At its March meeting, two local leaders, Jim Newman and Brian Orenstein, were elected to the Board of Directors.
Jim Newman, a member of the MDA-UAW 571, has worked at General Dynamics-Electric Boat for more than 35 years. He has served as a United Way Allocations Volunteer since 2009, helping to evaluate local programs to decide where donor dollars should be invested. Jim is actively involved in coordinating Electric Boat’s United Way Campaign efforts, making presentations, volunteering, running food drives, and allocating funds on behalf of the EB Employees’ Community Services Association and the MDA-UAW. He volunteers at the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center’s Coogan Farm Giving Garden and United Way’s mobile pantry, among many other activities. The Giving Garden grows and donates fresh produce to the Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center.
Jim volunteers at the casino’s “food shows,” where they collect the nonperishable food and household items at the end of the show to pack up and send to the Food Center, preventing it from being discarded. He is also a trained Union Counselor as part of UCAN, the Union Community Activist Network. The program helps members of Organized Labor learn how they can help others in the workplace when they are having difficult times and may need assistance.
Brian Orenstein is President and CEO of Charter Oak Federal Credit Union, eastern Connecticut’s largest credit union. He began his banking career in 1986 and has more than thirty years of financial-services experience, including more than twenty in senior management.
During Brian’s tenure as chief executive, the credit union’s assets have grown significantly and its branch network across New London and Windham counties has expanded. Brian was instrumental in leading Charter Oak’s construction of its new headquarters in Waterford, which houses a state-of-the-art branch. The opening of Charter Oak’s new branch-and-headquarters complex had coincided with the credit union’s 75th anniversary since its founding in 1939 as the Groton Shipbuilders Federal Credit Union
Brian has been actively involved for many years with United Way, previously serving on the Board of Directors from 2014-19. He served as Co-chair of the annual campaign for two years and as Board Chair from 2016-17. He also serves on the organization's Audit and Finance Committees.
Brian holds a bachelor’s degree as well as a master’s degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
