William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty has announced the promotion of Beth Cote, formerly a top-performing real estate agent with the firm’s Old Lyme brokerage, to brokerage manager in Old Lyme and Niantic. In addition, Heather Gagnon, who previously managed these two locations as well as the firm’s Mystic brokerage, will now have a dedicated role as brokerage manager for Mystic.

The company said the moves were part of a strategic realignment during a period of strong growth along the Connecticut shoreline.

Cote brings nearly 30 years of residential real estate sales experience, and has consistently ranked among the top producing associates at William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty. She began her career as Rookie of the Year and continued to earn distinctions with small boutique firms as well as at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage before joining William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty in 2021, where she received the Platinum Sales Award for production in 2021 and 2022.

Gagnon now shifts her management focus to overseeing the Mystic brokerage. She will also help to support growth in the Noank, Groton Long Point and Stonington markets, and in northern areas such as Woodstock and Pomfret as well as Rhode Island.

Jobs & Employment

The Day will be hosting a job fair from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 28, at Hilton Mystic, and exhibitors still have time to sign up.

With every booth reservation, exhibitors will receive an ad to run in The Day’s employment section and their business name listing in promotional ads in The Day, on www.theday.com/jobfair, and in emails promoting the event to prospective attendees.

If you are looking to reserve a booth space to find the local talent you need, contact Stacy Williams at s.williams@theday.com or 860-701-4412.

The event, free for attendees, will feature some of the region’s top employers, including General Dynamics Electric Boat and Foxwoods Casino. Free resources including resume review and interview prep will be provided to you by the Human Resource Leadership Association and the American Job Center.

For full event details, to register and to view a list of participating employers, visit theday.com/jobfair.

People & Places

Ho-Choong Chang, MD, the chief of pediatrics at Community Health Center, Inc., has been selected a “Top Doctor” by Castle Connolly for the tenth year running.

A pediatrician known for working with children and families, Chang oversees the delivery of care to CHC’s entire pediatric population across Connecticut. He serves as On-Site Medical Director at Connecticut Pediatrics at CHC, based in Hartford, where he personally cares for many patients. He also serves as a clinical preceptor for the health center’s pediatric APRN residency program.

Chang earned his undergraduate degree in psychobiology at Yale College. He received his medical degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and completed his pediatrics residency at the University of Washington, Seattle Children’s Hospital. With over two decades of experience, Chang has cared for children in a number of roles including pediatric hospitalist, urgent care physician, and primary care provider.

Ads of the World this month named an advertisement for Andiamo restaurant in Mystic to the Editors Choice Collection. The award recognizes excellence in advertising, and other ads in this collection include major agency work including Super Bowl ads and international brand commercials.

Josiah Jones, creative director for the Cannonball Collection which includes Andiamo, said his vision for an ad came to life with the help of Hoyt + Fondulas. What makes the recognition even more remarkable is it was shot in a garage, on-site at the restaurant, and with a first-time actor as one of the leads.

The spot launched in the Mystic Cinema near the restaurant during Barbenheimer. The ad now has a chance to be recognized as part of the Clio Awards which is the advertising industry’s equivalent to the Oscars.

Cannonball Collection restaurants based in Mystic are a locally owned and operated, including Jealous Monk, Rio Salado, Rio Rapido, El Sueno, Taquerio, Andiamo, Pronto and Cannonball Catering.

SCORE will host a new free webinar on “LinkedIn Branding: Shaping Your Online Identity to Attract Opportunities,” sponsored by Essex Savings Bank, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14, via Zoom.

Pre-registration is required at https://www.score.org/easternct.

The webinar will feature Allie Bryant and Juliet Del Rio of the Miranda Creative content team. This webinar will explore how to use LinkedIn to create online identities, personal and brand, that attract opportunities. Starting with crafting a compelling LinkedIn bio, attendees will discover how to articulate their unique value proposition and tell a "Who Am I" story in a way that resonates with potential connections.

Mohegan Sun has announced that Ragan Communications, a top human resources company nationwide, has named Erin Frostad, team member communications and involvement manager for the resort, as part of its Top Women in Communications Awards, Class of 2024.

Don Trella, VP of human resources for Mohegan Sun, congratulated Frostad for her kindness, passion and a goal orientated mindset. She will be celebrated alongside other accomplished women at a Feb. 29 luncheon in New York City.

For more information on Mohegan Sun, visit mohegansun.com/careers.

