Professional Services
Dr. Bryan Barry
2821 Old Dixwell Ave.
Hamden, CT
(203) 288-2821
www.drbryanbarry.com
Dr. Bryan W. Barry is a very busy man. Not only does he run a busy acupuncture and chiropractic practice in Hamden, he also teaches at Briarwood College and Gateway Community College-keeping his skills fresh and instilling in others a passion for holistic healthcare.
"I love what I do," says Barry, "I don't feel like it's work. I feel like it's a privilege to help people." Barry has first-hand experience with the help that acupuncture can offer. After a car accident left him with a limp in his right leg, he sought the help of an acupuncturist. This limp is gone, and his confidence in what he does continues to grow.
2nd: Lydia Dixon
319 Peck St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 787-5620
The Amadeus Center
245 Bradley Ave.
New Haven, CT
(203) 787-0869
www.amadeuscenter.com
Back: Trini Moldavsky, Cathy Sansone, Remy Amadeo, Joie Papagoda; Sitting: Sal Amadeo
Sal and Remy Amadeo aren't just the married couple and co-owners of Amadeus, they firmly believe that there is a natural approach to healthy healing.
"Modern medicine is only 100 years old. Therefore, it grew up in the industrial era. Medicine's way of thinking is industrial," says Sal Amadeo. "Chemicals are used in the industry, because companies can profit off of the medicines created. It's seen more as an attack on the disease or sickness one is trying to cure."
Sal believes strongly in natural healing, as do his workers, all of whom are trained in healing the body with massage and accupuncture. Currently, Amadeus offers acupuncture and herbal medicine treatments, as well as acupuncture facelifts with massages, organic facials, massage facials and accupuncture facelifts.
"Our main tenets are to cultivate peace, encourage growth and mediate harmony," says Sal. "It's a natural way to cure stress- the number one cause for most diseases."
His wife, Remy, says that customers come from all over the country for healing treatments.
"People should really come to us first. We can prevent a lot of serious problems, especially when it comes to muscular-skeletal problems and blood pressure," says Remy.
Some of the employees include Joie Papagoda, a massage therapist and receptionist, as well as Trini Moldavsky, a medical massage therapist and Reiki master who also specializes in theraputic massage. Remy is also a massage therapist herself.
The owners say their passion for natural healing keeps their customers coming back.
2nd: Whole Health
3011 Whitney Ave.
Hamden, CT
(203) 288-8283
www.wholehealthct.com
3rd: Revive Wellness
867 Whalley Ave.
New Haven, CT
(203) 387-1540
www.revivewellnesscenter.com
Nicholas Nesi
591 Thompson Ave.
East Haven, CT
(203) 469-5333
Nicholas Nesi
Nicholas Nesi's law practice has grown in popularity by word-of-mouth, he says. Nesi believes his clients like him because he's always at the office, he's friendly and he does his best to return all his clients' phone calls. "I like my clients; I don't mind coming in to work," says Nesi. Court cases can drag out from six months to three years in some cases. The court system, says Nesi, "is like a deli--you take a number and you wait. You have to be patient." That's why it's important to Nesi to keep his clients up-to-date and involved in what's going on with their case.
Nesi specializes in personal injury, focusing on car accidents.
2nd: Jay Hershman, Baillie Hall & Hershman P.C.
290 Highland Ave.
Cheshire, CT
(203) 272-7000
www.bhhlegal.com
3rd: Pat DeMaio, Jr.
175 Montowese St.
Branford, CT
(203) 481-1919
People's Bank
265 Church St # 101
New Haven, CT
(203) 785-9119
www.peoples.com
and other locations throughout Connecticut
,
Joel Mastroianni, Jennifer Embriano
With over 160 branches in this state alone, People's Vice President and Customer Service Manager Jennifer Embriano says it's important to maintain "consistency in customer service. We try to create a welcoming environment."
