Area Vice President With Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. In Ridgefield Named Chairwoman Of 2017 Business Women's Forum (BWF)

Heather Musante Mitchell, CLU, ChFC, CIC, area vice president at Arthur J. Gallagher & Company in Ridgefield, Connecticut, has been named chairwoman of the non-profit 2017 Business Women’s Forum (BWF).

Ms. Musante Mitchell is leading the BWF Board of Directors in the creation of Connecticut’s longest-running, full-day annual statewide conference, which will be held Friday, October 20. The 2017 BWF (2017bwf.com) is anticipated to attract over 500 business people from across New England and will be held at the Aqua Turf Club in Plantsville, Connecticut from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

This 35th annual BWF will feature a morning keynote address by Randi Zuckerberg, CEO of Zuckerberg Media, and the luncheon speaker will be Tammi Evans, humorous motivational speaker, and author of “Half Full of It: Activating Optimism and Other Hardcore Soft Skills.”

Celebrating its 35th year of prestigious success, the BWF is a program of the non-profit Greater Waterbury Chamber of Commerce Foundation in Waterbury. The thriving organization is led by female executives dedicated to the professional and personal growth of working women. The mission of the non-profit Business Women’s Forum has been to raise funds for scholarships for female Post University students to pursue degrees in business.

“The BWF’s continual commitment,” explained Ms. Musante Mitchell, “has been to the equality of opportunity and advancement for women in business. During the past 34 years, the BWF has generated in excess of $190,000 toward those scholarships for Post University students.”

Heather Musante Mitchell is an insurance consultant with Arthur J. Gallagher & Company, a global insurance brokerage with more than 23,000 employees, traded on the NYSE as AJG.  She started her insurance career while attending Trinity College and worked with Travelers Insurance for several years. She then joined the agency her father founded, Musante Reihl Associates in Cheshire. Several years later, she sold that agency to Webster Financial and began working at the company’s insurance division in their Waterbury Bank Street location. 

Following the sale of Webster Insurance, Ms. Musante Mitchell continued her career with large insurance brokerages and continues to strive to bring her clients innovative solutions in today’s challenging health insurance environment.  She specializes in groups with 100+ employees and is diligent in supporting employers dedicated to creating a culture of physical and emotional wellbeing.

Ms. Musante Mitchell is active with the Waterbury Regional Chamber, Connecticut Chapter of WTS -Women’s Transportation Seminar, Western CT Chapter of SHRM - Society of Human Resource Managers, and United Way of Greater Waterbury.  She is a past president and board member of Literacy Volunteers of Greater Waterbury, and a past board member of the Women & Families Center of Meriden.  She has held several posts in professional organizations and has served on insurance companies’ advisory councils to advocate for her clients.  She has earned insurance designations, including CIC Certified Insurance Consultant, CLU-Chartered Life Underwriter, and ChFC Chartered Financial Consultant.  She also returned to college to earn her MBA from UCONN Waterbury in 2010.

Residing in Watertown with her husband Marc Mitchell, Ms. Musante Mitchell has two adult children, Brent and Lindsay Reihl.  Brent is a senior property manager for Imagineers in Hartford and Lindsay is a school counselor for CATS Academy in Braintree, Massachusetts. 

Sponsors of the 2017 Business Women’s Forum (BWF) include Post University; Barker Specialty Companies; Corporate Display Specialties (CDS); Sanditz Travel Management; MacDermid Performance Solutions; Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield; Reception Sponsors Liberty Bank; Employers Reference Source (ERS); Diagnostic Radiology Associates; Saint Mary’s Health System; Children’s Village; Michaels Jewelers; Bank of America; Demsey Manufacturing Company; H&T Waterbury; Hine Bros.; Hoffman Auto Group; Montagno Insurance; O&G Industries; Spectrum Associates Market Research; WATR 1320 Radio; BantamWesson.

Admission for early registration by June 30^th to the 2017 BWF on October 20th is $175/person. Admission beginning July 1, 2017, will be $195/person. All admission prices include the two keynote presentations, workshops, day-long networking, breakfast, lunch, and a closing reception.

To register, or to become a program sponsor, visit www.2017bwf.com, or call the Greater Waterbury Chamber of Commerce Foundation at 203-757-0701.