from the employees of my father’s generation,” Tariq Islam said.
    “And there’s a collaborative spirit that the younger generation brings—they have different styles of working.”
    Bridging the knowledge and technology gap is a process that takes time, father and son agreed.
    But sometimes innovation comes from a simple place.
    “You basically have to get everybody into a room and let them talk to each other so they can understand different perspectives,” he said. “Then it happens.”
    Related Links:
    AI Engineers
    Website: https://www.aiengineers.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ai-engineers-inc/
    Abul Islam LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abulislam/
    Tariq Islam LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tislam410/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    The CBIA BizCast is made possible through the generous support of Google. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support! If you have a story to tell, contact Amanda Marlow.
    34 min
  • Laying a Foundation for Economic Growth
    Since it was formed in 2023, the CBIA Foundation for Economic Growth & Opportunity has focused on charting a course for sustained economic growth in Connecticut that leads to greater opportunities for all residents.
    Foundation director Dustin Nord joined the CBIA BizCast to discuss the organization’s mission and growth.
    Nord joined the foundation in September 2024.
    “The foundation presented a really cool opportunity to have that platform to look at and see, what are the areas that that Connecticut can be better,” Nord said.
    “Where can we make tangible recommendations to be a better state?”
    Nord previously worked at AdvanceCT and has a passion for economic data and research.
    “It’s a little bit like magic, the things that come out of the data,” he said. “And it's just the opportunity to help other folks see what I see in that data.”
    Nord joined the foundation around the same time the organization released its Opportunity Connecticut report.
    The report is a long-term roadmap for boosting the state’s competitiveness, retaining and attracting investment and talent, fostering innovation, expanding career pathway opportunities, and growing a vibrant economy.
    He said a key to the report's success is ensuring that it’s a living document.
    “I think that's where previous reports fell short,” he said.
    “What we're hoping that we can maintain with Opportunity Connecticut is that continual improvement.”
    Nord said that while the foundation is focused on long-term thinking and doesn’t advocate for any specific legislation, nearly two-thirds of the recommendations in Opportunity Connecticut have seen some kind of an update so far.
    Those include efforts this past session to address critical issues like energy, housing, and regulatory reform.
    “I feel confident that the Opportunity Connecticut report helped start some of those conversations, and push those conversations in a in a bipartisan, cooperative way,” he said.
    As part of effort to track and update the foundation’s research, Nord has spent much of the last year diving deeper into the impact of issues including tariffs and the state’s housing shortage on the Connecticut economy.
    The foundation this month released its new By the Numbers: Tracking Connecticut’s Economic Competitiveness reference guide.
    The resource tool details key economic data points and trends, highlighting where Connecticut compares with other states in critical areas.
    And a key area of focus is the state’s labor force.
    “Everybody has a labor shortage around the country right now, but Connecticut is acute," he said.
    "I think we're seeing that in the data in terms of persistently high job openings and very low unemployment.”
    Nord said that while his research is based on data, it’s also important to have anecdotal information.
    The foundation holds forums and roundtables throughout the year to gain insight from stakeholders including business, nonprofit, and education leaders.
    “Some of that anecdotal information helps inform where to look,” he said.
    “It helps inform what, what types of data points do I need to look for.
    “If there is data to support what people are feeling, then I want to be able to show that.”
    Nord said that while the research he and the foundation are doing is a critical piece of improving the state’s economy and creating new opportunities for residents, it requires buy-in from everyone.
    “While we can provide a lot of great research, and I can provide a lot of great forums, and I can give ideas to the advocacy team—ultimately, this requires people to participate in in our processes here in Connecticut.”
    “If they want to make their voices heard, then I then I encourage them to do that.
    “And I hope that this helps inspire some people to do that.”
    Related Links:
    CBIA Foundation
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia-foundation/
    Dustin Nord LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustin-nord-ct/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    26 min
  • The Coolest Things Made in Connecticut
    Voting in the 2025 Coolest Thing Made in Connecticut challenge is underway!
