In brief
The green chamber
A new business organization The Green Chamber of Commerce has launched in Bridgeport.
The company and business group was founded by Bridgeport resident Shante Hanks. Hanks said the group allows businesses to network and aid each other”™s own environmentally friendly initiatives and promote other businesses interested in taking steps to go green.
Hanks is a commissioner of the Bridgeport housing authority and the recovery director and director of constituent services for U.S. Rep. Jim Himes.
The city”™s Mayor Bill Finch has publically promoted the project. Finch is a strong proponent of environmental initiatives and inquiries into the city”™s use of environmentally friendly processes in its infrastructure.
Hanks said she founded the organization because there is no overarching regional organization to show businesses that the transition to green can save money, control operating costs, and have lasting positive effects on the environment.
Annual membership fees for the organization range from $75 for an individual to $450 for a business with 50 or more employees.
The Green Chamber of Commerce will also offer a green certification program that will assess whether a business is taking the 10 steps the group has identified as necessary to the sustainability effort. The company is also offering education and aid to businesses attempting to accomplish the steps.
The Marketing Arm has opened offices in Greenwich.
The Dallas-based promotion and marketing agency The Marketing Arm has brought on Ines Henrich and Kristin Stevens to lead its new Fairfield County office.
The company will be located on 1 East Weaver Street at the corner of Putnam Avenue. The new location is The Marketing Arm”™s ninth location. It also has offices in Hong Kong, London, Chicago, New York City, Charlotte, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Blyth takes majority in ViSalus
Greenwich-based Blyth Inc. has closed on the second phase of its acquisition of ViSalus Sciences. Blyth now owns 57.5 percent of the company.
Blyth, a designer and marketer of home fragrance products, made its initial investment in ViSalus in August 2008. ViSalus is a network marketing company based in Troy, Mich., that sells nutritional supplements and energy drinks through independent sales distributors.
Thorne creates new health company
Greenwich-based Thorne Research, a developer and manufacturer of nutritional supplements, has taken part in a joint venture with medical product and information provider Integrative Health Resources, based in Cincinnati, to create a new company called Health Elements.
The new company will offer wellness care programs and services including management of diet, exercise, nutrition, nutritional supplementation, pharmaceutical and biological products, disease management and wellness counseling. The two companies will share the management of the new venture.
Mercury brings a message
Port Chester, N.Y.-based Mercury Solar Systems is taking an educational initiative to Fairfield County and beyond.
The solar power fixture manufacturer has launched a multistate initiative to educate kids about the benefits of solar energy. The company will make presentations to more than a thousand kids at elementary, middle and high schools throughout Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania over the next several weeks to coordinate with Earth Day, which falls on April 22.
Mercury has worked with dozens of schools on their green initiatives including the Stamford Central School District.
Valentine and AmeriCares team up
Stamford-based AmeriCares has teamed with Bobby Valentine to deliver lifesaving medicines and relief supplies for survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
The former New York Mets manager, Stamford business owner and the city director of public safety, health and welfare lived in Japan for five years when he was managing the Chiba Lotte Marines.
Valentine met with AmeriCares president and CEO, Curt Welling, and helped to raise funds for AmeriCares first emergency airlift for tsunami survivors, which arrived earlier this month carrying more than $525,000 in medicines and supplies for hospitals and evacuation centers in the impact zone. The aid was distributed by Tohoku University Hospital in Sendai through connections Valentine facilitated.
Valentine is also planning a June 18 fundraiser in Stamford to support the relief efforts in Japan.
Sikorsky in Colombia
Shelton-based Sikorsky Aerospace Services has signed an annually renewable contract providing in-country maintenance in support of the Colombian Army”™s Black Hawk helicopter fleet.
Twenty-one Sikorsky-trained technicians will regularly perform phase maintenance inspections and 120-hour inspections at the Aviation Maintenance Base in Tolemaida to help ensure fleet mission readiness.
Colombia has the third-largest fleet of Black Hawk helicopters in the world. David Adler, president of Sikorsky Aerospace Services, said the company will be broadening support to other military markets in Latin America.
Sikorsky Aerospace Services is the aftermarket division of Stratford-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, which is a subsidiary of United Technologies.
Desert Moon tests new Coke machine
Danbury restaurant the Desert Moon is one of the first establishments in the country to test the new Coca-Cola Freestyle machine.
The restaurant, located on Mill Plain Road, is planning on placing the machines in its seven other locations in Fairfield and in Westchester (N.Y.) as soon as the soft drink brand makes them available.
The machine has created buzz through its purported ability to increase sales by 4 percent. The machine is a fountain style dispenser and is touch screen operated, enabling consumers to select from more than 100 regular and low-calorie brands.