Change at the Helm of CT Technology Council is Latest in State's Economic Development Landscape

Less than 10 months after being named as the new CEO of the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC), Derek Slap is moving on.  Slap, who is also a State Senator representing the 5th District (West Hartford, Bloomfield, Burlington, Farmington) has informed the organization’s Board that he “will pursue a new opportunity in the non-profit/social service sector,” according to a report in The Hartford Courant.

Described by the CTC Board in January as “an experienced marketer, communications professional, nonprofit manager and public servant” when he assumed the CEO role, Slap had previously been vice president of marketing and communications at the UConn Foundation and a news anchor and reporter at NBC Connecticut.  In January, Board Chair Severine Zygmont said the Board was “very impressed with his ability to build rapport, his vision for the organization, and his confidence in all the key areas needed to lead it.”

Changes in the state’s technology line-up may be in the offing. Slap’s note to Board members informing them of his plans reportedly said that “Discussions with CCAT surrounding CTC’s alliance with them are continuing,” indicating that Board members could expect to hear more details on or before the Board’s next meeting on Nov. 4, after he has left the CEO position.

At CCAT – the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology – President and CEO Ron Angelo assumed that role nearly a year ago, in November 2018, after serving for five months as Executive Vice President of the organization.  Previously, he had served as Deputy Commissioner of the state Department of Economic Development for just over 12 years, from 2004 to 2015.

In February, Gov. Lamont announced his economic development team, bringing in former PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi and former Webster Bank chief executive Jim Smith as the new co-chairs of the existing, nonprofit Connecticut Economic Resource Center and David Lehman, a partner with the investment bank Goldman Sachs, as Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).  CERC and DECD would form a new public-private partnership, to be known as the Partnership to Advance the Connecticut of Tomorrow (PACT), the Governor announced.

Subsequently, Glendowlyn Thames, the head of the state’s CT Next and majority leader of the Hartford City Council, was named as Deputy Commissioner of DECD in June, and Peter Denious, an accomplished private equity and venture capital professional, was selected in August to lead CERC as President and CEO.

The Connecticut Technology Council is described as “the only statewide trade association exclusively focused on technology and technology-oriented companies and institutions, providing leadership, guidance, and support in areas of policy advocacy, community building, and assistance for growing companies.” The Connecticut Technology Council is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2019.

CCAT, a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 and headquartered in East Hartford, is a dynamic and innovative applied technology organization that leads regional and national partnerships that assist global industrial companies and the manufacturing supply chain across industry sectors to drive advancements, efficiencies and adoption of leading edge technologies.