Venture Capitalist Named New Head of CERC

A private equity and venture capital professional from Wilton is the new president and CEO of the Connecticut Economic Resource Center.

Peter Denious succeeds Robert Santy, who retired in June after 13 years at CERC’s helm.

Denious is a private equity and venture capital professional who most recently worked as senior leader with Aberdeen Standard Investments.

Before that, he was at FLAG Capital Management, where he spent most of his time overseeing investments across the U.S. and abroad while building strong international relationships as the firm pushed into Europe and Asia.

Denious was hired after a search overseen by CERC co-chairs Jim Smith and Indra Nooyi with Don Kendall, the vice chair, and Commissioner David Lehman of the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

CERC Mission

Gov. Ned Lamont has placed added emphasis on CERC during his administration to grow Connecticut’s economy and attract new businesses to the state.

He named Smith, the former chair and CEO of Webster Bank, and former Pepsico chair and CEO Nooyi to the board, then recruited Lehman, a former Goldman Sachs partner, to serve as DECD chair.

In a statement, Lamont said Denious was “well-suited to help CERC redirect and expand its resources to better engage with the business community as well as leverage private sector relationships.”

“I look forward to him hitting the ground running to help market our state overall and implement a new aggressive approach to attracting and retaining businesses in Connecticut,” Lamont said.

Smith and Nooyi said in a joint statement that Denious “has the business development disciplines, finance, and structuring skills, as well as strategic disposition and leadership gravitas to make a meaningful impact on economic growth in Connecticut.”