Werner Wolpert recently retired as executive director of the Hartford Area Development Corp. (HADC) after 16 years of service on the job.
As the leader of the HADC, Wolpert recruited several manufacturers to the Hartford area and helped grow the area’s economy.
Prior to his career at HADC, Wolpert operated his own mason yard and wholesale fuel business in Hartford.
“It’s been good, but I always say that you can only be effective if you deal with effective people,” Wolpert said. “We have a very supportive city government and staff. They all made it possible for me to create something that is hopefully long-lasting and continues.”
The HADC board has decided to hire Edwin Majkowski Jr. to replace Wolpert. Majkowski was formerly a project manager and executive officer of Jansen Group Inc., a construction company based in Milwaukee. He has lived in Hartford for 20 years.
Majkowski worked with Wolpert as a member of the HADC board of directors for the last 12 years and served as vice president of HADC for the last eight.
“Werner did some really great things for the City of Hartford,” said Majkowski. “The role of the HADC is focused on our industrial businesses, and Hartford has grown and become very strong in the industrial market. That has a lot to do with Werner’s efforts.”
Majkowski said he intends to lead the HADC in the same direction that Wolpert led the organization, which means focusing on the existing industrial companies and retaining their business and recruiting new companies to settle in the Hartford area.
“We want to make sure our existing industrial market doesn’t move elsewhere. We need to keep them happy,” he said. “We also sell land as one of our initiatives, and bringing new companies and new jobs to the Hartford area is always good for economic growth.”
The HADC functions as the marketing agency for land in the Hartford Business Park and continues to stress economic development in the form of new jobs and new industrial businesses in the city.
“The strength of the foundation of the city goes up and down with the value of employers,” Wolpert said. “If you have good employers, you have other developments like housing and recreation come in, and the city is stronger because of it.”
“The HADC has a very good working relationship with the City of Hartford. We are not a government organization,” Majkowski said. “We are an independent nonprofit organization formed by business people in the community in order to bring economic growth to the city of Hartford.”
The HADC also recently elected nine members to its board of directors. The board includes: Kenneth Braun, Hartford Savings Bank; King Coles II, Polyfirst Packaging; Tom Hostad, Broan-NuTone LLC; Raymond Jaroch, BLH Partnership; Al Laufer, Laufer Trucking Company Inc.; Mark McCune, First Bank Financial Centre; Tony Priesgen, Triton Corp.; Brian Priestaf, CDM Tool & Mfg. Co.; and Gary Wendorff, Hartford Finishing Inc.