Vice President and Market Manager Joel Mastroianni adds that People's is "convenient to everybody." He points to the numerous branches located in Super Stop & Shops. "They're full service branches," he says. "Everything from loans to investments can be done." And those supermarket branches are open seven days a week. Most banks are not.
Embriano and Mastroianni explain that the ubiquitous People's is in the process of becoming even more accessible, by updating their online services and making online banking more secure. The project for the early summer, Embriano says, is to make online bill-paying easier. That's part of an across-the-board, consistent push for convenience. "Out-of-state ATM fees are refunded," says Mastrioianni. "That really has hit home with folks who want a local bank but travel out of state."
"It's about fitting your needs," Embriano says, and creating "a variety of ways to avoid fees."
2nd: Webster Bank
80 Elm St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 782-4588
www.websteronline.com
and other locations throughout Connecticut
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3rd: Bank of America
157 Church St.
New Haven, CT
(800) 432-1000
www.bankofamerica.com
and other locations throughout Connecticut
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Carpenos Chiropractic Center
666 Campbell Ave.
West Haven, CT
(203) 934-6066
www.drcarpenos.com
Dr. & Sharon Carpenos, Laci, Emma and Joshua
A regular winner in this category for many years, Richard Carpenos looks forward to any opportunity to champion chiropractic as "preventative, wellness therapy" which is "distinct from all other healthcare models. There's magic that happens in the office." That magic comes from caring chiropractors--there are three at the Carpenos Chiropractic Center--as well as from fancy machines and programs like the DRX 9000 (for spinal decompression) and Total Body Vibration (which, in doses of 10 minutes two or three times a week, "helps people to lose weight and uplift their moods," Carpenos claims) and "other services unique in healthcare."
2nd: Dr. Eileen Denny, Denny Chiropractic
2842 Old Dixwell Ave., Ste. F
Hamden, CT
(203) 407-8468
3rd: Katey Cofrancesco, Creative Body Therapies
1079 Whalley Ave.
New Haven, CT
(203) 387-5015
www.creativebodytherapies.com
Merry Maids
11 Sycamore Way, Unit 103
Branford, CT
(203) 488-5977
www.merrymaids.com
Larry Twain
Larry Twain knows that most people don't enjoy cleaning. But he knows they come to his Merry Maids cleaning service because it's safe and thorough.
"We're offering more value and we have full-time supervisors checking all first-time cleaners," said Twain.
Merry Maids is owned by Servicemaster. There are 1,600 worldwide setups, and Twain's branch cleans about 600 houses a week. Twain says that 95 percent of their clientel is residential.
"Everybody works and some people just don't have time to clean their place," says Twain.
With high security the obvious necessity, Twain says that all employees are checked by the Department of Homeland Security and are legally able to work in the United States.
"We do everything we can for our employees," says Twain. "We want our customers to feel safe with a regular cleaner. If our employees are happy, then our customers are happy and then we're happy."
With free extra services such as refrigerator cleaning and in-home estimates, Merry Maids proves that good business can also mean good housekeeping.
2nd: Sparkleen
31 Leatherman Tr.
Hamden, CT
(203) 248-4334
3rd: MaidPro
854 S. Colony Rd.
Wallingford, CT
(203) 265-7255
www.maidpro.com
Dr. Summer Lerch, Center for Esthetic Dentistry LLC
2 Church St. S. #311
New Haven, CT
(203) 624-5256
www.theartofsmiles.com
"I wanted to be an artist, I wanted to help people and I wanted to be in the medical field."
Those early aspirations of Dr. Summer Lerch eventually all came true. After 10 years of schooling and two years of working as a partner, Lerch opened her own practice in 1984 "for the freedom."
And with each year she's been open (and with each Best Of win), Lerch has been at the forefront of dental procedures and "smile design"; applying those early aspirations and talents into every aspect of her dentistry.
Lerch specializes in everything from routine cleanings and fillings, to three methods of teeth whitening (all of which she has tested on her own teeth), instant orthodontics, Invisi-Line and referals for orthodontic procedures, crowns, bridges and vaneers, and plastic surgery of the gums.
