Press Releases

Highfield’s Baker Highlights 20th Annual ACES Business Advisory Council Employer Recognition Dinner

September 10th, 2019

(North Haven, CT – September 10, 2019) Christopher Baker will soon be getting on a flight from Milwaukee to Connecticut like he has done dozens of times the past few years. However, this trip will be different. Baker, General Manager for the Specialty Components Division of Rexnord Corporation including Highfield Manufacturing, is the featured guest speaker at Area Cooperative Educational Services (ACES) 20th Annual Business Advisory Council’s (BAC) Employer Recognition Dinner on Wednesday, October 16th at Anthony’s Ocean View Restaurant beginning at 5:30 p.m. Highfield Manufacturing, which designs, manufactures, and sells engineered mission-critical products to motor manufacturers, OEMs, and utilities, has been a long-time supporter of ACES. ACES has a long-term working relationship with Highfield Manufacturing that began in Bridgeport, CT on January 4, 1987, and continues today.

“The ACES-Highfield relationship is an incredible story of two partners who believe in each other and have worked together for decades to successfully supply the global marketplace with high-quality locks and keys used in the gas and electric industries, says Gene Crocco, ACES Coordinator of Work Services. “This work opportunity makes a difference in ACES student’s and adult’s lives as it allows them to connect and make a real difference in the world.”

ACES students and adult workers build millions of locks and keys for Highfield Manufacturing each year that are used to turn the power on and off in the electric and gas industries worldwide. This high quality and cost-effective service helps the company effectively compete in a highly competitive global marketplace.

A Milwaukee native, Baker has been instrumental in continuing the support of ACES. Prior to being appointed General Manager of the Specialty Components Division, Christopher worked for 8 years in management roles focused on mergers, acquisitions, and strategy at Rexnord, over which time he worked on 14 completed transactions with a cumulative value of $900 million. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with degrees in Accounting and Finance. 

“I am lucky and proud to run an organization which can thrive making the product in the US and utilizes domestic suppliers like ACES to efficiently support production, said Baker. “It is inspiring to see how efficient and productive the workers are, but the smiles on their faces are far more important.”

The ACES 20th Annual BAC Employer Recognition Dinner will honor approximately 80 regional businesses and highlights the past year’s success stories as told by the ACES students and individuals themselves. Besides entertainment by the ACES Educational Center for the Arts (ECA) jazz ensemble, there will be many highlights of the night including remarks from Peter C. Young, who was ACES first executive director. At the dinner, Young will provide a historical perspective of how the work program started at ACES and evolved. Another highlight will be the posthumous recognition of Andrew “Andy” Wolf. Wolf, who drove the idea of the new ACES ACCESS program “ACES SHINES”, which is a shoeshine operation that is opening soon in New Haven’s Union Station. Wolf, as the New Haven government’s cultural director, tapped an endless reservoir of inspiration and enthusiasm to boost New Haven’s cultural and arts scene. New Haven Mayor Toni Harp will honor Wolf who recently passed away. Tickets are $48 per person and are available online at aces.org. There are also several advertising opportunities available for the evening’s program by contacting Tenisha Biggs at (203) 498-6800 or by email at tbiggs@aces.org.

About ACES:

Area Cooperative Educational Service’s (ACES) is to transform lives through education, innovation, and leadership. One of six Connecticut regional educational service centers, ACES is the regional educational services center for the twenty-five communities in New Haven and is both a school district and a non-profit services agency. ACES serves 2,300 students from fifty-seven communities throughout Connecticut at its three magnet schools and nine special education schools. ACES service divisions include international educational programs and services, technology, transportation, translation, behavior services and autism programs, extension therapy services (occupational and physical therapy), assistive technology, collaborative programs, professional development, human resources and financial services, and ACCESS, a vocational and life skills program for developmentally and physically challenged adults. ACES also runs the Open Choice program for New Haven County as well as a magnet school parent choice program for its Wintergreen Interdistrict Magnet School and Thomas Edison Middle School. Additionally, ACES runs the Middlesex County Early Head Start Partnership program. For additional information, go to www.aces.org.