Russell Fowler of Noank retired this month as superintendent of the Noank Water Company. Friends honored him with a dinner at the Noank Fire District Hall.

A free, virtual conference for those living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias and their families will be offered by the Alzheimer’s Association March 1-2. The March 1 sessions will be aimed at people living with dementia, while the March 2 programs focus on family members and family care partners.

Advance registration is required to attend the conference. Visit alzfamilyconference.org to find out more.

The Coast Guard Foundation has announced the addition of five new trustees, bringing the total number of active trustees and directors to 75. David Houghton; Lindsay Malen-Habib; Kyra Phillips; Rear Admiral J. Timothy Riker, USCGR (Ret.); and Amy Vanderhaden will each serve three-year terms. The board is led by Chairman Thomas A. Allegretti.

David Houghton is a business executive with over 30 years of experience, most recently working at Ingram Barge Company in Nashville, Tenn., as senior vice president and chief information officer.

Lindsay Malen-Habib is the director of customer relations management at McAllister Towing & Transportation, based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Kyra Phillips is a correspondent for ABC News and an anchor for ABC News Live, based in Washington, D.C.

J. Timothy Riker enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard in 1970 and was commissioned through Officer Candidate School in 1971. His active-duty and reserve assignments included time aboard Cutters Hamilton and Unimak, and overseas duties in Operations Desert Storm and Uphold Democracy (Haiti). He is presently Regents Board Chair of the Foundation for Coast Guard History.

Amy Vanderhaden has spent three decades as a military spouse and advocate for military families. From 2018-2022, Vanderhaden held the position of Ombudsman-at-Large for the U.S. Coast Guard.

To learn more, visit coastguardfoundation.org.

Six research projects relevant to Long Island Sound and continuing improvements in its restoration and management have been selected by Connecticut Sea Grant for the 2024-2026 funding cycle.

The projects recommended for funding would receive nearly $900,000 in federal grant funds that would be leveraged by about $458,000 in matching funds, for a total research investment of more than $1.35 million.

Research will focus on assessing salt marsh restoration sites; interactions between eel grass and oyster aquaculture; natural transport of oyster larvae; pathways and prevention of plastic marine debris; the diets of black sea bass; and approaches to overcoming barriers to underrepresented minorities entering the environmental workforce.

Sylvain De Guise, director for Connecticut Sea Grant, said projects will be led by UConn associate professor Beth Lawrence, UConn professor Craig Tobias; UConn professors Michael Whitney and Catherine Matassa; Yale University professor Gaboury Benoit; UConn associate professor Hannes Baumann, and UConn associate professor Anita Morzillo.

Connecticut Sea Grant is a partnership of UConn and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, one of 34 Sea Grant programs across the country. It is based at UConn’s Avery Point campus in Groton.

Lawyers for Children America, a nonprofit providing free legal representation to abused, neglected, and at-risk children, has announced that co-chairs for its newly created LFCA Advocate Network will be Erika Amarante of Wiggin and Dana (New Haven office), Richard Harris of Day Pitney LLP (Hartford office), and Peter Knight of Robinson+Cole (Hartford office).

The program will create a network of volunteers, across law firms and corporations, who can learn from one another and can benefit from LFCA training, convenings, expertise, and resources. LFCA’s new cases more than doubled in 2023, indicating there is a growing need for volunteer lawyers to advocate for children who are at risk. The LFCA Advocate Network, launching later this year, will include more than 40 liaisons.

The Connecticut Airport Authority has announced that low-cost carrier Breeze Airways will be launching nonstop seasonal service from Bradley International Airport to Coastal Carolina Regional Airport in New Bern, North Carolina. The flight will begin on May 24 and operate on the Friday and Monday of Memorial Day weekend and then on Thursdays and Sundays moving forward.

Breeze currently flies nonstop between Bradley and Charleston, S.C., Columbus, Ohio, Fort Myers, Fla., Jacksonville, Fla., Las Vegas, New Orleans, Norfolk, Va., Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., Richmond, Va., Sarasota, Fla., Savannah, Ga., Tampa, Fla., and Vero Beach, Fla. For more information, visit https://www.flybreeze.com.

The Buzz is a weekly roundup of business news compiled by Business Editor Lee Howard. To get in The Buzz, email businessbriefs@theday.com. To easily access urls cited in print, go to www.theday.com and type “The Buzz” into the search bar.