An accredited member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (the fourth woman in the world to recieve that honor), Lerch and her staff are there for all your dental needs.
"We are dedicated to giving people the smile they desire," she says.
2nd: Dr. Jack Levine
375 Orange St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 624-7571
3rd: Sunshine Dental
198 Hempstead St. #1
New London, CT
(860) 447-0338
Kaiser Whitney Staffing
59 Elm St. #520
New Haven, CT
(203) 562-0511
www.kaiserwhitney.com
Kristen Sullivan, Elaine Kaiser
In business since 1976, Kaiser Whitney is now in its second generation of family ownership. Run by a brother-sister team, Kaiser Whitney prides itself on matching the right person to the right job. This means knowing the goals and skills of the applicant, and understanding the needs of a company that's hiring.
What's their advice for job seekers? "It's good to be a generalist and know a lot of different things, but for every employer it's probably good to have a specialty too," says Elaine Kaiser.
2nd: Drew Professional Recruiters, Inc.
15 Pepperidge Cir.
Stratford, CT
(203) 377-7566
www.drewrecruiters.com
3rd: Adecco
200 Boston Post Rd.
Orange, CT
(203) 891-0661
www.adecco.com
200 Boston Post Rd.
Orange, CT
(203) 891-0661
Dr. Larry Spector
1044 Chapel St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 787-7111
Dr. Larry Spector
Dr. Larry Spector has been an eye doctor in New Haven so long that he doesn't need caller ID. "I've seen people for so long that nine times out of ten when the phone rings and they say, 'Hello, Dr. Spector', I can respond with their name," says the doctor. He has treated three generations of families and has a personal relationship with his clients.
The technologically averse optician says he hates going to a store or a doctor's office when their computer is down: "They don't know me; they don't know anything about me and they can't do anything to help," he says. Without caller ID and without a computer in the office, Dr. Spector would never do that to his clients.
2nd: Dr. Mark Milner
2880 Old Dixwell Ave.
Hamden, CT
(203) 248-6365
3rd: Dr. Peter Haffner
295 Washington Ave.
Hamden, CT
(203) 288-8400
North Haven Funeral Home
36 Washington Ave.
North Haven, CT
(203) 239-1179
www.northhavenfuneral.com
Brian Havens
Some businesses, funeral homes in particular, deserve recognition just for willfully dealing with the passing of a loved one. North Haven Funeral Home has found itself voted the best in the area for two years, with over 50 years experience behind that. They'll readily admit what an untimely profession theirs is, but are still always on call and eager to go above and beyond the basic funeral needs.
Since recent renovations that added almost 10,000 square feet to the facility, North Haven Funeral Home has been able to offer intimate settings for small services while still having the capabilities for much larger ones. They've also been able to improve upon the practice of displaying pictures and collages of the deceased by installing a discreet DVD projection system for photo slideshows, and it's been very well-received by the clientele.
North Haven Funeral Home is and will continue to be a family business, treating an important task with the utmost honor.
2nd: Porto Funeral Home
234 Foxon Road
East Haven, CT
(203) 467-3000
www.usafuneralhomes.com
3rd: Iovanne Funeral Home
11 Wooster Pl.
New Haven, CT
(203) 865-8961
www.iovanne.com
Yale-New Haven Hospital
20 York St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 688-4242
www.Ynhh.org
Linda Coleman
Linda Coleman has worked for 25 years at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Currently she is a receptionist in radiation therapy and says Yale's research saved her sister and her husband's life. She also believes the hospital's innovation drastically improved her mother's life. Although her mother passed away in August, her mother was the fifth person in the country to have a pump put in her back. Due to hip displasia and infections, her mother had 30 surgeries before the pump was finally installed. "We had been taking care of her around the clock," says her daughter. The pump allowed her to get out of bed and live a fuller and longer life than she probably would have otherwise. "There have been too many miracles at Yale to name," says Coleman.
