Dime Bank has announced that Nicholas Statoulas, currently the bank’s chief consumer banking officer, has been promoted to the role of executive vice president, chief operating officer. In this newly appointed position at Dime, he will retain all of his current responsibilities plus the additional oversight of key internal areas of the bank, starting July 1.

One of these additional responsibilities will be direct oversight for Dime’s business development strategy and functions in greater Hartford, including management of Dime’s residential and commercial lending teams that serve the area. Statoulas, a resident of Glastonbury, joined Dime in 2018 to oversee the bank’s retail banking. He has spent his 30-year professional career in community banking, holding leadership roles with locally based banks including United Bank and Rockville Bank.

Nick Caplanson, Dime’s president and CEO, said Statoulas has been a key to Dime’s growing presence in greater Hartford. He holds a degree in economics from the University of Connecticut and currently serves on the board of directors at Hockanum Valley Community Council in Vernon, and was formerly a board member at Lyman Allen Art Museum in New London.

People & Places

Ching Gettman has been named president of the DavisStandard Global Services team. With over 20-plus years of industry experience, Ching joins Davis-Standard from Caterpillar, where she served as vice president of product development, aftermarket, and strategy.

Prior to that, she spent 12 years at John Deere, holding various key roles across multiple locations, which provided her with extensive experience and a deep understanding of the aftermarket industry. She also worked as a distributor executive at Cummins Western Canada, where she was responsible for sales, service, rebuild, and parts.

To learn more about Davis-Standard, visit www.davis-standard.com.

The Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce is spotlighting Sharon Dziecinny, an integral part of the Sift Bake Shop in Niantic, as part of its Community Proud series sponsored by CorePlus Credit Union.

Sharon, a Waterford native, embodies the essence of community pride and passion for the area and is known for her warm personality and stellar customer service. To experience Sift Bake Shop, visit the Niantic location seven days a week.

Karen Warfield of Norwich has come out with a new fiction book with historical overtones titled “The Emancipation of Hannah Faythe Winslow: A Woman’s Journey in Colonial America.” The self-published book, available for $20 on amazon.com and at bookbaby.com, tells a local story of an orphaned 12-year-old after the Mohegan-Pequot War of 1637 who is forced to live with a neighboring farmer who is a vile and amoral man. It is only when she throws off the shackles of her Puritan upbringing that she is able to find solace. “A darker side of history than what we all learned in school,” she says on her Facebook page.

Ulysses Hammond, interim executive director of the Connecticut Port Authority, and Kristin Urbach, executive director of the Connecticut Wind Collaborative, will speak during the June 17-18 Reuters Conference called Offshore Wind USA 2024 at the Westin Boston Seaport District.

Hammond will be part of a four-person panel addressing “Scaling up Infrastructure: Next Generation Projects Requirement on Ports.” Urbach will moderate a panel discussion focused on the supply chain for offshore wind energy developers. Urbach’s panel will include Andrew Lavigne, clean economy manager in the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, and David Ortiz, head of government affairs and market strategy-Northeast for Ørsted.

New London Rotary Club members helped with a spring garden cleanup project at the Homeless Hospitality Center for the annual Rotary Day of Service May 18.

Weeding, mulching, raking and general grounds cleanup was in order as the shelter spruces up for the warm weather season and advances its plan to replace all invasive species of plants in its gardens to native species in concert with the Homegrown National Park program. The program’s initial goal is to produce 20 million acres of native plantings in the U.S.

Club President Valerie West was joined by Rotarians Julia Kushigian-Secor, Leeland Cole Chu and Gail B. MacDonald for the Day of Service. Gigi Gonzalez-Cottrell for organizing the event.

On June 5, the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern CT Foundation granted $1,250 scholarships to eight 2024 high school graduates in the region, the largest sum distributed to date through the foundation’s scholarship program.

Louis Ziegler, chair of the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern CT Foundation’s board of directors said the $10,000 in total scholarship funding came from local businesses and donors who support the foundation’s annual Bowl-a-thon fundraiser, held each year at High Rollers Luxury Lanes and Lounge; this year’s event will be July 16. The Foundation also hosts an annual Holiday Gala each December.

The awardees are Gianni Drab of Robert E. Fitch Senior High School, attending Northeastern University; Stephanie Flores Aguilar of New London High School Multi Magnet Campus, attending University of Connecticut; Aeracura Harney of Waterford High School, attending Florida Institute of Technology; Brianna Harris of Robert E. Fitch Senior High School, attending Eastern Connecticut State University, and Grace Peil of Marine Science Magnet High School, attending University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Also, Ivan Rodriguez of New London High School, attending University of Hartford; Alyssa Tomasso of Stonington High School, attending Eastern Connecticut State University, and Sadeya Zakaria of Norwich Free Academy, attending University of Connecticut.

Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, famous for its New Haven-style pizza, will open its new Stamford location Monday, June 17. Ahead of the official opening, the restaurant will host a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:30 am with Frank Pepe’s family members, staff, the Stamford Chamber of Commerce and city officials.

The new restaurant, located in Bull’s Head Shopping Center at 64 High Ridge Road, marks the brand’s 17th location spanning the east coast. Among its restaurants is one at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville. For more information and store locations, visit www.pepespizza.com.

