The Chamber of
Southern Saratoga
County hired Robin
Morgan as its new community
manager.
Morgan has been
working as a marketing
professional for more
than 15 years helping
businesses expand
their reach and customer
base. With experience in the local as
well as the national landscape, her efforts have
been rooted in digital and design work including
working alongside the Chamber as its freelance
designer for the past three years.
With last year’s Chamber website transformation
and increased digital marketing opportunities
for membership, Morgan was added to
better serve members and continue to build
the online community.
A business owner herself, Morgan is the
founding partner of Brew Salt, a maker of
flavored salts available online and distributed
locally.
Tara Anne Pleat, a
partner in the law firm
of Wilcenski & Pleat
PLLC, was elected treasurer
of the Elder Law
and Special Needs Section
of the New York
State Association at its
annual meeting.
The election to treasurer
is the first in a
seven-year commitment to the leadership of the
section. Her tenure began on June 1.
The Elder Law and Special Needs Section
of the State Bar Association is devoted to the
education and support of attorneys practice in
the areas of elder law and special needs estate
planning and trust administration.
Saratoga National
Bank and Trust Co.
hired Brian White as
assistant vice president
and manager of the
Clifton Park office.
White will oversee
operations, serve customers
and develop
new business at the
Clifton Park Office. He
joins Saratoga National with seven years of
banking experience in the Capital Region.
He has a bachelor’s degree in business
administration and will complete a master’s
degree in management from Excelsior College
this summer. Active in the community, he serves
on the Business Administration Advisory Committee
for Hudson Valley Community College.
McPhillips Insurance
Agency appointed
Don Wildermuth as an
account Executive for
Saratoga County and
the surrounding region.
Wildermuth will focus
on developing new
business and meeting
the insurance needs
of existing customers.
He joins the agency with more than 13 years of
experience in financial services, having worked
at McPhillips’ sister company Saratoga National
Bank and Trust Co. since 2001.
He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from
SUNY Geneseo and graduated from the New
York Bankers Association Advanced School of
Banking with top honors as the Philip O. Benham
award recipient.
He is treasurer of the Wilton Rotary Club and
secretary of the Shelters of Saratoga board of
directors.
Towne, Ryan & Partners PC announced that
John W. Liguori is now with the firm.
Liguori, a former partner at an Albany law
firm for 20 years, brings experience in the area
of civil litigation with a concentration in municipal,
public housing and personal injury law. He
has litigated hundreds of negligence defense,
civil rights and personal injury cases in both
state and federal court. Liguori also practices
in the areas of estates and probate, commercial
and residential real estate, landlord-tenant law
and vehicle and traffic offenses.
He is a member of the Albany County Bar Association,
Housing Authority Defense Attorneys
Group and is a charter member of the New York
Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Liguori volunteers at the Double H Ranch
Adaptive Ski Program in Lake Luzerne. He is
the former president of the Board of Trustees
of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for the
Upstate New York and Vermont Chapters. He is
also an adjunct professor of litigation practice
and real property law at the Empire Education
Corp. – Mildred Elley, as well as a presenter at
continuing legal education seminars.
Teal, Becker & Chiaramonte CPAs, PC.
hired Tim Spadaro
as a senior valuation
analyst.
Spadaro is a licensed
Certified Public
Accountant with both
master’s and bachelor’s
degrees in accounting
from Bentley University.
He has experience
in business valuations and is working towards
attaining the chartered financial analyst (CFA)
credential, as he has passed Levels I and II of the CFA exam.
Spadaro’s work experience includes valuation
roles as a valuation analyst at a hedge
fund and private equity investment firm in
Greenwich, Ct., as well as working in the Alternative
Investments Funds division at a Big Four
accounting firm in New York City.
Creatacor, Inc.
in Clifton Park hired
Liese S. Peterson as
vice president, business
development, Valerie
Parkis as assistant to
the vice president of
finance, and Susan
Stammel as senior account
manager.
With more than 20
years in the industry, Peterson was most recently
managing director, North America for Von Hagen
GmbH, one of Germany’s top exhibit building and
event production firms. She has worked as a CEO
and senior sales leader for companies such as GE
Capital, Czarnowski, Motif, and Camden Partners
International. She has been a corporate trainer,
curriculum designer, and in the 1990s, owned
and operated a successful corporate training
business.
Peterson earned her
bachelor’s degree in
German and Russian
from the University
of Wisconsin and her
master’s degree in management
from Northwestern
University’s
JL Kellogg Graduate
School of Management.
Peterson will spearhead
Creatacor’s growth in key western states
with particular focus on the Las Vegas trade
show arena and acquiring new clients worldwide.
Parkis brings nearly 20 years of experience in
bookkeeping and accounting and approximately
12 years as a licensed property and casualty
broker.
