Connect Media Names Christopher Santarelli Vice President, Connect Creative – East

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 16, 2026--

Connect Media, a privately held integrated media company and leading provider of commercial real estate news, today announced that Christopher Santarelli has joined the company as Vice President, Connect Creative – East. Based in Connect Media’s New York City office, Santarelli will lead client strategy and expansion for the growing roster of Eastern U.S.-based real estate services, capital markets, and technology businesses engaging Connect Creative, the company’s strategic communications and creative agency.

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Santarelli brings more than 15 years of experience shaping narratives on how public policy and the built environment influence the decisions businesses and individuals make with their feet. His media relations, thought leadership, and issues management strategies have advanced key initiatives for high-profile real estate companies, advocacy organizations, and elected officials. Santarelli joins Connect Creative from the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), where he served as Director of Media Relations for the leading professional association and advocacy organization representing New York City’s real estate owners, brokers, developers, and investment managers across property types.

The addition of Santarelli reflects Connect Media’s ongoing investment in New York City, where the company has continued to grow its brand, workforce, and client footprint. Working closely with New York City-based Executive Vice President Emily Lettieri, Santarelli will represent the company at key industry conferences, support ongoing recruitment of top talent, and pursue new opportunities for collaboration with real estate industry leaders based in the market.

“Chris has built an impressive career helping real estate businesses and organizations navigate complex market dynamics while strengthening their reputation and brand recognition,” said Daniel Ceniceros, CEO of Connect Media. “His deep relationships in real estate, media, and policy circles in New York City and across the country will be a tremendous asset to our clients as they look to scale within multiple markets and influence important industry dialogue.”

During his tenure at REBNY, Santarelli promoted a wide range of data-driven analysis on the post-pandemic office sector and future of work, helping the market quantify the flight to quality and potential universe for office-to-residential conversions. Other media relations efforts advanced successful advocacy campaigns for supply-focused solutions to address New York City’s housing crisis, as well as to draw attention to growing financial pressures facing the multifamily industry.

“Connect Creative offers a unique platform that combines strategic communications expertise with audience development and editorial insights from a leading real estate industry news and conference provider,” Santarelli said. “I’m excited to work with brands seeking to leverage these tools to grow nationally, as well as a team of colleagues sharing decades of real estate-focused communications experience.”

Prior to REBNY, Santarelli served as a Vice President at Marino, where he advised corporate and real estate clients including Cushman & Wakefield, Knotel, McDonald's, Wolters Kluwer, Basis Investment Group, and Alvarez & Marsal Property Investments. Earlier in his career, he led public relations initiatives for Savills across several U.S. markets and served as Deputy Director of Communications for the New Jersey Treasury Department.

Santarelli earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Boston University. He has served on the Young Professionals Steering Committee for the Association for a Better New York and the Board of Directors for Saint Mary’s High School (Manhasset, NY), as well as a homeless outreach volunteer for the Community of Sant’Egidio.

About Connect Media

Connect Media is a privately held media company based in Los Angeles, operating across business-to-business news, conferences, and creative services. The company serves audiences and clients in commercial real estate, finance, capital markets, retail, restaurant, banking, and self-service technology markets, with a focus on high-quality content, live events, and integrated marketing solutions.

Learn more at www.Connect.Media

Christopher Santarelli

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — About 3,800 workers at one of the nation's largest meatpacking plants went on strike Monday in Colorado in what union representatives said is the first walkout at a U.S. beef slaughterhouse in four decades.

The strike at the Swift Beef Co. plant in Greeley began Monday morning, said Claire Poundstone, an attorney representing workers with United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7. Poundstone said she expected workers to participate in the strike line through the evening.

“We'll be here all day,” she said.

The strike follows accusations from union officials that owner JBS USA retaliated against workers and committed other unfair labor practices amid contract negotiations. A previous contract expired Sunday night.

A message was sent early Monday seeking an updated comment from a spokesperson at JBS USA.

The union said in a news release that its workers “perform some of the most difficult and dangerous jobs in the country.”

“They deserve wage increases that keep pace with inflation, ensure they receive healthcare commensurate with the toll this work takes on their bodies, and that allow them to live with dignity and respect."

It said JBS has been charging many workers at least $1,100 to offset the company’s expenses for personal protective equipment needed to ensure worker safety.

The strike comes at a 75-year low for the U.S. cattle population, with a Jan. 1 inventory of 86.2 million animals — down 1% from the prior year. Rising beef prices have added to economic anxiety in the U.S., while the administration of President Donald Trump has turned to a trade deal with Argentina in efforts to lower prices for food, including beef.

It also follows the January closure of a meatpacking plant in Lexington, Nebraska, which was expected to ripple through the local economy and community. Tyson Foods cited the smaller herd and millions of dollars in expected losses this year.

At the Greeley plant, the company tried to intimidate workers to quit the union in one-on-one meetings, union general counsel Matt Shechter said. A JBA USA statement issued before the strike said the company fully complies with federal and state labor and employment laws.

Kim Cordova, Local 7 president, said 99% of workers voted to authorize the strike. No formal negotiations took place over the weekend after the company refused a union request to negotiate on Saturday, Shechter said.

The company statement said any employee who didn’t want to strike would have work and be paid. The company said it would operate two shifts at the plant Monday and would temporarily move production as needed to other JBS facilities.

“Our goal is to minimize impact to our customers, our partners, and the broader marketplace while we work toward a fair resolution in Greeley,” the company said.

It's the first strike at a U.S. slaughterhouse since workers walked out at a Hormel plant in Minnesota in 1985, Cordova said. That strike lasted more than a year and included violent confrontations between police and protesters, according to the Minnesota Historical Society.

FILE - Employees walk in front of the entrance to the JBS meat processing plant, July 23, 2021, in Greeley, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)