Professional Profile: Harry Bennett - 1975

Name: Harry Bennett - 1975

Title: President

Company: Harry Bennett & Assoc.

Location: Stamford, CT

Birthplace: -

Bennett has been selected “Realtor of the Year” by the Stamford Board of Realtors. Bennett’s firm has been established in Stamford for a quarter of a century and recently opened an office in New Canaan. A native of Greenwich, Bennett was first recognized for his leadership when he graduated from Greenwich High School and voted as “the boy most likely to succeed” and “did most for school.” Working his way through college during the depression years, he was able to earn income by selling Christmas trees and decorations to department stores, colleges and through a retail store to many of the homes and estates in Greenwich. He also published a theatre program for the Greenwich Playhouse, a then operating legitimate theatre, as well as working in a liquor store and his dad’s grocery store. His undergraduate work was done at NYU and graduate work was done at NYU, Trinity College, Fresno State and an executive course at Dartmouth College. Bennett’s first job on graduating college was teaching at the Greenwich High School. He next went to G. Fox and Co., a Hartford department store, where he ultimately became a methods and systems analyst. His service was interrupted by World War II. He volunteered as a private and was discharged as a Captain in the Air Corps. After the war, he returned for a short period to G. Fox and then went to New York City and worked as assistant general manager at Reinhold-Gould. He resigned from this position to enter the residential construction and development business, which shortly was expanded to include real estate brokerage. His firm built and/or developed such areas as Hemlock Hills, Lake Wood Park and Bentwood. They acted as consultants for such areas as Akbar Road, Sky Meadow, Case Acre Woods, Cedar Ridge, Greenwich Woods, Clair Woods, etc. Among the numerous commercial deals Bennett is proudest of, are the idea of the Turn of River Library, the development of the land now known as the Dorothy Heroy Park (originally the Italian Center Day Camp), the sale of a college campus in Hyde Park, N.Y., and most recently the arranging of the lease of the Palace Theatre for the Hartman Theatre Group. From a civic standpoint, Bennett started his career as a member of the Board of Representatives in Greenwich. In more recent times, he has served as a Justice of the Peace in Stamford, as a director of the Stamford Chamber of Commerce, a director of the Long Ridge Assn., as well as the Stamford Jewish Center and Temple Beth El. In other activities, he was a charter member of the Greenwich Junior Chamber of Commerce and ultimately became a national director. His business interests have also been very diverse. In real estate brokerage, he is licensed in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He was a founder and president of American Investors Corp., and SBIC Corp. Last year Bennett was an instructor of real estate at the U. of CT. During his term as president of the Stamford Board of Realtors board of directors as well was on the CT Assn. of Realtors board of directors.