{"id":233749,"date":"2025-08-11T15:01:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T19:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=233749"},"modified":"2025-08-11T15:01:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T19:01:15","slug":"hbj-40-under-forty-honors-four-from-school-of-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/08\/hbj-40-under-forty-honors-four-from-school-of-business\/","title":{"rendered":"HBJ \u201c40 Under Forty\u201d Honors Four From School of Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Hartford Business Journal\u2019s \u201c40 Under Forty\u2019\u2019 award will be presented in September to 40 business standouts, including four who are affiliated with the UConn School of Business.<\/p>\n

The recipients include: Haley Heslin<\/strong>, Director of Human Resources at LAZ Parking and a student in the UConn MBA program; Thomas \u201cTommy\u2019\u2019 Hyde<\/strong> \u201919 MBA, Chief of Staff at AdvanceCT; David Steuber<\/strong> \u201908, \u201921 MS, and Andrew \u201cDrew\u2019\u2019 DiSilvestro Jr.<\/strong> \u201915 EBV Cert., President of AmeriTech Contracting.<\/p>\n

The award recognizes outstanding young professionals in Greater Hartford who have demonstrated leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, and community involvement. The award ceremony will be Sept. 11 at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville.<\/p>\n

\u2018They\u2019ve Never Put a Ceiling on Me\u2019<\/h2>\n
\"Portrait
Haley Heslin (courtesy of HBJ)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Haley Heslin<\/strong> has been promoted seven times since she joined LAZ Parking in 2017, rising from a temporary recruiter to Director of Human Resources in the Northeast.<\/p>\n

One of the influences in her career has been learning about LAZ Parking CEO Alan B. Lazowski\u2019s parents, who are holocaust survivors. Their strength of spirit permeates the business and has shaped Heslin\u2019s outlook.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the going gets tough, you don\u2019t stop. You persevere until you find a solution,\u2019\u2019 she said. \u201cEight years in and I\u2019m happy coming to work every day. They\u2019ve never put a ceiling on me!\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

LAZ, headquartered in Hartford, has garages from Boston to San Francisco to Miami. It is the largest and fastest-growing privately owned parking operator in the U.S., with more than 2 million parking spaces and some 20,000 employees.<\/p>\n

Heslin is half-way through her UConn Online MBA degree, which she plans to finish in May 2026. The degree will add depth to her business knowledge. \u201cI wanted to get the financial background, the true \u2018business of business\u2019 exposure that helps bring an organization together,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

As a human resources professional, she encourages college students to apply to companies where the corporate culture matches their values, to raise their hands for<\/p>\n

new projects, and to pursue opportunities that prepare them for their next career jump.<\/p>\n

Focusing on the Generations to Come<\/h2>\n
\"HBJ
David Steuber (Courtesy of HBJ)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

David Steuber\u2019s<\/strong> interest in politics and government began at an early age.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Dad watched \u2018The Evening News with Dan Rather\u2019 every night, and by middle school I was reading TIME magazine,\u2019\u2019 recalled Steuber, Chief of Staff and Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.<\/p>\n

Steuber triple majored in in economics, political science, and philosophy as a UConn undergrad. He served as president of the UConn College Democrats for three years, and organized rallies for now-Governor Ned Lamont during his unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 2006. Steuber and his team tried to knock on every dorm door, and are credited for a 720 percent increase in student voting versus the election four years earlier.<\/p>\n

He worked as a policy analyst for the Connecticut General Assembly, as a Senior Program Manager for Connecticut Innovations, and as Chief of Staff for the City of Hartford under Mayor Luke Bronin, before starting his current job in January 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was immersed in state politics and policy with a bent toward economic development,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201c My claim-to-fame as a policy analyst at the legislature was helping to create the fiscal guardrails, which have reduced the state\u2019s pension debt by $8.6 billion, and helped to turn around the state\u2019s finances from consistent deficits to surpluses.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

