News From The Wilton First Selectman's Office - August 28, 2025

Press release from the Town of Wilton:

August 28, 2025 - 10:28pm

August 2025 News from the First Selectman's Office

Hello, Wilton! If you’ve been following this month’s Board of Selectmen meetings, or have been reading my recent press releases (Announcement From the First Selectman's Office, August 15, 2025) you know that staff changes at Town Hall are creating a paradigm shift in how business is done. While there have been surprising revelations in the past few weeks, they have opened conversations among Town leaders around long held assumptions and policies. They have prompted a search for outside talent who will bring in alternative ideas. They have instigated a move to reconfigure processes and job descriptions which has had an invigorating effect on us all. Just as it is time to reimagine Town buildings and infrastructure, these senior personnel openings have signaled a need for change. Now that more information has come to light, I welcome the chance to make Wilton Town government stronger, more stable and more efficient going forward. If you feel you have the credentials as a municipal CFO and would like to be considered for this top position in Wilton, please follow this link. The deadline for applying is October 1.

CIRMA Distribution Payment

This month, Town leaders were delighted to be presented with a check totaling $38,856 from CIRMA, the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency. CIRMA is a group insurance company whose members are all local municipal governments and agencies, operating under the same state laws that regulate for-profit mutual insurance companies. CIRMA covers all of Wilton’s insurance needs except for healthcare. At the close of this fiscal year, calculations showed that payments into CIRMA by its participating members exceeded expenses and a redistribution of the excess funds back to the members was available. The sizable check owed to Wilton, as determined by the amount we contributed in fiscal year 2025, will be deposited into our general fund, and will provide a welcome offset to our insurance costs this year.

We are so pleased by this latest piece of good news. It is another indication of a sound investment reducing Wilton’s costs in the long run.

Business Innovation and Finance Center at Wilton High School

The room inside Wilton High School, where the Business Innovation and Finance Center recently opened, is a microcosm of American technological history. It started as the typing room, with sinks along the back wall so students could wash the ink off their hands at the end of class. In the 1970’s it became the computer lab, with a half wall built down the center in the ‘80’s to accommodate enough electrical outlets for all of those dial up stations. And behold: Today it showcases cutting edge business technology tools that are on par with the business training rooms at Quinnipiac and Fairfield Universities.

The driving intent behind the room’s design was to create a collaborative learning space that mimicked a professional trading floor. Using tools that finance professionals use, students from ninth grade through twelfth will learn all aspects of financial literacy. When they step into this space, they are entering a company and going to work, not with fellow students, but with their Colleagues. A stock market ticker tape gives real time information. Large screens around the room display lessons shared wirelessly from the teacher’s laptop, or broadcast business news from Bloomberg and other outlets. Or, when students are working on small group projects, these screens can be used by multiple teams at the same time. The furniture, too, is entirely flexible. The chairs and tables are on wheels and the tabletops double as whiteboards meant to be written on. Everything can be pushed together or pulled apart into multiple configurations, just like any business breakout room. To keep the analog alive, there are also Monopoly and Life board games, but these too are teaching tools.

The visionary for this extraordinary educational endeavor is Bianca DiIorio, a Wilton High School alum who worked in personal finance on Wall Street (specializing in estate transfers), after graduating with a degree in Finance and Financial Management from Ithaca College. Bianca also has a master’s degree in education from the University of Bridgeport. Crafting this program, the only one to exist in high schools in this region, joins her twin passions seamlessly, to Wilton’s tremendous advantage.

While Bianca had the inspiration, her idea needed support if it was going to be realized. She received enthusiastic backing from the Board of Education and Schools’ Superintendent, Dr. Kevin Smith, but the program also needed funding. In these years of extremely tight budgeting, there was no room in the district’s expenditure column for a curriculum of this scope and sophistication. Fortunately, this new space was made possible by private donors at no cost to the taxpayers of the town.

As in the days of yore, when landed families in Wilton donated their property for the Town’s betterment (including land for a Town Hall), two private Wilton family foundations and one Wilton business generously donated the resources that made the new Center possible. The Stroup Family Foundation, the Boucher Family Foundation, and Hammerstone Markets, who offer students free access to their company’s financial data that major Wall Street banks pay large fees to use, have given Wilton schools a transformative gift.

Bianca started with a solid foundation when it came to designing a business and finance course of study that was appropriate for Wilton students. Many Wilton graduates have gone on to enroll in the nation’s best business schools. The challenge was to offer them enough breadth and depth to give them a competitive edge when meeting classes in accounting, finance, marketing and investing as college freshman.

The courses are evolving, but this year, Accounting 1 will be a full year course for high school sophomores through seniors, where they will learn bookkeeping, including Quickbooks, taxes, credit and financial statements for small businesses. The timing of these classes coincides with many students who are earning their first paychecks, which makes these lessons very real and immediate.

Junior year expands into corporate finance with Accounting 2. One of the many tools used are the Monopoly and Life games, during which students track each transaction in a journal. At the end of the term, these notes are used to create corporate financial statements for their businesses. (On a side note, the classroom could use a few more donations of Monopoly and Life game sets that are new or well-maintained.) As corporate business owners, students must decide how to generate revenue and earnings, how to build pricing, grow the business and increase market share.