2nd: Hospital of St. Raphael
1450 Chapel St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 789-3000
www.srhs.org
3rd: Milford Hospital
300 Seaside Ave.
Milford, CT
(203) 876-4000
www.milfordhospital.org
Holiday Pet Lodge
1065 West Dayton Hill Rd.
Wallingford, CT
(203) 269-4222
Sandy Carroll
Anybody with partial vision and a pulse can watch over your pet and call themselves a "kennel". But very few get the deserved acclaim that Sandy Carroll and Holiday Pet Lodge have received.
Located on 10 acres of ample running room, Carroll and her staff of animal devotees provide the typical care your pet needs as well as the "above and beyond" requests of each of the 200 possible residents. The care that makes them award winning is not always obvious.
"We care for the animals first and foremost," states Carroll. "But we also know the bond between a person and their pet."
Knowing that pet/owner union and working with it for the greatest benefit of the pet (and owner) lets Holiday Pet Lodge give an extra amount of care for their four and two-legged clientle.
2nd: Best Friends Pet Care
227 Cheshire Rd.
Bethany, CT
(203) 393-3126
www.bestfriendspetcare.com
3rd: Bethway Kennels
84 Bethway Road
Bethany, CT
(203) 393-2826
Yale University
433 Temple St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 432-8311
www.yale.edu
Back: Ricardo Sandoval, Shana Schneider; Front: Michael Morand, Reggie Solomon
Yale University is not only ranked as the third best university in the country by US News and World Report, but the Advocate's discerning readers voted Yale the Best Local Four-year College yet again. The crew from Yale's Office of New Haven and State Affairs--who work to improve the city through "economic development, strong neighborhoods with more homeownership and improved public education, and a vital downtown"--return the love. Many are Yale grads who made their homes in New Haven. "Yale helps make New Haven a great place to live, and New Haven helps make Yale a great place to go to school," says office head, Michael Morand, himself a graduate of Yale College and Yale Divinity School.
2nd: Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 392-5200
www.southernct.edu
3rd: Quinnipiac University
275 Mount Carmel Ave.
Hamden, CT
(203) 582-8200
www.quinnipiac.edu
Paier College of Art
20 Gorham Ave.
Hamden, CT
(203) 287-3031
www.paiercollegeofart.edu
Daniel Paier
Daniel Paier's parents began the Paier College of Art in 1946 and in 1982 the school became fully accredited. Jonathan Paier, Daniel's brother, is the school's president and Daniel is the vice president. Daniel does all the admission interviews and says what he's looking for is dedication and sincerity. The school is very small and he wants to make sure his students are there for the right reasons. "I want to know they are truly interested in making art into a career," he says. In keeping with the times, the school has added some new classes in graphic design, marking a shift toward multimedia. "I like the immediacy of it," says Daniel. "It's interactive and if you spot a mistake, you can correct it right away instead of having to wait."
2nd: Gateway Community College
60 Sargent Dr.
New Haven, CT
(203) 285-2000
www.gwcc.commnet.edu
3rd: Eli Whitney Regional Vocational Technical School
71 Jones Rd.
Hamden, CT
(203) 397-4031
www.cttech.org
Women's Health Associates
46 Prince St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 624-9072
337 Notch Hill Road
North Branford, CT
(203) 483-1119
Debbie Cibelli CNM
Debbie Cibelli and Linda Lisk worked for over 20 years with a respected, beloved inner-city doctor, Marshall Holley, delivering literally thousands of babies. When Dr. Holley retired in 2002, Cibelli and Lisk joined another practice, but the fit wasn't right. For one thing, Cibelli said, "we'd always had a real dedication to the inner-city population of New Haven."
So, with the encouragement of clients and colleagues, they began their own practice at the end of 2004. "It's not the norm for midwives to own their own practice," Cibelli says, despite the fact that "Yale has a midwifery school. Our biggest battle was the insurance companies. Now we're on all the programs."
