Around Town

New Canaan Chamber of Commerce Adds Eight Directors

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The New Canaan Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the addition of eight new members to its Board of Directors as well the creation of a new, dedicated board composed of past chamber presidents that will help oversee the organization’s charitable foundation. Nimble, engaged and innovative, the new chamber directors form an exciting group of business and organization leaders in town, according to Tucker Murphy, executive director of the chamber. “Our mission is ‘connecting community with commerce,’ and we kept those four words very much top of mind in putting together this board,” Murphy said. “Our new directors not only represent successful local businesses stories—they’re also deeply involved in our town. Beyond participating in chamber events such as the Sidewalk Sales, Holiday Stroll and Taste of the Town, they actively fundraise for community agencies, volunteer with service organizations and connect with each other for their mutual benefit.”

The newly appointed directors each have started serving a 3-year term, and they are:

David E. Hoyle Esq.—Hawthorne, Ackerly & Dorrance
Lisa Oldham—New Canaan Library
Mamoune Tazi—Le Boudoir
Anna Simons—New Canaan Pediatric Dentistry
Michael Dinan—NewCanaanite.com
Ben & Elaine Young—New Canaan Dance Academy
Sara Koch—Oxygen Fitness
Kinsey Ferguson—Vineyard Vines

Helping to acclimate them are three current directors who now form a new executive committee for the chamber: Steve Risbridger of Reynolds & Rowella is president, Tom Stadler of the Town of New Canaan First Selectman’s Office is treasurer and HamletHub’s Rachel Lampen is secretary.

Business

‘Big Shoes To Fill’: New Balance New Canaan Owner Ron Rosenfeld To Retire

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Here’s a statistic that Ron Rosenfeld rolls out as knowingly and assured as he could recommend the exact right New Balance model running shoe for you: There are 500 families in New Canaan with special needs kids. He knows that because, in the 10 years he’s owned and operated New Balance New Canaan on Main Street with his wife, Tina, Rosenfeld has gone out of his way to serve those families and earned their love and trust as a result.

At one point early on with the store, Rosenfeld said he noticed that many of his customers, moms, would buy shoes for their kids, leave and then come back. “I would say, ‘Why don’t you bring your kid in?’ ” the Ridgefield resident recalled Wednesday morning from a narrow corridor behind the sales floor that serves as his office. “And they would say, ‘He’s a special needs kid and he can be disruptive and a lot of retailers don’t want them in the store.’ And I said ‘that’s not us. You bring them in and if I have to make special appointments, I’ll do that.