    The challenge celebrates the successes of the vital manufacturing industry and highlights the wide range of products produced by our world-class, highly skilled workforce.
    Featuring 16 Connecticut-made products, the single-elimination, bracket-style competition allows the public to vote on their favorite product. 
    This special episode of the CBIA BizCast shines a spotlight on these amazing companies, the cool things they make, and their incredible workforces.
    The companies in this year’s challenge are:
    • American Woolen Company American Blazer : https://americanwoolen.com/
    • Amodex Stain Remover: https://amodexusa.com/
    • Beekley Medical Elequil Aromatabs Aromatherapy : https://beekley.com/
    • Bic Consumer Products Lighter: https://us.bic.com/en_us
    • Element 119 System X Max G+ Ceramic Coating : https://www.element119.com/
    • Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Frangible Joint : https://ebad.com/
    • Fascia’s Chocolates Chocolate Lava Cake: https://faschoc.com/
    • Horst Engineering & Manufacturing Co. Horst Dreidel: https://horstengineering.com/  
    • Munson’s Chocolates Pecan Caramel Patties: https://www.munsonschocolates.com/
    • Naiad Dynamics Fin Stabilizer : https://www.naiad.com/
    • Oma’s Pride Woof Compete Recipes Dog Food : https://omaspride.com/
    • Owl’s BrewOwl’s Brew Boozy Beverage : https://www.theowlsbrew.com/
    • Rose Sisters Chips Baked Flour Tortilla Chips: https://www.rosesisterschips.com/
    • Thule ReVert Bike Rack: https://www.thule.com/en-us/
    • Urban Mining Pozzotive Glass Concrete: https://pozzotive.com/
    • ZANEEZ HealthAnkleStone: https://anklestone.com/
    The Coolest Thing Made in Connecticut is produced by the CBIA Foundation in partnership with CONNSTEP and made possible through the generous support of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, Image Marketing, Blue Back Square, Medtronic, the Connecticut Office of Manufacturing, and Forge.
    The winner will be announced at the Oct. 2 Made in Connecticut: 2025 Manufacturing Summit.
    After the competition, the Connecticut Science Center will open an exhibit Oct. 10 celebrating the 2025 Coolest Things Made in Connecticut.
    24 min
  • Understanding Release-Based Regulations
    State lawmakers approved sweeping regulatory changes during the 2025 legislative session to replace the antiquated Transfer Act with new release-based cleanup regulations.
    When the new regulations take effect March 2026, it will be the culmination of years of collaboration between key stakeholders, including CBIA member companies, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and Department of Economic and Community Development.
    “It had to be a partnership between the business community and state agencies to get this done,” says CBIA’s Pete Myers.
    Myers and Robinson+Cole’s Emilee Mooney Scott joined the CBIA BizCast to break down the regulations and why the shift will have a positive impact on the state’s economy.
    Mooney Scott said conversations around replacing the Transfer Act have been ongoing since she joined Robinson+Cole in 2011.
    She said the Transfer Act required filings and costly environmental investigations when owners tried to transfer ownership of their property.
    “An enormous amount of time and money goes into that evaluation,” she said.
    She added that the process is onerous and inefficient and “chills economic development and real estate transactions.”
    Under the new regulations, Mooney Scott said contamination must be investigated and remediated when a release occurs.
    “So, if you kick over a drum—it occurs today, or when a past release is discovered,” she said. “There’s no particular requirement to go out and prove a negative.”
    Connecticut based the new regulations in part on a similar system already in place in Massachusetts.
    “We’re a different state than Massachusetts,” Myers said. “But it was certainly a roadmap that we wanted to follow.
    “How can we be similar to states around us, but yet still be more competitive in those states around us?”
    Myers said the updated regulations will help promote economic development, particularly in cities and downtown areas.
    “You’re going to see a tremendous amount of sites become available in our downtowns, like Waterbury and Danbury, that are now available for economic development,” he said.
    Myers and Mooney Scott said it was important that the state and the regulated community keep making the program better.
    Because of that, the working group that’s been part of the effort to create the new regulations will continue to provide input into the program.
