These ‘Car Guys’ Aren’t Slowing Down!

Alumnus Scott Drozd and business partner Nick Bauer pose for a photo at the headquarters of their highly successful FCP Euro auto parts company in Milford. (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)
Alumnus Scott Drozd and business partner Nick Bauer pose for a photo at the headquarters of their highly successful FCP Euro auto parts company in Milford. (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)

Outstanding Customer-Service Strategy Helped Create $30 Million Business

How do you take a small, mom-and-pop car parts business and turn it into a $30 million, online retail blockbuster?

The secret, according to FCP Euro owners Scott Drozd ’03 (CLAS) and Nick Bauer, is that you always, always, always put the customer first, and never stop growing, developing and expanding your business. Continue Reading

Donations to The Diaper Bank in North Haven Reach Record-Breaking Number

News Times– There are going to be a lot of dry baby bottoms around thanks to a record-breaking number of donated diapers.

Connex Credit Union donated 82,919 diapers — almost double the amount from last year— Thursday to The Diaper Bank, a local nonprofit that seeks to prevent the risk of health and parenting complications caused by limited access to diapers.

Innovate Sponsors Splunk User Group Presentation

In conjunction with Connecticut’s Splunk User Group, OPIM Innovate’s own Tyler Lauretti was able to create a functioning Fitbit add on for Splunk. Working on this side project he was able to add data from Fitbits and import it into the Splunk platform to get more detailed information on a user’s health. Splunk is a big data platform that specializes in taking machine data from different types of computing systems.

Read article

Family-owned Businesses Honored at Annual Awards Ceremony

Westfair Online– “There’s something about growing up in a family-owned business that sets you apart,” said Kate Hampford Donahue, president and CEO of Hampford Research Inc. “I certainly didn’t realize it at the time, but it’s only now that I really appreciate what that experience really gave me.”

Upward Hartford Sponsors Hackathon

February 28, 2018

This year the University of Connecticut was invited to participate in Hackathon, an event hosted by Upward Hartford. Upward Hartford is a new innovation / co-working space located in downtown Hartford open to entrepreneurs looking for a place to create new ideas and other innovative projects.

Read article