HUBCAP in Wallingford ends business education programs

Wallingford HUBCAP headquarters at 128 Center St.

WALLINGFORD — After a decade of providing business education and services to the community, the nonprofit Wallingford HUBCAP will officially cease operations at the end of the year.

HUBCAP has collaborated with schools and businesses for years to educate students and prospective entrepreneurs looking to make their home in Wallingford. The organization offered mentorship programs alongside classes and workshops covering a variety of fields and subjects.

Yet, according to Patty Powers, HUBCAP board chair, the board came to the consensus that the organization has outlived the community's needs because of the overabundance of groups that provide similar services. The group had drafted a strategic plan earlier this year for proceeding into 2025, but the board decided to dissolve the group instead.

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“A strategic plan was drafted," Powers said. "However, after careful consideration and review of all the organizations and offerings in Wallingford, we have decided that HUBCAP Wallingford has served its purpose for the last 10 years, and it makes more sense to transition any opportunities to Wallingford Center Inc.”

“There is so much duplication, and our efforts can be better served by partnering,” Powers said.

Liz Davis, executive director of Wallingford Center Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to promoting business and beautifying downtown Wallingford, confirmed that her group was assessing options for continuing some of the education courses HUBCAP offered.

Davis noted that HUBCAP programs have been put on hold for a while. The last event on the organization's website calendar was on June 7, and the last post on the group's Facebook page was on May 1, advertising a free medical career night.

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“It's in limbo,” Davis said. “We, as WCI, have to decide. We want to continue as many of the relationships as we can that would fit what the mission of WCI is. I really don't have an idea or an understanding of what that means yet.”

HUBCAP shares its headquarters at 128 Center St. with Wallingford Center Inc., which organizes events such as the Celebrate Wallingford festival, the summer sidewalk sale, and Holiday Stroll. Founded in 1987, the organization has existed longer than HUBCAP and has been coordinating with the town government and institutions like Choate Rosemary Hall to bring new businesses and activity to the area. HUBCAP was one of WCI's closest collaborators in recent years.

With the end of HUBCAP, there was some uncertainty as to whether WCI would remain at 128 Center St., but Davis said the organization intends to stay there for the time being. She said she wanted to continue offering the location for conferences for vendors and other community organizations, which was a service HUBCAP provided as well. Still, the WCI board has not decided whether to make it official.

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“We're going to do whatever is best for the community, and that's really the best I can tell you," Davis said. "It's really so new at this point.”