Small Business Showcase: The Connection

Each month, we profile a Connecticut small business, showcasing the ingenuity and innovation driving the state’s economy. For December, we spoke with Lisa DeMatteis-Lepore, president and CEO of The Connection, based in Middletown.

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When was your company founded?

1972

Who are your customers?

Anyone who is looking to grow and develop their workforce through professional development and business consultation and would like to support a local nonprofit while doing so.

What makes your company unique?

The Connection is a Middletown-based human services organization that operates more than 40 programs around the state of Connecticut to help residents experiencing addiction, poverty, incarceration, homelessness, and mental health challenges. 

The agency also operates the Institute for Innovative Practice, a social enterprise that provides professional development and essential skills training to staff and emerging leaders across the nonprofit and for-profit sectors.

The Institute also offers business consultation to assist organizations in meeting their mission by providing support for initiatives such as strategic planning, tactical projects, and large-scale transformation efforts. 

Revenue raised from the Institute for Innovative practice is used to fill gaps in funding for our programs.

What is a fun fact about your business or its history?

Our business has been unlocking recovery in Connecticut for 50 years.

Why did you choose Connecticut?

Our agency grew out of a grassroots effort to support the community of Middletown, where our main office is still located today.

What is the greatest advantage to operating in Connecticut?

Connecticut is a great place to work and live!

How do you try to give back to your community? 

Our more than 40 community based human services programs support communities across the state.

Where do you see your company in five years? Ten years?

Our goal is to have grown our custom training and consultation business line to become its own stand-alone company that has an identified mission to support The Connection’s programs and services.

What is the main thing policymakers could implement to make your company more competitive?

Fund initiatives that support organizational health for any type of business. 

Change legislation so that nonprofits can carry over surplus funding at the end of each fiscal year.