BRIDGEPORT REGIONAL BUSINESS COUNCIL ANNOUNCES THE RETIREMENT OF CEO AND PRESIDENT PAUL TIMPANELLI

BRIDGEPORT – The Bridgeport Regional Business Council (BRBC) announced today that Paul Timpanelli, who has served for 28 years as President and Chief Executive Officer of the organization, will retire from the position effective September 1, 2016.

Since 1988, Timpanelli has worked to further the mission of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, increasing economic opportunities for residents through business expansion, retention, and recruitment. Under Timpanelli’s leadership, the BRBC - 900 businesses strong and the management entity of the Trumbull, Stratford and Bridgeport Chambers of Commerce - formed highly successful partnerships contributing to the economic growth through jobs expansion in Bridgeport and the region.

The relocation of Housatonic Community College, the redevelopment of the Read’s Department store, $12 million West End Industrial Park, the sports entertainment complex at Harbor Yard, the Eco-Technology Park and Steelpointe Harbor – a mixed-use development comprising residential, restaurant, retail and commercial venues and the newly opened Bass Pro Shops – are among the best-known projects that Timpanelli and the BRBC have helped to make possible.

“I have been exceptionally honored and grateful to have had this rewarding and challenging opportunity to create a regional business association that has had a measurable impact upon building an infrastructure and environment for job growth and economic vitality,” said Timpanelli. “Along the way, I have been influenced by and have developed lasting relationships that I will remember and cherish.”

Timpanelli, who graduated from Trumbull High School and Sacred Heart University, received a master's degree in urban sociology from St. John's University and is a graduate of the Institute for Organizational Management, University of Delaware. He began his career in 1969 as a teacher in Trumbull before serving three terms as Town Clerk and three terms as First Selectman.

He is an active member of the boards of the United Way of Coastal Fairfield County, RYASAP, the Bridgeport Public Education Fund, the Connecticut Employment and Training Commission, the Connecticut Metropolitan Chambers Council, the Barnum Festival, and the Governor’s Transportation Funding Panel. In addition, Timpanelli was selected to serve as the “Ringmaster” of the Barnum Festival, the greater Bridgeport region’s annual salute to and celebration of P.T. Barnum, in 2014.

The BRBC expects to announce the organization’s new President and CEO in late summer. In the meantime, Timpanelli will continue to advise and encourage the work of the BRBC and its partners.

“I very much look forward to what will be the next phase of my life, and it remains my plan and objective to continue to play a role in building a better region, where economic opportunity will positively impact more people,” he said.

“Paul is incredibly well respected by the business community and the community at large,” said Armando Goncalves, People’s United Bank Market President for Southern Connecticut, Westchester and Hudson Valley, N.Y. and Chairman, BRBC Board of Directors. “The BRBC was most fortunate to have had such a sincere gentleman and leader for so many years. He has been, and always will be, a wonderful advocate for our members. We wish Paul all the best in the years to come.”