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WATERBURY - Though only four names appeared in the program, about 140 people were honored Wednesday during the eighth annual Harold Webster Smith Award Breakfast. By custom, the annual event recognized the owners of three small businesses in Greater Waterbury. This year's honorees were Lisa Taccardi, owner of Angels Watching Over You Inc. of Watertown, which was recognized as Small Business of the Year; John Loyer and Lynn Tata of J&L Medical Services of Waterbury, who were named Entrepreneurs of the Year; and Alexander R. Alves, known to friends and family as "Sandy," the founder and owner of Alves Precision Engineered Products Inc. of Watertown, which was named Manufacturer of the Year.

Yet, because each of the honorees made a point of noting they could not have won their award without the efforts of their hard-working employees, you might say the list of award winners also includes the four staff members and 60 independent care-givers associated with Angels Watching Over You; J&L Medical Services' 24 employees, and the 55 people who work at Alves Precision Engineered Products.

"Indeed, none of us accomplish very much on our own," said U.S. Rep. Nancy L. Johnson, R-5th District, echoing the morning's main theme. "It's always a team effort."

Tata, whose grandfather and father ran a successful beer distribution company in Waterbury for many years, said one of the most important business lessons the two men taught her was to "make sure you always surround yourself with good people."

Wednesday's breakfast, held at the Inn at Villa Rosa in Waterbury, drew a crowd of about 250, a record for the event according to Stephen R. Sasala II, president and chief executive of the Waterbury Regional Chamber, which hosts the ceremony.

The awards are named after the entrepreneur who in 1935 founded First Federal Savings of Waterbury, the small savings and loan company that eventually became Webster Financial Corp. Like Harold Webster Smith, honorees must demonstrate a commitment to small business development in the Waterbury area, as well as success and excellence in the marketplace.

In accepting his award, Alves pointed to an quirky coincidence linking his father with the man whose name graces the award.

Harold Webster Smith established his bank in the middle of the Great Depression, after scraping together $35,000 in loans from friends and family, Alves noted, reiterating an anecdote told earlier in the program by James C. Smith, chairman and chief executive of Webster Financial Corp. and son of the company's founder. Eighteen years later, in 1953, Alves' father, Alexander L. Alves, scraped together the exact same sum to acquire American Sinterings which eventually became Engineered Sinterings & Plastics Inc. from the family of former gubernatorial candidate E. Clayton Gengras.

Alves also said he founded Alves Precision Engineered Products in his garage in 1969 with $75 he borrowed from his wife's Christmas bonus check.

Loyer, who first got to know Tata when the two worked together as respiratory therapists at Waterbury Hospital in the 1970s, said the two partners had four children in college between them when they opened their business in March 2003. J&L Medical Services is a respiratory home health care company whose products include oxygen, ventilators, nebulizers and sleep apnea equipment, as well as durable medical equipment like walkers, wheelchairs, and beds.

"We couldn't have done it without the help and dedication of the people who work for us," he said, noting that his staff has grown from three to 24 in less than two years.

Taccardi, whose 10-year-old company coordinates health care and other services for elderly clients through a network of about 60 independent caregivers, kept to the morning's theme by giving much of the credit for her company's success to those caregivers and her four-person staff.

"I know what I don't know and I'm smart enough to hire people that do know," she said, before concluding her remarks with a moving tribute to her husband, Vito, her son, Brenton, and her late son, Scott.

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