October 24, 2008

CHAMBER HONORS LENDER, AREA BUSINESSES

NEW HAVEN — At a time when the local business community acknowledges growing economic uncertainty, area business leaders gathered Thursday to honor people and companies that, they say, help make Greater New Haven a place well-equipped to weather the turbulence.

“New Haven is a strong place, even in these tough economic times,” said Michael Morand, chairman of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors and associate vice president for New Haven and State Affairs at Yale University.

About 600 people attended the chamber’s 2008 annual awards luncheon at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale.

Marvin Lender, former owner and president of Lender’s Bagel Bakery Inc. and currently the manager of Lender Management LLC, received the main award of the day, the 2008 Community Leadership Award.

Lender is on the board of trustees of Yale-New Haven Hospital and, along with his wife, Helaine, is leading the $100 million fundraising campaign for the Smilow Cancer Hospital.

He is also chairman of the board of trustees of the Israel Policy Forum, co-founder of the area Holocaust Education Prejudice Reduction Program and serves on various boards, including those of Amistad America Inc., the New Haven Academy and the Connecticut Association for Performing Arts Inc.

“Those organizations have made it possible for me to realize my dream of making a difference in the world,” Lender, a New Haven native, said in accepting the award. “New Haven means a lot to me and my family. It’s the place where Lender’s Bagel Bakery was started.”

Lender learned the family business from his father, Harry, who started the company after immigrating to New Haven from Poland.

Lender Thursday urged area business leaders to take an active role in shaping the region’s future, tackling problems such as homelessness and increasing and improving education. “There are still things that need to be done in New Haven, and they need to be done now,” he said.

Earlier in the luncheon, Mayor John DeStefano Jr. spoke of how the city, like others across Connecticut and the nation, is experiencing tough times. But the Elm City, he said, and Greater New Haven are relatively well positioned in the long run.

Other honorees Thursday were Digital Surgeons LLC in New Haven, which received the Technology Innovation award; The Mary Wade Home in New Haven, which received the Leadership in Health Care/Developer Investment award; and Stratton Faxon, a New Haven law firm that received the Nonprofit Partnership award.

Also, West Haven Mayor John M. Picard received the Government Leadership award; Cornell N. Wright, principal of the Parker Wright Group Inc. in Stratford, received the Small Business Leadership award; Shelly Saczynski, United Illuminating Co.’s director of economic and community development, got the Chamber Volunteer of the Year award; and Meriden Mayor Michael S. Rohde received the Alumnus of the Leadership Center award.