Calling all entrepreneurs! If you’re building a business and have a bold idea that can spark growth, apply to Ledge Light Launch’s first ever pitch competition sponsored by seCTer.
Join us on Thursday, June 26, 2025, at TOX Brewing Co. in New London, CT, for an exciting Pitch Competition designed to spotlight the region’s most promising businesses. Whether you’re just starting out or already making waves, we want to hear your vision. The winner will receive $7,500, one year membership to the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, as well as, other prizes to be announced.
What’s the Opportunity?
The top six applicants will be invited to take the stage and pitch their business idea in front of a live audience and expert panel. Each finalist will have six minutes to present a project that clearly demonstrates how it will drive growth for their business. Think new products, expansions, marketing campaigns, tech upgrades—anything that helps take your venture to the next level.
This is more than a competition. It’s a platform to gain visibility, connect with local leaders, and get feedback that could shape your next big move.
How to Apply
Applications are open now and will be accepted until June 16, 2025. Businesses of all stages and sizes are encouraged to apply—from idea-stage startups to seasoned operations.
Be sure your pitch aligns with the scoring rubric to maximize your chances of being selected!
Have questions? Reach out to kferrero@secter.org for more info.
Tips for a Great Pitch
- Keep your slide deck tight—aim for around six minutes.
- Focus on the impact your project will have.
- Tell a compelling story—what problem are you solving, and why now?
- Practice with someone who’ll give you honest feedback.
Judges
Catherine Young
As Airport Manager for nearly 18 years with the Connecticut Department of Transportation at Groton-New London Airport, Catherine Young was then appointed the first Business Developer for the Connecticut Airport Authority’s five General Aviation (GA) airports. Catherine retired from state service in 2022.
The National Academies of Sciences, Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), which is sponsored by the FAA, appointed Young as ACRP New England Region Ambassador in 2023. She also participates on ACRP project panels to provide overall counsel and technical guidance.
Catherine is a member of the World Affairs Council of Connecticut, the New England Air Museum BOD and the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region BOD. While a corporator for Chelsea Groton Bank, she also serves on the bank foundation board.
From 2013–2020, she volunteered on the Town of Groton Economic Development Commission and was elected to Chair the Commission for its one year rotation.
Ms. Young earned her BA from Connecticut College, and MS with Phi Kappa Phi Honors from the University of Bridgeport. She grew up in Uniondale on Long Island in New York.
Kevin Zhang
Kevin Zhang’s dynamic background in sales, marketing, and business management has shaped a 20+ year career focused on honing his expertise and delivering measurable, impactful results. He currently serves as Community Manager for the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, where he manages the daily operations of the Chamber’s Regional Innovation Center and its flagship program, the Entrepreneur Academy. He also works closely with the City of New London to support economic development efforts that drive growth and innovation in the region.
Kevin’s diverse experience includes managing the operations of a Rhode Island-based law firm, leading marketing campaigns for a Germany-based metrology technology company, and authoring a guidebook on model building while running international marketing efforts as an entrepreneur. Earlier in his career, he also managed a substantial client portfolio at Mohegan Sun Casino as a Relationship Marketing Executive. His expertise spans business development, digital marketing, and strategic relationship management.
Tom Gerson
Tom Gerson has over forty years of corporate finance, business strategy, and operations experience both with large, global firms such as Celanese, Allied-Signal, Sterling Drug, and Sanofi Pharmaceuticals earlier in his career, and subsequently as CFO & VP of Business Operations of two Connecticut-based privately-held, venture capital-backed emerging life sciences companies spun out of Yale University and then a diagnostics company with commercial operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He has raised over $100MM of Venture Capital / Strategic Partner Funding across these three life science start-ups. More recently Tom was a Startup Advisor with the State of Connecticut’s CTNext economic development program as well as serving as an EIR with UConn’s Technology Incubation Program (TIP). In these roles Tom worked with upwards of 100 clients in advising and supporting such early-stage life science, technology-based companies, often with a focus on their fund-raising initiatives.
Tom currently serves as a Board Member of TECHCONN, a not-for profit organization which assists, and provides seed investments for both science and technology startups in Connecticut.
Wendy Vincent
Wendy Vincent is the Executive Director of the Cultural Coalition, bringing a broad background in entrepreneurship, business development, marketing, communications, and nonprofit leadership. A published author, editor, and owner of both a publishing company and an independent bookstore in New London, she is deeply rooted in the region’s creative economy.
Previously, she served as the Eastern Connecticut Program Director for the Women’s Business Development Council (WBDC), where she managed educational and grant programs supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses. She has also held roles in corporate marketing, business development, and product management.
