Back East Brewing Company is a small Craft brewery located in Bloomfield, Connecticut, founded by alums Tony Karlowicz ’01 MS and Edward Fabrycki, Jr. ’92 (ENG), two cousins with a passion for great-tasting, high-quality beer.

Tony developed his appreciation for Craft beer during his undergraduate years in Vermont and always imagined launching a brewery. Tony is an entrepreneur at heart and a CPA with extensive experience in accounting, auditing, and insurance. He gained a love of building a successful business from the ground up from his parents who owned a candy store in Bloomfield, and he also started a landscaping business while in high school. Edward, originally from Connecticut, began to home-brew while living in San Diego in the early 1990s. He eventually moved “Back East” to Connecticut in 2000, with the dream of someday operating a Craft brewery. As a Professional Engineer, Edward enjoys the technical aspects of brewing. Tony and Edward began homebrewing in early 2006 with a small pilot brewing system in a Southington garage.

With investments from family and friends and an $80,000 small business grant from the state, the company hired an experienced head brewer who had worked at the Harpoon Brewery in Boston and moved into its current location on Blue Hills Avenue in Bloomfield in January 2012. In July 2012 their dream became a reality, in the form of a 4,500-square-foot state-of-the-art brewery capable of producing tens of thousands of gallons of beer a year.

Over time, they have developed several exciting recipes, including the company’s signature beer, Back East Ale, which won 2nd place in the American Amber Ale category at the 2013 Great International Beer Festival. Their Back East Porter also took home awards in both the 2012 and 2013 Great International Beer Festival.

Back East brews several different styles of beer, distributed in draft, six-packs of 12 ounce cans, and 750ml bottles at fine establishments. Their tasting room is open to the public Wednesday through Friday, 4-7:00 p.m., and Saturday noon-4:00 p.m. Tours are offered on Saturdays, beginning at noon, 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00.

The United Way of Naugatuck and Beacon Falls had more to celebrate at its 50th annual meeting than the organization’s golden anniversary.

The United Way exceeded its 2012 campaign goal by $15,000 and raised a total of $440,000, said Laurie Yelding, campaign chairwoman.

The evening’s highest honor — the Mary H. Connolly Community Caring Award — was given to Lee Schlesinger ’82. The Mary H. Connolly Community Caring Award is presented annually to recognize an individual or individuals who have demonstrated outstanding support to the United Way and the entire community and who have set the standard for service to the community.

Schlesinger, a Naugatuck native who now lives in Waterbury, is the associate director for Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury. Twenty years ago, he worked for Naugatuck Valley Savings and Loan. At the time, he was approached by Mary Connolly, who was the executive director of the United Way, about volunteering.

“Mary has that kind of personality where you just do not say no to her,” Schlesinger said. Schlesinger didn’t say no. He served on the United Way’s Board of Directors for two terms. He was treasurer for nine years and a member of the Allocations Committee, which controls the distribution of funds to local service agencies.

Schlesinger’s volunteerism extends beyond the United Way. He served as president of the board of directors of the Morris Foundation, which provided mental health and addiction services and is now part of Wellmore. For the past 12 years, he has been co-chairman of the Finance Committee for the American Cancer Society – Greater Waterbury Relay for Life. Lee has also been an event volunteer for Special Olympics’ Penguin Plunge. He was the recipient of the United Way of Naugatuck & Beacon Falls Van Allen Medal in 2012 and Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence – First 100 Plus – honoring male leaders from across the state who have worked to raise awareness of the availability and access to domestic violence services in Connecticut. He also received the Volunteer Award from Morris Foundation.

“My first and sustained impression of Lee over the years is what an incredibly kind, compassionate and decent soul this is,” said Kevin DelGobbo, who introduced Schlesinger.

Schlesinger thanked Connolly for asking him to volunteer all those years ago and said he was honored to be recognized. “It is such an honor to even be considered for this award among the distinguished previous recipients,” he said.

Stanley Veliotis, Ph.D. ’07

Stan Veliotis is an associate professor at the Fordham University Schools of Business. He received his Ph.D. from UConn’s School of Business in 2007 and then joined Fordham, teaching taxation and accounting. Before entering academia, he worked at law firms on business litigation, corporate and tax matters, and at two of the Big Four accounting firms, KPMG (New York and Paris) and Ernst & Young (New York). With nearly a decade in the Big Four, Stan specialized in the taxation of international employee compensation. His law and CPA licenses, as well as his certified equity professional designation, have remained continuously active. Empirical research areas in which he has published extensively include insider trading, earnings management, and the effect of tax law on taxpayer and market behavior. His policy work includes various inefficiencies of the tax law. His law degrees are from NYU (LLM) and Fordham (JD) and his Bachelors is from Baruch College CUNY.

The Accounting Department’s annual tailgating party on Saturday, October 12th was our biggest and best yet! Over 300 alumni and their families packed the tent from 10:00 until noon prior to the Homecoming football game against the University of South Florida Bulls. As if the great weather and all of this fantastic company wasn’t enough, we also had a rousing visit from the UConn Alumni Marching Band! Keep your eyes peeled next September for our 2014 event!