CT Entrepreneur Awards 2021 | CT Entrepreneur Awards | 11 January 2021 | TBA

The CT Entrepreneur Awards are a product of the CT Entrepreneur Event Organizers consortium.
This is an all-volunteer cooperative effort of all the people and organizations that host and facilitate entrepreneur-facing events in CT. Proceeds from the CT Entrepreneur Awards go directly into funding the statewide Entrepreneur Events Calendar.

2019 Winners

● Entrepreneur of the Year: Scaling Company
○ Winner
■ Ben Young, Hugo & Hoby, New Haven
○ Honorable mention
■ Joel P. Roy, Creative Dimensions
■ Jen Grace Baron, InspireCorps
■ Mike Brody, Exago
■ Nathan Pitruzzello, SoluTech, Inc.
■ Joseph Nicklas, SoluTech, Inc.

● Entrepreneur of the Year: Scalable Venture
○ Winner
■ Ashley Kalinauskas, Torigen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Farmington
○ Honorable mention
■ David Light, Valisure
■ Jayme Coates, Lactation Innovations LLC
■ Nicole Wagner, LambdaVision
■ Kevin Lane, Create A Castle

● Entrepreneur of the Year: Main Street
○ Winner
■ Athena Fliakos, Be As You Wear, Salisbury
○ Honorable mention
■ Liz Ceppos, Cross Culture Kombucha
■ Meg Raiano, reCreative AGENCY
■ Jessica Reis, Reis Learning Center
■ Liz Arrindell, Luscious & Co

● Entrepreneur of the Year: Social Good (social enterprise & nonprofit)
○ Winner
■ Candace Freedenberg, Untapped Potential Inc., Hartford
○ Honorable mention
■ Greg Ludovici, Sea Tea Improv
■ A. Malakah Williams, Bash! Boutique Events & Organic Cakery
■ Jennifer Cuevas, She Inspires Movement
■ Christiane O’Brien, Crimson ART Box

● Entrepreneur of the Year: Student
○ Winner
■ Nathan Pitruzzello, SoluTech, Inc., New Haven
○ Honorable mention
■ Joseph Nicklas, SoluTech, Inc.
■ Brittany Molkenthin, Lactation Innovations LLC
■ Alexander Kosyakov, Natrion, LLC
■ Daniel Yasoshima, YouCOMM LLC

● Venture of the Year: Revenue
○ Winner
■ CloudKPI, New Haven
○ Honorable mention
■ Thrillz High Flying Adventure Park, Danbury
■ Create A Castle, New Milford
■ Valisure, New Haven
■ Moon Rocks Gourmet Cookies, Hamden

● Venture of the Year: Pre-Revenue
○ Winner
■ Green Check Verified, Inc., New Haven
○ Honorable mention
■ QRfertile, Farmington
■ ENCAPSULATE LLC, Farmington
■ Lactation Innovations LLC, Canterbury
■ VigorSential, LLC, Storrs/Mansfield

● Community Builder of the Year
○ Winner
■ Curtis K Goodwin, New London Talent Show, New London
○ Honorable mention
■ Tony Vengrove, Makery Coworking
■ La'Shunda Williams, Young-Educated-Determined to Succeed
■ Paullette (Suki) Lagrito, Global City Norwich (NCDC)
■ Jennifer Murphy, Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

● Community Promoter of the Year
○ Winner
■ Western Connecticut State University, Danbury
○ Honorable mention
■ District New Haven, New Haven
■ Danbury Hackerspace, Danbury
■ UConn Technology Incubation Program, Farmington
■ Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, East Hartford

Community Favorites + 2 honorable mentions
● Entrepreneur: Scaling Company
○ Winner
■ Joel Roy, Creative Dimensions, Cheshire
○ Honorable mention
■ Mike Brody, Exago, Shelton
■ Nathan Pitruzzello, SoluTech, Inc., New Haven

● Entrepreneur: Scalable Venture
○ Winner
■ Kevin Lane, Create A Castle, New Milford
○ Honorable mention
■ Jessica Bittner, Lasting Impressions Hand Stamped Jewelry, New Milford
■ Ashley Kalinauskas, Torigen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Farmington

● Entrepreneur: Main Street
○ Winner
■ Liz Arrindell, Luscious & Co, Shelton
○ Honorable mention
■ Liz Ceppos, Cross Culture Kombucha, Danbury
■ Barbara Mcclane, Barkel Mcclane Photography, New Britain

● Entrepreneur: Social Good
○ Winner
■ A.Malakah Williams, Bash! Boutique Events & Organic Cakery, Danbury
○ Honorable mention
■ Yuslendy Suriel, Pink & Pretty LLC, Bridgeport
■ Candace Freedenberg, Untapped Potential Inc., Hartford

● Entrepreneur: Student
○ Winner
■ Alexander Kosyakov, Natrion, LLC, Greenwich
○ Honorable mention
■ Brittany Molkenthin, Lactation Innovations LLC, Canterbury
■ Elizabeth Johnson, VigorSential, Storrs/Mansfield

● Venture: Revenue
○ Winner
■ The Two Oh Three, Westport
○ Honorable mention
■ Goatboy Soaps, LLC, New Milford
■ Create A Castle, New Milford

● Venture: Pre-Revenue
○ Winner
■ Green Check Verified, Inc., New Haven
○ Honorable mention
■ Crate, Hartford■ VigorSential, LLC, Storrs/Mansfield

● Community Builder
○ Winner
■ Nick Wagner, InnovateCT, South Windsor
○ Honorable mention
■ Gina Johnson, GinaJohnson.co, Glastonbury
■ Curtis K Goodwin, New London Talent Show, New London

● Space
○ Winner
■ Makery Coworking, New Milford
○ Honorable mention
■ WORK_SPACE, Manchester
■ Upward Hartford, Hartford

● Program
○ Winner
■ Hartford InsurTech Hub, Hartford
○ Honorable mention
■ New Haven Game Makers Guild, New Haven
■ Univ. of Hartford Entrepreneurial Center, Hartford
■ Accelerate UConn, Hartford

● Economic Development
○ Winner
■ CT Film Initiative, Essex
○ Honorable Mention
■ Kristen Gorski, Town of West Hartford
■ Denise Whitford, CT Small Business Development Center

● Event
○ Winner
■ Random Hacks of Kindness Junior, Inc., Woodbury
○ Honorable mention
■ Get Seeded (UConn), Storrs
■ Fantasticon (New Haven Game Makers Guild), New Haven
■ Stamford Innovation Week, Stamford

● Education
○ Winner
■ Reis Learning Center, New Milford
○ Honorable Mention
■ Small World, Cheshire
■ Workspace Education, Bethel

● Corporate/Institution
○ Winner
■ FML, Glastonbury and New Haven
○ Honorable mention - none