    “We’ve been building this shiny new vehicle, but we won’t really know how it drives until we take it for a spin,” Mooney Scott said.
    “And we’re not taking it for a spin until March 1. So, it is a huge relief that there is this feedback mechanism in place to evaluate how it drives.”
    As businesses prepare for the new system, Mooney Scott plans to do a video series with Robinson+Cole to help them understand the regulations.
    Mooney Scott and Myers encouraged businesses who are either working through the Transfer Act or planning to use the new release-based cleanup regulations to share their feedback through CBIA’s E2: Energy & Environment Council.
    “Members of the business community can be a bit reluctant to raise their own hands and say, I am having this problem,” Mooney Scott said.
    “E2 can take that feedback and pass it up in a way that helps the individual members.”
    “It’s a tremendous resource to have access to people like Emily and the rest of our members,” Myers added.
    Related Links:
    Robinson+Cole
    Website: https://www.rc.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/robinson-cole-llp/
    Emilee Mooney Scott LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilee-mooney-scott-1091266/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    Pete Myers LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-myers-9623871ab/
    ________________________________________
    The CBIA BizCast is made possible through the generous support of Google. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the BizCast wherever you get your podcasts—we appreciate your support!
    30 min
  • Adventurer Rohan Freeman Gives Back
    As president and CEO of Freeman Companies, Rohan Freeman runs three successful engineering, construction, and real estate firms.
    He’s also an accomplished mountain climber and the first African-American to climb the Seven Summits—the highest mountain on each of the seven continents.
    And he’s completed the so-called “explorers grand slam” which includes treks to the North and South Pole.
    “Sometimes I pinch myself, I feel pretty fortunate to get here and for some of the things I've accomplished,” Freeman told the CBIA BizCast.
    Freeman grew up in Jamaica, moving to Hartford after high school and graduating from the University of Connecticut with a degree in civil engineering.
    He said he started his firm in Hartford because it was home and his mother and brother both worked for the city.
    “I started my firm, and then starting to get more into the fabric of Hartford and the community and understanding some of the major issues that were impacting the city and realized that maybe I could help in some small way,” he said.
    Since then, the Freeman Companies has been involved in major projects in the city including Dunkin’ Park and a number school, housing, and redevelopment projects.
    He also founded Seven Summits Construction, which centers on nonprofits, schools, and community based work and Seven Summits Realty, which develops housing to provide access to those less fortunate.
    “I felt feel so connected to the city, and that's why I also want to give back,” Freman said.
    “I lived here, my mom lived here. So it's important to me to give back, especially with the way my career has been shaped by the city.”
    So how does someone who grew up on the island of Jamaica end up becoming a mountain climber?
    “Good question,” Freeman said.
    He said winter in Connecticut was a culture shock, but instead of moving somewhere warmer, he decided to embrace it and learn to snowboard.
    “I'm like, ‘okay, so this is how you enjoy winter,’” he said.
    “I'm like, ‘okay, I gotta do something else.’ And then my friends got me into ice climbing, and cross-country skiing.”
    Eventually, one of his friends asked him if he wanted to climb Kilimanjaro.
    “When I was a kid, we would talk about Kilimanjaro as some mythical place,” he said. "I'm like, 'Yeah, I want to go.'"
    He said after doing his research and training, they successfully climbed the mountain.
    And that got him excited for more.
    “I wanted to replicate that challenge,” Freeman said.
    “My mind always goes to, ‘am I saying I can't do it because I'm afraid? And also physically, could I accomplish this?’
    “So I have to prove those things to myself.”
    Over the years he achieved the feat of climbing the Seven Summits.
    “It's knowing that I could break through these barriers,” he said.
    “Sometimes you find yourself in some really challenging situation where you feel like you have your last ounce of energy to give, but you really have more.
    “Going through these situations let me know that no matter how bad things are, there's always a little bit more to give.”
    Freeman said the lessons he’s learned through mountain climbing have helped him as as a leader as he’s grown Freeman Companies.