Business has "been going really well. We're expanding, including some patients from Fairfield County. Because of the size of our practice"--just Cibelli, Lisk, and a couple of secretaries/medical assistants--"we're very accessible. One of the things that attracts people to us is that it's just the two of us." When you make an appointment, you know who's going to see you.
There's also the experience thing. "We've been in practice"--their own and others'--"so long that we're attending births from mothers whose own births we attended. Everybody knows how we practice." She does, however, mention "the two biggest misconceptions about midwifes--that they only do homebirths"--Cibelli and Lisk only do hospital births--"and that they only take care of pregnant women. These days, we do more GYN than OB."
And every birth is special. "Most women only do this two or three times in their life. It's a big deal! We make it as positive an experience as it can be."
2nd: Greater New Haven OB/GYN Group
2447 Whitney Ave.
Hamden, CT
(203) 248-5067
www.greaternewhavenobgyn.com
46 Prince St., Suite 207
New Haven, CT
(203) 787-2264
3rd: Obstetrics-Gynecology & Infertility
136 Sherman Ave. #502
New Haven, CT
(203) 562-5181
www.ob-gyn-infertility.com
420 E. Main St.
Branford, CT
(203) 481-7018
John Coppola, Century 21
263 Center St.
West Haven, CT
(203) 931-4663
www.callcentury21today.com
John Coppola
Lots of realtors would probably say they "eat, breathe and sleep real estate," but you get the sense from John Coppola that he means it. It's not just the client phone calls he fields at 4:30 a.m. ("It's not an interruption, it's what we do," he says. It's the earnestness he projects when talking about first-time homeowners. "They are the most loyal, the most excited and the feeling you get is just incredible."
Coppola's been in the real estate biz for 22 years and now runs a Century 21 office with 42 employees. He started when he was 22 years old, and working as a full-time fireman. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1996 but never lost the passion for selling homes. He says what makes him the best is that he really listens. "Too many realtors would like to get the client in something they don't want," he says. "I can usually show a client four to six houses and match them with a house. It's customer service."
Coppola's job has been helped by New Haven's recent renaissance, he says. "New Haven basically has everything you'd like to offer." When not selling homes, Coppola loves to cook. What in particular? "Anything. That's how I relax at the end of a day."
2nd: Betsy Purtell, Coldwell Banker
402 Highland Ave.
Cheshire, CT
(203) 248-9224
www.coldwellbankerselectsites.com
3rd: Betsy Grauer, Betsy Grauer Realty
197 Bradley St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 787-3434
www.betsygrauerrealty.com
New Haven Central Hospital for Veterinary Medicine
843 State St.
New Haven, CT
(203) 865-0878
www.centralpetvet.com
The whole prairie mentality with animals is long, long gone in most parts. When Old Yeller gets sick, we definitely don't take him out behind the barn. We take him to a hospital and give him state-of-the-art medical care. As Ken Aldrich, director at New Haven Central Hospital for Veterinary Medicine, told us, it's "because pets are no longer pets, they're family members." Accordingly, Center Vet Hospital provides the same facilities and services you would seek if a human member of your family needed care.
As with a real hospital, Central Vet is open 24/7, and has a staff vet on hand at all times. Their four O.R.s and endoscopy, chemotherapy, ultrasound and digital X-ray capabilities bolster the "hospital" classification, too. The staff also works closely with 175 other local vets--in what Aldrich dubs a "symbiotic relationship" where those vets refer patients to Central when off-duty. But the vital reinforcement beneath Central's facility and technology is a staff who have taken a genuine love and concern for animals and made it their livelihood.
2nd: Ridgehill Animal Hospital
430 State St.
North Haven, CT
(203) 288-3307
ridgehillvet.com
3rd: Guilford Veterinary Hospital
81 Saw Mill Road
Guilford, CT
(203) 453-2707
www.guilfordvet.com
