2 Darien Chamber Members Win Westfair's '40 Under Forty' Awards

Darien CT

18 May, 2022

2:47 PM

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Information via Darien Chamber of Commerce DARIEN, CT — The Darien Chamber of Commerce recently announced that two Chamber members have been honored with Westfair Communications' "40 Under Forty" awards for Fairfield County. The awards go to individuals who are over 25 and under 40 years of age, dynamic industry leaders who are part of the county's business growth and lives or works in Fairfield County. The recipients are David Wagner of Sipstirs and Tim Harvey of Grieb's Pharmacy in Darien. Wagner, the owner of Sipstirs, a local wine store in Darien, has helped bring a new vitality to the downtown area, the chamber said. Almost 20 years experience in the beverage industry, Wagner opened his first brick and mortar of fine wine, artisanal spirits and craft brews in 2017. Since then, many have come to cherish this establishment; a second location was opened in Wilton this spring. Wagner is an active participant in the town and serves as the Darien Chamber's vice chair and chairman of the Darien Chamber Charitable Foundation. He frequently partners with local businesses and nonprofits, contributing to the planning and success of fundraising efforts of over 25 local organizations including The Town of Darien Firefighters' Foundation, The Depot Youth Center, Star Inc., Abilis, the YWCAand Person-to-Person. During COVID-19, Wagner was instrumental in bringing town residents together offering virtual wine and food tastings with other local establishments. He was paramount in offering people a much-needed distraction and lesson in fine wine while assisting some local businesses to stay in business. Harvey is from a small town in upstate New York and graduated from Albany College of Pharmacy with a doctorate in pharmacy in 2014. He started at Grieb's two years later in 2016. "I worked at other local pharmacies in Stamford and New Canaan, until I eventually was lucky enough to find Grieb's," Harvey said in a news release. "The owners, Debi and Chuck Hibben, immediately treated me like family. They had me over for dinner on holidays, taught me about the business of pharmacy, and showed me around Darien. The people in Darien were very welcoming and almost always kind and thankful for our service, this was unlike any other experience I'd had in pharmacy up to this point." Harvey referred to the kindness and gratitude the people of Darien and Fairfield County showed him and the staff. "They motivated me to do everything I could do to help them through COVID-19," Harvey added. In 2021 Grieb's was able to give 12,000 COVID-19 vaccinations Harvey thanked the patients, the Hibbens, his coworkers (Denise, Nancy, Sandra, Chi, Mark, and all), and most of all his family, "for allowing me to devote so much of my time and energy to Grieb's throughout the pandemic."