Harvard Business School Alumni Club Awards ''Turbo Innovation Award'' to The Arc New London County

The Harvard Business School Alumni Club, in conjunction with New Country Porsche of Greenwich, awarded its annual Community Partners “Turbo Innovation Award” to The Arc New London County in support of The Arc NLC’s cookie microbusiness employing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities at minimum wage jobs.

The award, which promotes excellence and innovation in nonprofit organizations, was presented at New Country Porsche June 7 and hosted by Jim Rulmeyr, Chair of HBS’s Gifts Committee, and New Country’s General Manager Rui Moreira.
 
Accepting the award for The Arc NLC were CEO Kathleen Stauffer; Director of Community Enterprise Tom Murphy; and, The Arc NLC Board past-president Enrico DeMatto and Director Michele Scott.
 
The $20,000 award aids The Arc NLC’s purchase of a commercial oven to expand the agency’s successful cookie production micro-enterprise currently housed at the ShopRite grocery store in New London, CT. Groups of three employees at a time, supervised by a job coach, currently prepare dough and bake the cookies allowing people with IDD to train for careers in the food industry in a true commercial environment. In addition to the Turbo Award, The Arc NLC’s commercial oven received generous support from the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, Depcom Power, and
The Chelsea Groton Foundation to purchase the oven.
 
The Arc NLC’s Classic Crunch chocolate chip cookies are currently sold in 14 stores, including ShopRite, its anchor partner for the cookie micro-business. Cookies can be ordered online at TheArcNLC.com. The Arc NLC also operates a Farm Stand on Rt. 117 and a Lawncare enterprise. All three micro-businesses have been lauded by Senator Ted Kennedy, Jr., as “a model for the state and possibly the nation” for preparing people with IDD for competitive employment. The Arc NLC’s commitment to excellence aggressively helps people with IDD fight stereotypes at home, at school, on the job, and in the community.
 
To learn more about The Arc NLC’s Employment Transition Center, as well as its other programs, please visit thearcnlc.org or contact Denise Tift at (860) 889-4435, ext. 116.