Wendy holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Hartford and an M.A. in Liberal Studies from Albertus Magnus, with ongoing MPhil studies in Humanities and Writing at Wesleyan University. Passionate about supporting creative and small businesses and advocating for the arts, she also enjoys reading, gardening, herbalism, travel, and collecting art.
Maria Hanna
President / CEO Survival Systems USA
🗓️ Deadline to apply: June 16, 2025
📍 Pitch Night: June 26, 2025 @ TOX Brewery, New London, CT
📬 Questions? Contact: kferrero@secter.org
seCTer has added capacity to its team with the hiring of Kaitlin Ferrero as an Economic Development Specialist.
Kaitlin is a seasoned economic development and data analyst professional proficient in Python coding, a programming language software. She will apply her data analysis expertise to help municipal leaders better understand commuting patterns, recreational hotspots, and available capital for their local businesses.
Kaitlin also brings a wealth of knowledge in the area of state resources for the business community, having previously worked for CT Next.
A lifelong CT resident, she is eager to help entrepreneurs bring their dreams to fruition and to help existing businesses grow.
To skip to the head of the line when seeking Kaitlin’s expertise, mention that you love Chihuahuas!
Member towns and cities now have a new data analytics tool at their disposal for free as a benefit of their membership in seCTer.
Executive Director Paul Whitescarver has contracted with Placer.AI, described as “a market intelligence platform,” providing location analytics, visit trends, trade areas, demographics, crime, planned development, and traffic counts through cell phone use and location.
“You can see shopping patterns, get a heat map to see where people are travelling from – just about any kind of demographic data you’re looking for,” Paul said.
Placer.AI launched its mobile analytics platform in 2018 and now has a portfolio of more than 4,000 customers, ranging from commercial real estate and retail to grocery stores, restaurants, shopping centers, CPG, and civic organizations.
“With location analytics including visit trends, trade areas, and demographics as our foundation, we’re just getting started,” according to a Placer.AI statement. “We empower private and public organizations to make better decisions by helping them understand what’s really happening in the physical world.”
“This is an added value for our municipalities,” Paul said. “We will make this available to municipal members and provide it to businesses through a fee structure. We’ve begun using Placer.AI in the office, and the breadth and depth of the data is amazing.”
For more information, contact our office or visit Placer.AI
Organizations and businesses working on economic development projects in eastern Connecticut are urged to include their plans in a survey of such projects in support of seCTer’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy, or CEDS.
As the federally designated Economic development agency for the region, seCTer produces an updated CEDS every five years.
The CEDS Project Survey is intended to help municipal leaders and the business community identify important economic development projects throughout the region. The survey will be open until June 30.
This survey will help us create a database of projects and allow us to help you identify other local, state, or federal resources in support of the undertaking. Inclusion in the database also signals to funding sources that the effort is aligned with the CEDS and will contribute to the goals outlined by the CEDS. This database also creates a historical record of the region’s projects for every five-year update of the CEDS.
What kind of projects can be submitted?
Projects can be submitted by for-profit and non-profit organizations, as well as municipalities and can include the following:
- Infrastructure improvements
- Community facility creation or improvements
- Programming – community, workforce initiatives, or summer camps
- Business development projects intended to generate wealth and import dollars to the region
- Previously submitted projects and updates
Submissions can be provided at any stage of the project, from planning through completion. To add your project to the CEDS Project Survey, go to https://www.secter.org/regional-economic-development-projects-2025
seCTer’s work across the 20 towns it serves earned it the Greater Norwich Area Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Regional Partnership Award’ in March.
This was the first year for this particular award, created to honor “a business, organization, or individual who has made a significant impact across multiple townships in the area through collaboration and partnerships,” according to Angela Adams, Executive Director of the Chamber.
“Our award recipients exemplify the dedication, hard work, and community spirit that make our region thrive. Their contributions to local businesses and residents are invaluable, and we are honored to recognize their impact,” Adams said in a statement.
“It’s an honor to be selected for this award as an acknowledgment of the quiet, behind-the-scenes work of the seCTer staff in helping our region’s entrepreneurs realize their dreams,” said seCTer Executive Director Paul Whitescarver.
seCTer Executive Director accepted the award on behalf of the staff during the Chamber’s Annual Dinner and Awards Gala at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center.
Other award winners were:
Business of the Year – The Matera family of Surplus Unlimited, Surplus Office Furniture, and Willow Tree Plazas
Chamber Service Award – Brandon Hyde of Hyde Park Landscape, Inc.
Non-Profit of the Year – Norwich Area Veterans Council.
Today, Governor Lamont announced the launch of the Connecticut Wind Collaborative with assistance from seCTer. Read the press release here.
