TicketNetwork Regrouping After Incident Involving CEO

It had been a whirlwind eight months for TicketNetwork Inc.

Yes, CEO Donald Vaccaro left Vernon and crossed into South Windsor with a history of tense relations with zoning officials in his wake, but he would privately say it had more to do with the former Gerber Scientific building being available than bitterly running out of the town where he really established the business.

Claiming he was dedicated to the population East of the Connecticut River, he used about $7 million in incentives offered through Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's First Five program to enhance the deal at the Gerber building.

His employment rolls swelled to about 400 and he seemed to be cruising toward the First Five goal of adding 200 jobs. 

Vaccaro even seemed to make peace with the residents and business owners near exit 66 off Interstate 84 when he hosted a meeting at which a marketing plan was discussed regarding not only his building on Bolton Road, but the entire corridor.

After the meeting, he even joked about getting a petition ready and trying to become the fifth mayoral candidate.

He also applied to improve the parcel of recreational land the company owns on South Frontage Road.

He was claiming a TicketNetwork inventory of about $1 billion.

But since his arrest at an Oscar party early Monday, the company has dropped out of the First Five program and Vaccaro has taken a leave of absence.

"TicketNetwork is regrettably withdrawing from the state's FirstFive program," TicketNetwork Counsel Andra Mazur said in a statement released to media outlets. "Due to the personal incident involving our CEO Don Vaccaro, we feel that it is necessary to respectfully withdraw from the FirstFive program in an earnest attempt at preserving our future relationship with the state.

"We believe the FirstFive program remains a commendable government initiative that will help Connecticut's economy grow. We were honored to have been chosen."

Vaccaro has been charged with intimidation due to bias, second-degree threatening, second-degree breach of peace, first-degree criminal trespass, and interfering with police, according to Hartford police. His bond was set at $10,000 and he was assigned a court date of March 7 in Hartford, police said.

The incident took place on Monday at 12:09 a.m., Hartford police said. They allege that Vaccaro was attending an Oscar party at Real Art Ways at 56 Arbor St. in Hartford. He had an unwanted encounter with a woman and a security guard intervened, according to Hartford police.

Vaccaro was allegedly holding the woman's hand and would not let go, and a security guard had to pry his hand loose from the woman's, Hartford police said. While he was being asked to leave the party, police said Vaccaro hurled directed racially charged insults at the security guard.  

Two veteran TicketNetwork executives are now running the company, Mazur said.

"TicketNetwork has over 400 dedicated employees and remains fully committed
to maintaining a positive work environment for them," Mazur said. "Our CEO Don Vaccaro has taken an indefinite leave from TicketNetwork. Longtime company executives Doug Kruse and Jeff Scheman assumed responsibility for running TicketNetwork as co-CEOs."

Vaccaro released a statement of his own.

"I will be taking an indefinite leave of absence as CEO from TicketNetwork as I resolve this issue. TicketNetwork is a great company with wonderful
employees and I do not want my personal actions to impact the company's
growth," he said. "In my absence, our longtime senior management team is more than ready for the task of running TicketNetwork without me. While I need to work through the legal process first, I hope to publicly discuss this issue more openly in the future. I am seeking personal counseling and treatment for alcohol abuse."

Vaccaro said he originally wanted to market TicketNetwork's Bolton Road building, but had been leaning toward keeping it for work overflow during busy times. 

A spokesman for Malloy thought the governor was leaning toward issuing a statement about the TicketNetwork situation on Wednesday. Malloy had not issued a statement as of late Wednesday.