In 2018, he returned to UConn to pursue a master\u2019s in Business Analytics and Project Management (MSBAPM) at the School of Business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted a graduate degree, and instead of pursuing a more traditional law degree or an MBA, I wanted to set myself apart. I thought, \u2018What could I bring to the table in government that would be a little different?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI use the project management skills every day,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cI also became versed in data analytics and machine learning, which is increasingly relevant with the rise of artificial intelligence. It has been valuable in helping think about public policy in a<\/p>\n

time of rapidly evolving technology. The MSBAPM program is very compelling; I recommend it every chance I get.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to bring a long-term perspective to public policy work. The default in politics is to focus on the next election,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cIt is helpful to have people think about problems over the long haul, the things that effect our economy. That\u2019s the lens I try to bring to the work I do. I enjoy working to grow our state economy and putting Connecticut in a better position for the generations ahead.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Attracting, Retaining the Coolest Companies<\/h2>\n
\"Portrait
Tommy Hyde (courtesy of HBJ)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thomas \u201cTommy\u2019\u2019 Hyde<\/strong> is the Chief of Staff for AdvanceCT, a private, non-profit economic development organization that attracts new businesses to the state, and strives to retain existing companies and help them with financial assistance to expand.<\/p>\n

Hyde began his current job in January, after more than four years as the CEO of the Naugatuck Valley Regional Development Corporation. He also served as the Director of Government Affairs and Special Projects for the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I most enjoy about my job is the mission of making Connecticut a better place by attracting, retaining, and expanding the coolest companies,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cI especially enjoy making introductions and highlighting the state to a prospective company.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Hyde, a Connecticut native, earned his bachelor\u2019s degree from Trinity College, and earned his MBA at UConn in 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy MBA experience was amazing\u2026I\u2019d do it all over again!\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cWhat I liked most was getting different perspectives about current policy topics and world events from those outside government, including lawyers, doctors, and engineers.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Two professors from the program left a lasting impression. Professor John Glascock told his students that incentives matter in every business decision, something Hyde often recalls when approaching a situation or a problem.<\/p>\n

Professor Wayne Bragg allowed Hyde to explore the idea of creating a regionalized police department, by applying business principles to government agencies. It was an experience that Hyde relished.<\/p>\n

Hyde said he is honored to be in the company of both past and present \u201c40 Under Forty\u2019\u2019 award recipients. Having developed a network of talented colleagues and friends, Hyde has noticed some common traits.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the best job candidates are hardworking and have a good attitude,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cThose are the people who go farther in their careers.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

A Fusion of Trust and Teamwork<\/h2>\n
\"portrait
Andrew DiSilvestro (courtesy of HBJ)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Andrew \u201cDrew\u2019\u2019 DiSilvestro<\/strong>, a U.S. Air Force veteran and a Senior Master Sergeant in the Air National Guard, is the owner of AmeriTech Contracting LLC in Berlin, Conn.<\/p>\n

His company procured more than $130 million in contracts this year, and it employs more than 70 people. Veterans make up nearly the entire leadership team and represent 40 percent of the staff.<\/p>\n

DiSilvestro started his civilian career working in residential construction. In preparing for deployment, he had to sell his company and took advantage of a gap to work as a government contractor. He earned an executive MBA from University of New Haven and, in 2014 he received a certificate for completion of UConn\u2019s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV), an intensive course serving military veterans who want to start or grow a business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe greatest thing about the EBV was the camaraderie, it\u2019s really a unique thing,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cI\u2019m driven to create that environment, that culture and that energy that we experience in the brother and sisterhood of the military. It is a fusion of trust and teamwork.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

DiSilvestro served four tours of duty with the Air Force and now leads a civilian engineering team in the National Guard. He is also the former Vice President of the Veteran Chamber of Commerce in Connecticut.<\/p>\n

The majority of his company\u2019s work is for the Veterans Administration and that is something that makes him proud. \u201cThis is work that has meaningful purpose. We feel the camaraderie, the trials and tribulations of the people we are serving and understand what they\u2019ve been through. We have been there with them and we use the same VA facilities that they do.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The award recognizes outstanding young professionals in Greater Hartford who have demonstrated leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, and community involvement. The award ceremony will be Sept. 11 at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":233751,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1862],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2105],"class_list":["post-233749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-busn"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-28 11:49:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233749"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233756,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233749\/revisions\/233756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/233751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233749"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=233749"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=233749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}