Gov. Ned Lamont this month announced the launch of the new website, CTMakeItHere.com, which will serve as the hub for the next phase of the State of Connecticut’s “Make It Here” campaign.

The website CTMakeItHere.com highlights Connecticut’s maker, creator, innovator, and entrepreneur identity with video content sharing the stories of state residents, business owners, and workers.

Access Community Action Agency has been awarded $200,000 by the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut to reimagine homeownership pathways for families in northeastern Connecticut. This initiative, focused on Windham County, involves partnerships that will provide homeownership counseling services, education, and support.

The Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut is dedicated to funding “systems change” initiatives that aim to end child poverty in the region. As part of this mission, the foundation has announced grants totaling $305,765 over two years to Access and Partnership for Strong Communities.

In collaboration with Habitat for Humanity and the Northeastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, Access is launching the “Accessing Homeownership Education Center.” This center will offer financial literacy workshops and homeownership counseling, and will bring together regional stakeholders from the real estate, mortgage, banking, and housing development sectors.

Learn more by visiting https://accessagency.org/.

The New London Cultural District has launched the Explore New London app, which is intended as a one-stop resource to learn about everything from events, restaurants, shops and worship services to auto mechanics, banks, laundromats and medical services.

“Getting New London on an app is something we’ve wanted for a long time and it’s really exciting to see it come to life,” said New London Cultural District Chair Rich Martin.

Explore New London, available for download in the Apple and Google Play app stores, has a comprehensive listing of businesses divided into categories so users can find whatever they’re looking for in the city. The app also gives businesses the ability to send notifications to customers who ‘like’ or ‘favorite’ their listing, giving business owners a way to communicate specials, sales, and more.

Historic sites such as the Custom House Museum, Hempsted Houses, and the Monte Cristo Cottage, Eugene O’Neill’s childhood home, are featured, as well as the Black Heritage Trail. Cultural District Coordinator Niko Severino and local photographers including Mattias Lundblad helped build the content.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation will receive $360,000 from the Federal Highways Administration in the first round of grants from the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program, dedicated to the construction of wildlife crossings as well as research, planning, and design to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.

Wildlife crossings, including bridges, tunnels, overpasses, underpasses, and culverts, allow animals to cross highways and roads, avoiding the fatal threat of vehicle collisions. Nationally, a 2008 Federal Highway Administration report identified twenty-one threatened and endangered species for which road mortality is among the major threats to the survival of the species.

In Connecticut, funding for the Joint Project to Evaluate & Protect Movement of People & Wildlife Across Connecticut will help develop a statewide plan identifying critical habitat blocks, wildlife corridors, and priority road-segments needing wildlife crossings.

The 21st Latinas & Power Symposium, held on May 30, in Hartford convened over 600 Latinas including speakers, panels, and breakout sessions.

The Latinas & Power Symposium opened with a welcome from board chair Marilyn Cruz-Aponte and Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz. Keynote addresses were delivered by board director and author of “Embrace the Power of You,” Tricia Montalvo Timm and Aida Rodriguez, comedian, actor, and author of “Legitimate Kid.” Sen. Richard Blumenthal was also in attendance.

The symposium also served to acknowledge inspiring Latinas, presenting awards to Nelba Marquez-Greene, Sheila Coon, Maritza Bond, Veronica Y. Maldonado, and Maria I. Rodriguez. For information, go to www.latinasandpower.com.

The Groton Rotary Club’s 10th Annual Golf Tournament, held at Shennecossett Municipal Golf Course in Groton, involved a total of 115 golfers helping raise nearly $15,000 to help support the Groton Rotary Club’s annual Scholar Awards Program for students at Fitch Senior High School, Grasso Technical Regional High School, and the Marine Magnet High School.

Besides scholarships, profits are used for grants to local non-profit community groups. Corporate scholarship sponsors supporting the tournament were R. B. Kent & Son, Inc., Groton Utilities, and Yale NewHaven Health, Lawrence + Memorial Hospital. Corporate sponsors were Brustolon, F.W. Webb Company, the Dog Watch and Ledge Light Electric.

Sponsors of military foursomes were Groton Utilities, Bo Bohannan, Fairview, and Gary Weale. Golf Tournament co-chairs were John Silsby and Rich Kent.

GYL Financial Synergies, with offices in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, has announced the appointment of Joan Garbow as its new director of Aging Life Care Planning.

Garbow is past president of the New England Chapter of the Aging Life Care Association. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and an Advanced Professional Member of the Aging Life Care Association (formerly National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers).

Russ Ellington, former president and owner of National Flood Protection LLC in Norwich, will serve as senior vice president of program management for Floodproofing.com after selling his business to the company.

The announcement came as Floodproofing.com, an international leader in protecting communities and businesses from flooding, announced the acquisition of the local company as well as flood barrier manufacturer Flood Panel, based in Jupiter, Florida. National Flood Protection, established in 2013, has partnered with Floodproofing.com since 2021 as the dedicated national installation partner for its flood mitigation solutions. In addition, National Flood Protection served as the exclusive dealer for Flood Panel.

The company now manufactures and sells both wet and dry flood mitigation products, and provides consultation, design, engineering, installation, post-installation support, and even flood insurance. In addition, Floodproofing.com offers professional education and continuing education credits to a variety of professionals affiliated with the design-build industry.

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.