In her role at Creatacor, she will assist in
all aspects of the finance department to include
monthly bank reconciliation preparation, sales
tax compliance, quarterly commission report
preparation, insurance liaison, and day-to-day
finance operations.
Parkis earned a bachelor’s degree in business
with a concentration in accounting at SUNY
Cobleskill.
Prior to joining Creatacor,
Stammel served
as a project manager
for Exhibit Planning &
Management International.
With more than
eight years of experience
in management
and accounting, Stammel
will be responsible
for providing clients
innovative solutions for corporate events, exhibitions,
permanent environment and face-to-face
marketing challenges.
Stammel earned an associate’s degree in
business and marketing at Hudson Valley Community
College.
SaxBST is announces the following new hires
and promotions:
Mary Ryan joins the firm’s Business Advisory
Group as a bookkeeper. She previously worked
for Ayco in Saratoga Springs. She is pursuing
her bachelor’s degree in accounting at Empire
State College.
Promoted were:
Brendan Kennedy, from senior manager to
partner.; Paul Zarecki, from senior manger to
director of forensic accounting; Lindsey Amadon,
from associate to senior associate in the
accounting and auditing department; Bethany
Lillie, from associate to senior associate in the
accounting and auditing department.
Robert Brown, from analyst to senior analyst
in the valuation, forensic and litigation support
department; and Scott Loesch, from analyst
to senior analyst in the valuation, forensic, and
litigation support department.
SUNY Empire State College appointed Clayton
A. Steen as vice president of enrollment
management and marketing, effective Sept. 1.
Steen has more than 18 years of experience in
higher education and currently serves as assistant
vice president for enrollment management
at Bowie State University, Bowie, Md.
Steen will provide vision and strategic direction
for SUNY Empire’s marketing, recruitment
and retention programs and initiatives. He also
will be responsible for developing, implementing
and overseeing strategic and multidimensional
marketing, recruitment and retention strategies
for nontraditional undergraduate and graduate
students.
He holds two SUNY degrees, a doctorate in
culture, policy and society, and a bachelor of
arts in social sciences, both from SUNY Buffalo.
He earned a master’s in education from Medaille
College, Buffalo.
Steen was the senior manager for enrollment
performance management for the U.S. and
international campuses at Laureate Education
Inc. and was director of Stevenson University’s
School of Graduate and Professional Studies. At
D’Youville College, Buffalo, he was director of
both the MBA program and Advance, an accelerated
adult degree completion program.
Cheryl Dalton, the district’s director of transportation
for the Saratoga Springs City School
District, received the Art Shock Award from the
New York Association for Pupil Transportation
(NYAPT).
The award, given to a director who has demonstrated
outstanding service and dedication to
student transportation, is the highest honor that
NYAPT bestows.
Dalton has worked for the Saratoga Springs
City School District since 2006 and in the transportation
industry for over 25 years. She has
earned many certifications, including that of
19-A examiner, school bus driver instructor, and
NYAPT certified director of pupil transportation.
At the 2012 NYAPT conference was presented
with a President’s Award for service as chairperson
of the state bus rodeo. In addition, Dalton has
served as a chapter president for the Capital Area
Chapter of NYAPT.
Saratoga Hospital recently welcomed Linda
Hill, DO, and Maggie Caiazza, APRN-BC, ANP,
FNP, to its medical staff.
Both Hill and Caiazza practice at Saratoga
Midwifery and Women’s Primary Care, a service
of Saratoga Regional Medical PC, an affiliate of
Saratoga Hospital. The practice is located at
2911 Route 9, Ballston Spa.
Dr. Hill is board certified in family medicine.
She earned her medical degree from Des
Moines College of Osteopathic Medicine & Surgery
in Des Moines, Iowa, and completed both
an internship and residency at Brighton Medical
Center in Portland, Maine. Prior to joining
Saratoga Midwifery and Women’s Primary Care,
she worked at the Community Health Centers
of the Rutland region in Vermont.
A family nurse practitioner, Caiazza earned
a bachelor’s degree in nursing from SUNY
Institute of Technology, a master’s degree as
an adult nurse practitioner at Columbia University,
and completed post-master’s training
in family health at Russell Sage College, all in
New York state. Before joining the practice,
she worked at Irongate Family Practice in
Glens Falls.
Joseph M. Anderson, CLU, associate wealth
management advisor at Northwestern Mutual
Saratoga, earned the Chartered Advisor for
Senior Living professional designation from
the American College, Bryn Mawr, Pa.
Candidates for the designation must complete
a minimum of five courses and 10 hours
of supervised examinations and must fulfill
stringent experience and ethics requirements.
The program covers a broad range of financial
topics including health insurance, long term care
financing, pension planning, trusts, Medicare and
Medicaid supplemental planning, financial and
estate planning, and more.