Entrepreneurial Finance is a newly redesigned course that focuses on entrepreneurial finance and urban development. The course is being constructed with Michael Wrinn, Wilton’s Planning and Zoning Director. The students would first be asked to create a fictitious city. They would then have to decide what business is needed by the people who live there, and build that business from start up to initial public offering on the stock exchange. Along the way, they will learn that every business that is publicly traded today started as an idea while they experience, first-hand, the complexities of the entire IPO process. The power of philanthropy is highlighted, as well, since it was successful businesses that made the Center possible.

Personal Finance is the final course in this trilogy if students plan to take the full curriculum at the Business Innovation and Finance Center, although it is a required class for all students for graduation. Students learn all aspects of financial literacy, like how to manage an investment portfolio, and knowing good stocks from weak. The course also covers taxes, debt, managing college tuition and budgeting. Bianca is hoping to grow this course so that students become savvy investors who create an investment fund together, with individual students serving as sector analysts. If you’re a financial analyst or fund manager interested in volunteering your time to coach students or guide this process, please let Bianca know. (diioriob@wiltonps.org).

Recently, Bianca became an affiliated professor with the University of Connecticut, which makes it possible for her to upgrade the Personal Finance course to a UCONN ECE, or Early College Experience class. This means that the Personal Finance class could earn college credit for Wilton students in the future, if the Board of Education approves. She is also advocating for some business and finance courses to become AP classes, providing another opportunity for college credit.

So far, her determination and ambition have served Wilton extremely well. Last year, as the advisor of DECA, the oldest business student club in the nation, she took two teams totaling 5 students to the international competition in Florida, after they won 2nd and 3rd place in the State for their International Business Plan and their Marketing Plan. Only the top three teams from around the world make it to the international competition, making this a phenomenal achievement for Bianca and her students.

The Center is quickly becoming a place where students can comfortably get uncomfortable. She encourages all of them to take the public speaking classes that not only coach students through addressing a crowd, but cover topics like building a resume, writing a cover letter, how to responsibly manage a digital profile, how to look for and apply for a job, and what to do and not do in an interview (with plenty of mock opportunities). Behind all of this work, of course, is confidence building. It may not be obvious that a high school business and finance classroom could be the place to strengthen student self-esteem, but that is very much part of Bianca’s mission. Maturity is needed if students are to collaborate with one another and take the work seriously. In the beginning of the year, she spends a certain amount of time on ice breaker games that break down the shyness and assumptions high school students are likely to carry. As the class bond grows, she encourages members to show up to each other’s events – from sports games to concerts to the school musical – where she, herself, is usually in the crowd. This allows her to stress the importance of work/life balance, and create community beyond the classroom.

What has been created is a classroom of the future. It is the first of its kind in our region, but will likely be copied by the competitive school districts surrounding Wilton. When people ask what are the best things Wilton has to offer, the Wilton High School Business and Finance Center is sure to be one of those draws. The hope is that it can also serve as inspiration for school and Town infrastructure overall. The Center and our new Police Station have shown that when ideas are allowed to stretch beyond immediate band-aide solutions, vitality, energy, optimism and a renewed sense of purpose can uplift us all.

Memorial Stadium Field and Track

As of August 11th, the new turf at Wilton High School’s stadium is in place, with the field and the track already in heavy use by Wilton’s athletes. Last year’s historic flood damage created this unexpected expense, but Steve Pierce, Wilton’s Director of Parks and Recreation, found the ideal vendor in Sprint Turf, who finished the job one week ahead of schedule and $209,000 under budget. Most importantly, the new turf is getting high praise from players, who claim that it feels just like natural grass.

New Cell Tower on School Road

If you’ve been on School Road recently you may have seen that the long-awaited cell tower has been installed and equipment is attached. We have not learned, yet, when it will be powered up but this hard evidence of progress gives us hope that it will be live very soon.

Raksa Bandhan Ceremony

On August 16th, the Hindu community in Wilton brought a celebration of thanks to the Wilton Fire House, where they honored all of our First Responders. Raksa Bandhan translates as “Bond of Protection,” and is a cherished festival that recognizes a family’s commitment to care and protect one another. The nonprofit, HSS (Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh), expanded their definition of family to include the professionals in our community who take care of all of us during our most vulnerable moments. Like their Teacher Appreciation Day (Guru Vandana), this was an occasion that reminded us all to stop and give thanks. The healers and protectors who work tirelessly on our behalf make our world safer, healthier and more whole through their efforts.

9/11 Ceremony at the Wilton Fire Department

The Wilton Fire Department will be hosting a memorial service honoring the lives lost during the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. 343 firefighters were killed, and five fathers from Wilton, who left behind 11 children. The service will begin at 10am.

Wilton Library’s Statewide Award

The Connecticut State Library Association honored Wilton Library as one of the recipients of their inaugural Excellence in Public Libraries Awards. The Wilton Library Association was given the Community Engagement award. Congratulations to Executive Director, Caroline Mandler, and the entire team at Wilton Library. What a wonderful achievement.

Spotted Lanternfly

The State of Connecticut has asked the public to use the reporting tool on the state website to report sightings of Spotted Lanternflies. This link has instructions for what do when you find this insect and how to report it to the state agricultural office.

Goodbye Summer

It is a bittersweet time of year, as school bells ring classes back into session, night comes on a little sooner and we begin to think about packing away the toys of summer. But it was a glorious few weeks of bright blue skies, concerts on the lawn and fresh corn, tomatoes and berries from the farmers’ market. Ambler Farm has shared a few photos of their campers at play, which to us perfectly capture the quintessential Wilton summer. Here’s to looking forward to the crisp fall days ahead.

Toni Boucher

First Selectman, Town of Wilton

This press release was produced by the Town of Wilton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.