ROSE BEDNARZ LUGIO

Rose is a professor in the Business Department at Gateway Community College and directs the Gateway Small Business Center.  She is program coordinator for the degree programs in Entrepreneurial Studies and Retail Management/Fashion Merchandising. Rose teaches marketing, fashion, retailing, textiles, e-business, small business management and entrepreneurship courses. eMail Rose

JULIE BRANDER

Julie has 20 years experience in starting and owning her own manufacturing, wholesale, retail, mail order and non profit business. She has her MBA in Entrepreneurship and teaches business courses at Gateway Community College. She is a licensed Realtor in the State of CT and specializes in Commercial Real estate sales and leasing.

EILEEN CAVANAUGH

Eileen has over 30 years experience in the banking industry most recently serving as a senior lending officer in the areas of mortgage lending and commercial and consumer loans. She brings that experience to her SCORE activities and conducts the Chapter’s seminars on locating startup funding and loans and alternatives when the bank says " no." Her areas of expertise include accounting, business plans, credit and collections, financial services, inventory control, and retail trade. Eileen has been a SCORE volunteer since 1998.

BRIAN COFFEY 

Brian has a background in the Human Resources field which includes experience developing and managing first level HR groups to play a vital role in assisting companies in meeting priorities. Past employers include: Emerson Electric; American Cyanamid; Chesebrough-Pond’s, Ragu Foods-Vice President; and Beiersdorf-Vice President. Also, experienced in home improvement contracting.

ROBERT ESPOSITO 

Robert was a Controller and financial advisor responsible for all financial activities of a multi-million dollar manufacturing business including budgeting, financial analysis, balance sheet and profit and loss statements, cash flow analysis, profit improvement programs, performance measurement factors, bench marking, internal audits, pricing and sales and marketing forecasts.

RUSS GIESELMAN - Marketing Chair

Currently Principal at Beekman Enterprises, a marketing consulting firm, Russ built his career as a B2B marketer of technical products.  His resume includes tenures at Corning  Incorporated, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Black & Decker, providing him with experience in marketing such wide-ranging products as scientific apparatus and chemicals, optical fiber, and engineered fasteners.  He has worked in multiple channels, having spent time in both manufacturing and distribution.  Russ received his MBA from The Tuck School at Dartmouth and his BA from Stony Brook University, NY.  In addition to his volunteer work at SCORE, Russ is on the Board of Directors at Elmseed Enterprises Fund and works as an Adjunct Professor of Marketing at Post University in Waterbury, CT.

J. FREDERICK HARMON - Treasurer

Fred has worked in the financial and audit areas for over 25 years. Currently, he is an adjunct professor of Finance and Economics at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven and a marathon coach for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He also is involved in several non-profit groups in southwestern Connecticut. Other areas of expertise include material logistics, tax and accounting, and small business consulting.

RICHARD HART  

Richard has been a SCORE Counselor since 2005. Richard went to Mt. St. Mary's University and Wharton Graduate School and was a Peace Corps Volunteer setting up credit unions in Bolivia. Richard's background is in finance - banking software, leasing, financial services sales and credit management.

LARRY LAPUCIA

Larry has experience managing two privately-held manufacturing companies with steady long term growth and profitability. He has strong competence in the general management of family owned and/or privately held business and manufacturing operations. Expert in family business dynamics as a professional manager in long term or interim management roles, with specialties in labor law, union negotiations, HR, salary administration, risk management, production and inventory control, aluminum metallurgy, manufacturing expansion, family business dynamics, mergers and acquisitions.

RICHARD LUTZ

Richard has over 25 years of management experience in the Information Technology industry and 10 years experience in higher education. Richard is currently a full time professor and associate program director at Quinnipiac University. He holds a doctorate degree in business administration, an executive MBA, and bachelor's degree in psychology.

BHARAT MANGHNANI

Bharat has over 30 years of management experience in the consumer products arena and owned and operated an import/export business. Most recently he was managing Director of his own import/export firm supplying duty free products to the diplomatic corps. In 1989, he was appointed Diplomat of Liberia and served in that role until the beginning of the Liberian civil war in 1991. Bharat’s areas of expertise include contract negotiations, business plan development, strategic planning, marketing and sales, international trade, and wholesale operations.

ADELA MARTINEZ

Adela works for Start Community Bank as a SVP – Operations and Technology and has been in
banking for more than 20 years with experience in Deposit and Loan Operations, Information Technology,
Retail Banking and Accounting. She currently serves on the Board and the Development Task Force Committee for Christian Community Action and Board of Elmseed Enterprise Fund  in New Haven, CT and serves on the Boards of Newington Ski Club and Elmwood Community Church in Newington and West Hartford, CT. Adela lives in West Hartford, Connecticut.

THOMAS MAZZAFERRO

Thomas is a seasoned accountant with over 30 years experience and is CMA certified. Tom was formally chief financial officer of a financial service organization and also held financial positions with an insurance company, an electrical distributor and a retail farm supply organization. His experience includes financial reporting, taxation, budgeting and capital management.