The creation of the Wind Collaborative was first announced last October as part of Connecticut’s Offshore Wind Strategic Roadmap, which calls for the new nonprofit to work collaboratively with business, industry, academia, across state agencies and alongside stakeholders in neighboring states to advance the regional supply chain and workforce necessary to meet the growing demand for this green, sustainable, domestic energy supply.
Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region (seCTer) is seeking proposals for a marketing and strategy blueprint / prospectus to encourage investment in southeastern Connecticut using existing programs such as, but not limited to, Opportunity Zones, Enterprise Zones, and New Market Tax Credits. This project will promote and achieve greater regional competitiveness and economic resilience.
Economic Development in Southeastern CT
seCTer’s Executive Director, Paul Whitescarver, chats with Lee Elci about the region’s CEDS, seCTer’s business development programs, workforce, housing, and more.
For immediate release
June 27, 2023
Media contact: David Tranchida
Quinn and Hary Public Relations/Marketing
Office — 860-444-0448
Cell — 401-741-9192
GROTON – Four area businesses are launching expansion projects after securing grants from the Southeastern CT Enterprise Region (seCTer) through its seCTerRise program.
seCTer, the region’s federally designated economic development agency, provided a total of $77,290 to owners of the four small businesses.
Tox Brewing Company will use its grant to help offset some of the cost of its move from Broad Street in New London to a larger space on Bank Street. Funds also will be used to purchase equipment and machinery for the community space that will be part of the expanded operation.
860Kombucha, a family-owned kombucha brewery and store in Mystic, will purchase additional brite tanks for brewing. The additional production capacity will allow owners David, Ashley and Michael to expand their distribution capabilities locally and around the state.
Healthy PlanEat, an online farmers market that represents more than 30 Connecticut farms and allows delivery and pick-up of locally sourced products, will use the grant to expand and improve its e-commerce platform. Plans call for improved functionality for customers and a more efficient interface for farmers to manage inventory and orders. Owner Rosemary Ostfeld also plans to develop an app for Healthy PlanEat.
Myrcene Ale Company co-owners Mike Goergen and Cy Higgins will use the grant to purchase a canning machine and brite tanks, which will allow for increased production and wider distribution from their Old Saybrook brewery and taproom.
seCTerRise is a competitive grant program funded through the state Department of Economic and Community Development, and designed to help small businesses grow. Grants are awarded based on projects that will have a measurable impact on the business, its growth and profitability.
Businesses may apply for a grant of up to $20,000, and 50% of seCTerRise awards will be made to businesses that are minority, veteran, or women-owned. Businesses located in a distressed municipality are also priority recipients for consideration.
seCTer is bringing the two leading healthcare providers in the state and 28 other regional health agencies together to address common challenges and develop strategies to strengthen the industry as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Eastern Connecticut Healthcare Regional Sector Partnership got underway at the start of the year when more than 30 healthcare executives participated in the inaugural meeting at Backus Hospital in January. The initial mission was to identify critical priorities affecting all members and begin to formulate strategies to grow the healthcare sector.
Partnership members agreed on the following priorities to improve care for the communities they serve:
- Attracting more people to healthcare careers
- Improving the quality, quantity, and accessibility of training programs
- Improving the quality of life for employees
- Using the collective voice of the partnership to promote policies that benefit patients
- Addressing the costs of labor and services provided
This Regional Sector Partnership is part of an industry-led collaborative established by The Governor’s Workforce Council to align stakeholders in key industries throughout Connecticut. The Regional Sector Partnership is set to receive additional funding from a recently announced federal grant award received by Connecticut’s Office of Workforce Strategy.
Spanning the continuum of care, this effort is led by industry, with co-chairs including Donna Handley, Senior Vice President and President East Region of Hartford HealthCare; Patrick Greene, President and CEO of Lawrence & Memorial Hospital; and Lisa Ryan, Administrator of Matulaitis Nursing Home. Other co-chairs include industry leaders Jane Downing, owner of Home Instead; United Services executives Diane Manning, President/CEO, and Emily Morrison, Director of Development; and Pam Kinder, Vice President of Business Development of United Community and Family Services.
The vision of the partnership is to be an accessible forum for Eastern Connecticut healthcare employers to work together to achieve their shared priorities. The partners seek to tailor education, workforce, and economic resources to the needs of employers.
Healthcare employers seeking to join the partnership should contact Paul Whitescarver, Executive Director of the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region and Patricia Meyer, Director, Workforce Development & Continuing Education at Quinebaug Valley Community College at pwhitescarver@secter.org and PMeyer@qvcc.commnet.edu respectively.