The Waterbury Regional Chamber has announced that Gary B. O’Connor, Esq., partner with Pullman & Comley, LLC in Waterbury, is recipient of their highly-prestigious 2013 Malcolm Baldrige Community Award.

Lynn Ward, Waterbury Regional Chamber President and CEO stated, “Each year we present the highly-prestigious Malcolm Baldrige Community Award in honor of an area business leader. The award is given in recognition of individuals whose commitment to the Waterbury community has been exemplified by their vision and leadership in the area of economic development and growth. Malcolm Baldrige believed in community, leadership and volunteerism. That is why we also present our Chamber’s prestigious leadership and volunteer awards to recognize individuals who exemplify the globally-recognized and honored world-wide achievements of business and community leader, Malcolm Baldrige.”

2013 Malcolm Baldrige Community Award recipient, Gary B. O’Connor, Esq., a past chairman of the Waterbury Regional Chamber, and a recipient of the Chamber’s Leadership Award, has been a prominent member of the Waterbury community for many years. In addition to his leadership positions with the Chamber, O’Connor was involved in the development of the Brass City Mall, renovation of the historic Palace Theatre, establishment of a magnet high school for the arts, and relocation of the UCONN branch to downtown Waterbury.

A partner with Pullman & Comley, LLC, O’Connor has extensive experience in all aspects of complex industrial and commercial real estate transactions, and he successfully negotiated major federal and state grant and loan agreements in connection with large-scale public and private remediation and redevelopment projects. He serves as co-chair of Connecticut’s Brownfields Working Group. In that capacity, O’Connor has been responsible for the creation of new legislation and funding programs that have made it easier to put brownfield sites back to productive use in Waterbury and throughout Connecticut.

Throughout his career, O’Connor has volunteered his time with numerous organizations attempting to stimulate economic growth and improve the quality of life in Waterbury. He currently serves as Secretary and Director of Loyola Development Corporation, a non-profit neighborhood revitalization organization and as pro-bono legal counsel and director of the Police Activities League.