ART MOLLENGARDEN - Vice Chair

Art brings his experience as a successful entrepreneur (having founded businesses in three industry groups) and serving on the senior management/leadership teams of leading retailing and real estate firms to SCORE.  He operates a marketing consultancy and spends a lot of his time teaching marketing, entrepreneurship,. consumer behavior, marketing research, management, leadership, and retailing courses at several colleges and universities.  He also serves on the board of advisors for a variety of firms and organizations.  Art believes one of the most valuable life skills is harnessing the power of reinvention. "Reinvention is not limited to companies and their products. People, too, can reinvent themselves and transform their careers and their lives."    

JOE PHILLIPS

Joe brings several years of experience in eCommerce marketing, analysis and web data mining to SCORE New Haven. As a marketer for both B2B and B2C operations he has managed multi-million dollar paid search campaigns, expansive SEO programs, Google places projects, social media implementations, email and remarketing campaigns. He has had a direct relationship with many of the large search providers and has thorough knowledge of best practices for implementation and search optimization. Joe also has extensive knowledge in the data and analysis side of web marketing. He has implemented several web analytics suites and leveraged the data to provide customer insight while increasing user engagement, sales, leads, and an improved customer experience. His data philosophy is that web data shouldn't be siloed. It should instead be married with offline data sources and business intelligence (BI) to provide holistic insight into customer behavior, while making data driven marketing decisions.

NICK ROBERTO

Nick has 15 years of Corporate Credit Management experience with several fortune 50 companies. He is certified with the National Association of Credit Management and is a former director of the organization. His articles on Credit and Collection are nationally published.  He purchased a collection agency in 1986 and expanded it's services to include Credit Consulting, Financial Analysis and teaching clients how to improve cash flow and reduce bad debt without losing clients.

Nick started an online wholesale pet supply company in January 2012. The company's focus is quality pet supplies at wholesale prices.

PATRICIA SANDERS - Chairperson

Patricia has over 40 years experience in higher education and small business development. Her most recent experience included serving as President of Post University in Waterbury, CT and currently serves as President Emeritus teaching entrepreneurship courses and undertaking special regulatory projects. Her areas of expertise include new venture startups, business planning, strategic planning, and not-for-profit management.

JERRY SHENKIN

Jerry is an Industrial Engineer with 45 years experience in manufacturing, facility construction and maintenance, environmental, health and safety and mergers and acquisitions with ITT, ABB and Duracell.  Jerry has been a SCORE counselor for 7 years and was the New Haven chapter chairman.

MICHAEL SPEARS

Michael has 13 years of progressive professional experience in Finance and Administration and is currently a Financial Analyst at a large Ivy League University. He has a MBA in Finance from the University of New Haven, specializing in investment finance and a BA in Finance from the Albertus Magnus College. Michael is also the Founder and President of a Securities Investment Partnership Business. 

DON WALL

Don has worked in the heating, ventilating and air conditioning contracting business for over 50 years. He started in the HVAC industry in 1963 while attending the University of New Haven, graduating in 1966 with a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering. He then worked for Carrier International Corp in Tokyo, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore for six years as a resident engineer serving distributors of Carrier air conditioning products throughout the Far East. In 1979, he started The Donwall Corp , an HVAC contracting company serving the commercial, industrial and institutional market for heating, ventilating and air conditioning installation and service. The business was sold in 2000. Today, Don continues to consult for the HVAC industry and has been a SCORE volunteer since 2006.

PETER WEINSTEIN

Peter was a CPA in Connecticut for 47 years before retiring in 2006. Peter was the partner in charge of the department that specialized in business startups, business sales and liquidations, and family business planning. All of his clients were closely held corporations or partnerships or LLC’s or proprietorships. Since state and federal taxes entered into every transaction, Peter was responsible for minimizing their effect.

DONALD O. WHEELER

Don’s background is in industrial engineering and he earned his MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. His career was spent in the manufacturing sector and most recently he served as Chairman and CEO of his own manufacturing firm producing polyester window films for the automotive, residential, and commercial building aftermarkets. Don’s expertise includes manufacturing operations, strategic planning, sales and marketing, international business, mergers and acquisitions, and consulting skills. Don also serves as a volunteer with the Clearwater, FL SCORE chapter during the winter months.

RUDY ZIMMERMANN - Secretary

Rudy has over 40 years of experience with facilities operations. He has knowledge of facility design, site selection and operations including maintenance, regulatory issues, security, production and staffing needs. Additionally he has experience in office services, on site utility operations, budget preparation and project management.

New Haven SCORE will bring you up-to-speed with what your business needs to open the doors and succeed. 

We provide workshops, and counseling that help you learn to the ropes, what resources you will need, and how to obtain the funding to get started.  YOU talk to the professionals, YOU ask them the questions. Our counselors listen to your ideas and hopes, and give direction on what you need to do to turn your dreams into a reality.  And we coach you 100% of the way… with SCORE you are never alone.

New Haven SCORE is about you… our goal is YOUR success.

SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and helping small businesses start, grow, and succeed nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and has been mentoring small business owners for more than forty years.

Founded in 1964, SCORE is headquartered in Herndon, VA and has 364 chapters throughout the United States and its territories, with over 13,000 volunteers nationwide.