Executives of Nothin’ But, a Westport-based snack company, are in Anaheim, Calif. for Natural Products EXPO West, the leading tradeshow for natural and organic products on the West Coast. It is their company’s national debut with their cookies and granola bars. Founder Jerri Graham (l) and CEO Steven Laitmon (c) offer up samples to attendees. Nothin’ But products are available in many Westport area stores, from Stew Leonard’s, to Terrain, to Aux Delices and Cocoa Michelle. They are also available in select New York locations and online at www.nothinbutfoods.com. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo

The state told a Westport man today that his medical marijuana growing company will retain its license after it was disclosed that a man it listed as its former chief grower had previously lost a local license to run a marijuana facility in Colorado.

Consumer Protection Commissioner William M. Rubenstein sent a letter to David Lipton, principal in Fairfield-based Advanced Grow Labs LLC, informing him of the state’s decision.

Rubenstein said the company can remain one of the four statewide producers of marijuana for medical purposes because his agency is satisfied that the company’s principals were “equally misled” by John J. Czarkowski.

The commissioner said his office concluded that the company – which is building a production facility in West Haven – had conducted a thorough background check on Czarkowski.

By Bonnie Adler

Westporter John Seo, who now makes a pretty good living at gauging the risk of catastrophic events, told a Westport Library audience tonight choosing the wrong entrepreneurial partner could be a disaster. He said his path to becoming one the world’s experts at what he does was not an easy one.

John Seo addresses a Westport Library audience tonight. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Bonnie Adler for WestportNow.com

Raised In Dallas, the son of Korean immigrant parents –- his father was a professor of economic theory at Southern Methodist University –- he said they wanted him to be a mathematician, just like his mother. But he said he always dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur.

His dreams came true as co-founder and managing principal of Westport-based Fermat Capital Management. Now the largest investment manager of catastrophe bonds in the world, the firm manages $4.5 billion in investments.

Seo, who spoke as part of the library’s “Insights from Entrepreneurs” series, has 21 years experience in fixed income bond and derivatives trading and has been in the catastrophe bond market for more than 15 years.

A woman driver overshot the curb and slammed into the Parker-Harding Plaza entrance to Westport’s J. Crew today. No one was injured and there was no structural damage to the store, said Fire Marshal Ed Zygmant. But he said the doorframe was damaged and entry to the store was limited to Main Street as a result. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

UPDATE (clarifies charges) Business competition crossed the line into identity theft-impersonation as a Westport small business owner attempted to have goods only available to a competitor shipped to the competitor’s store, police said today.

Mary Perkins, 53, of Norwalk, owner of Dress Code, 578 Post Road East, was charged with one count of identity theft second-degree (impersonation), police said. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com

Mary Perkins, 53, of 194 Gregory Boulevard, Norwalk, turned herself in Sunday on a warrant and was charged with one count of identity theft second-degree (impersonation), police said.

While police would not release the name of the competitor nor Perkins’s shop, records show that Perkins is the owner of Dress Code at 578 Post Road East, which opened in 2010. A court affidavit showed the competitor was Winged Monkey, 384 Post Road East., where Perkins formerly worked, according to The Hour of Norwalk.

“It was all done electronically,” Capt. Vincent Penna said of the ordering of the goods.

John Vaccaro: fifth year in a row. Contributed photo

Westport Resources, a Westport-based independent investment firm, has announced that its founder and CEO, John Adams Vaccaro, has been named one of Barron’s “Top 1,200 Financial Advisors” in the United States and seventh top advisor in Connecticut for 2014.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Vaccaro, who founded the firm in 1986, has received recognition by the weekly financial newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company.

“I’m honored to receive this recognition,” Vaccaro said. “It’s a testament to the outstanding team we have here at Westport Resources. I commend my team for its hard work and unwavering dedication to our clients.”

Barron’s rankings are determined according to data provided by more than 4,000 of the nation’s most productive advisors, on a state-by-state basis. Rankings are based on assets managed, revenue produced, regulatory record, quality of practice and philanthropic work.

Westport did not show up officially on the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires released today, but two of them might be called unofficial Westport entries.

Marc Lasry , No. 1,047 on the Forbes list, addresses a Westport Public Library audience in 2010. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Phyllis Groner for WestportNow.com

Ray Dalio, a Greenwich resident who heads Westport-based Bridgewater Associates hedge fund, was No. 69 on he list with an estimated worth of $14.4 billion.

And Marc Lasry, also a hedge fund titan who owns a waterfront home in Westport’s Greens Farms section, came in No. 1,047 with an estimated worth of $1.7 billion. Forbes listed his residence as New York, where he has a Manhattan apartment (and where he hosted a fundraiser for President Obama).

The Town of Westport recently listed Lasry and his wife Cathy as No. 8 on its list of top 10 taxpayers in town. (See WestportNow Jan. 31, 2014)  Most of the Connecticut billionaires on the Forbes list live in Greenwich. See the complete list here.