    “You may say, ‘physically climbing Denali, climbing Everest doesn't relate professionally,’” he said. “But I would disagree with you."
    “When we climb, we climb in a rope team,” he said. “So, when we move, we move together.”
    “It doesn't matter how strong you are as a leader. You cannot move faster than the weakest guy is capable of moving.”
    Freeman said that it’s the same in business and everybody on the team has equal importance.
    “You need everybody to be contributing, and so you have to find that balance for your team," he said.
    Related Links:
    Freeman Companies
    Website: https://freemancos.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/freeman-companies-llc/
    Rohan Freeman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohanfreeman/
    CBIA
    Website: https://www.cbia.com/
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cbia/
    34 min
  • Reflecting on a Bioscience Career
    He’s not calling it retirement.
    But after a successful career as CBIA senior counsel and executive director of the Connecticut Bioscience Growth Council, Paul Pescatello is ready for “a little bit of rebalancing.”
    Pescatello joined the CBIA BizCast to reflect on his career and the state of the biotech industry.
    Pescatello started his career as a banking and insurance regulatory lawyer with Shipman and Goodwin.
    “They needed somebody to do some lobbying to start a new bank,” he said. “There was actually legislation needed to make it happen.
    “So, I volunteered and that's sort of how I learned how to lobby in Connecticut.”
    Pescatello’s interest in the bioscience and pharmaceutical industry arose from a family crisis.
    “My oldest brother, who I was really close to, came down with glioblastoma, which is a really, really terrible form of brain cancer,” he said.
    “I think when something like that happens to you or to somebody you know really well— you want to do something.
    “You want to channel your energies into something that would help this person or help people in the future.”
    He said being involved in his brother’s care and treatment drew him to the research that pharmaceutical companies were doing.
    “I really love the industry. It was such a fascinating industry,” he said.
    Pescatello started doing pro bono work in the area and ran a bioscience advocacy organization.
    He joined CBIA in 2014, and started managing the Connecticut Bioscience Growth Council.
    Pescatello said his goal was to educate people that the innovation and research done by the pharmaceutical industry was key to solving the healthcare crisis.
    “People here at CBIA have heard me talk about it over and over again—as costly as some drugs are, they really are a cost saver to the overall health system,” he said.
    Pescatello said that a major expense in the cost of drugs is the vast amount of research and development that goes into the process.
    “It's just hard to wrap your mind around the really unique research and development arc of bringing a drug from idea to FDA approved products,” Pescatello said.
    It takes $2.7 billion and about 10-12 years to bring a drug from idea to product.
    “When legislators ask, ‘why are drug prices so high here?’ It’s true, we really do pay the world’s R&D.”
    Pescatello credited the buy-in from legislatures and administrations to understand the importance the industry carries in the state.
    That buy-in has led to Connecticut being at the forefront of research and development tax credits for biotech companies.
    “They're spending tons and tons of money, but they have no income coming in,” Pescatello said.
    “So those research and development tax credits—they can carry them forward into the future.”
    He said it’s critical for the state to stay competitive to support and grow the industry.
    “Things like the research and development tax credits—other states have copied that,” he said.
    “We have to keep in the game on that.”
    Pescatello said it’s been satisfying to see the growth of the industry in Connecticut.
    “I drive a lot of satisfaction from the range of companies that are here and the range of products that come out of Connecticut,” he said.
    “We should all really take a victory lap for how big the industry is in Connecticut and how sustainable it is.”
    As he “rebalances,” Pescatello said he's looking forward to spending more time with his five grandchildren.
    But he said he plans to continue his advocacy for the bioscience industry.
    “I love the industry,” he said.
    “I really care about it in terms of its effect on all of us and on patients and disease—understanding the mechanisms of disease and finding treatments and cures for disease.”
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    29 min

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A podcast for the business-minded in Connecticut. Interviews consist of business and community leaders who are shaping the future of Connecticut’s economy. The CBIA BizCast provides new content every other week, introduces members of the business community, and tells stories about how businesses are innovating and growing in Connecticut!