The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Business accolades
• Stuart Pearl, an independent LPL Financial adviser at Pearl Financial in Hamden, has been named to LPL’s Freedom Club, according to a release. The distinction is based on business success among the more than 14,000 LPL advisers nationwide, the release said. “On behalf of LPL, I applaud Stuart Pearl for earning this distinction and thank him for the contributions he has made to his clients, LPL and the financial services industry,” Andy Kalbaugh, LPL managing dorector and divisional president, said in the release. Pearl has been providing financial services to clients across the New Haven area for more than 30 years, the release said.
• Quinnipiac University faculty members Rebecca Abbott, Liam O’Brien and Christine Kinealy have won a New England Emmy Award for the documentary, “Ireland’s Great Hunger and the Irish Diaspora,” according to a release. “It’s a huge honor to have this sort of recognition for our work,” Abbott, a Hamden resident who coproduced the documentary, said in the release. “Since the process of making this documentary took several years, it’s really gratifying and rewarding to know that our efforts are valued in this way.” Abbott, who filmed and edited the documentary, and co-producer O’Brien, of Higganum, are professors in Quinnipiac’s Department of Film, Television and Media Arts, the release said.
• Wallingford-based Edible Arrangements recently was ranked in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Global Franchises list, according to a release. This list recognizes the top 200 franchisors that are seeking franchisees outside of the U.S., based on data submitted for Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 ranking; Edible Arrangements was ranked number 38, the release said. “My vision has always been for Edible Arrangements to become a source of enjoyment for people around the world,” Tariq Farid, founder and CEO of Edible Arrangements, said in the release. “Part of that joy includes seeing someone with an entrepreneurial spirit realizing their dream by opening their own Edible store.”
• Karin Schwanbeck of Middletown, associate professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University, has received the Champion of Open Government Award presented by the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information, according to a release. “It was an honor to receive the award from such an esteemed organization,” Schwanbeck said in the release. “We are lucky to have such a strong freedom of information presence in Connecticut, including the Freedom of Information Commission.” The award recognizes Schwanbeck’s “extraordinary service to the people of Connecticut in preserving, defending and enhancing access to government information essential to a healthy and vibrant democracy,” the release said. Schwanbeck was
a television reporter for 12 years prior to her teaching career.
• Ion Bank of Hamden recently has been awarded an Energy Star Building Label for 2017 after efficiency upgrades through Energize CT’s Energy Efficiency programs in partnership with United Illuminating, according to a release. The bank participated in Energize Connecticut’s Small Business Energy Advantage program, which offered incentives and funding assistance for the project, the release said. More than 100 LED bulbs and LED tubes were installed at the branch. “Rebates and zero-percent financing provided through the program made the upgrades much more cost efficient. It was easier for us to justify our upgrade expenses,” Craig Porter, director of marketing for Ion Bank, said in the release. “Energy efficiency is part of the company’s long-term strategy and cost efficient solutions are always important. The project was a win-win.”
• Real Living Wareck D’Ostilio in New Haven has been recognized as one of America’s Top 20 Small Companies out of the total winning 35 real estate firms, according to a relase. The firm was honored with a QE Award “that measures and independently verifies excellence in the delivery of the highest levels of customer satisfaction and service quality in real estate in North America,” according to Quality Service Certification Inc., creators of the award, the release said. “There is no greater honor than earning the highest ratings from our customers for the hard work of our agents touching all the bases and bringing home a fantastic service experience for every one of our clients,” John Wareck, broker/managing partner of Real Living Wareck D’Ostilio, said in the release. “We are dually proud to be the only Connecticut firm recognized with this prestigious honor.”