Category Archives: Personnel Briefs

Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Alex Rusate as Senior Vice President and Director of Internal Audit.

Mr. Rusate is responsible for managing the Internal Audit Department, which provides oversight over organizational risks and controls. He performs the same duties for Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company and Upstate Agency, which are part of the Arrow Family of Companies. Mr. Rusate reports independently to the Board Audit Committee on risk and audit issues and to the Chief Operating Officer on internal and administrative issues.

Mr. Rusate brings more than 10 years of experience to the role, most recently as Senior Internal Auditor for New York Independent System Operator, a non-profit organization that manages New York’s electric grid and competitive wholesale electric marketplace. He was previously a Senior Associate with KPMG.

Mr. Rusate received a master’s degree in accountancy and a bachelor’s degree in accountancy and global perspectives from Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA). Mr. Rusate also attained his Certification in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA) and Certification in Control Self-Assessment (CCSA).

Arrow Financial Corp. announced the promotion of Marc Yrsha to chief banking officer for its two subsidiary banks, Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Co. and Saratoga National Bank and Trust Co.

Yrsha retains his position as executive vice president and will assume all chief banking officer responsibilities for the banks. 

He joined the company in 2015 and currently oversees retail banking, which includes retail, consumer, business and municipal banking, as well as small business and home equity lending. As chief banking officer, Yrsha succeeds Dave DeMarco, who was promoted to president and CEO of Arrow in May.

Yrsha is active in the community and currently serves as chair of the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the Council of Business Advisors for the Lake George Association, Warren County Local Development Corporation and Lake George Regional Planning Board loan review committees.

He is a graduate of Castleton State University and the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class of 2013. Marc and his family currently live in Queensbury.

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Roohan Realty announce that Megan Brenenstuhl has joined the team as a licensed real estate salesperson.

Brenenstuhl was born and raised outside of Lexington, Ky., and went on to pursue sales, marketing, and event planning opportunities in the outdoor recreation industry in places like New Zealand, Key Largo, Virginia, Vermont, and Colorado.

She and her family reside in Saratoga Springs.

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Saratoga National Bank and Trust Co. announce that Dina Trahan and Philip Carr  recently joined the residential lending team.

Both are based in the Latham Century Hill Business Development Office, which serves the greater Capital District. 

In her role as residential mortgage originator, Trahan helps clients with their home-financing experience and guides them through the mortgage application process.

She has more than 30 years of experience in residential mortgage services and is past president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Northeastern New York.

Trahan is active in her community and currently serves as a member of the Brunswick-Brittonkill Central School District Board of Education.

Carr will also help clients with their home financing experience and guide them through the mortgage application process. He brings more than 10 years of lending services experience to the position.

He is a graduate of the Rensselaer County Chamber Leadership Institute and a former board member of the Capital Alliance of Young Professionals (CAYP).

Carr earned a degree in business administration from Hudson Valley Community College in Troy. He lives in Stillwater.

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NBT Bank has announced that Mark P. Sidoti was promoted to branch manager of its Glens Falls office located at 86 Glen St.

Sidoti will be responsible for business development, managing customer relationships and serving as a financial partner for customers in the Glens Falls region.

Sidoti joined NBT Bank in 2021 as a community banker. He has more than 30 years of business development and sales experience in the banking, telecommunications, payroll, outsourcing and employee benefits industries.

An active member of the community, he serves as the treasurer of the Glens Falls Civic Center Foundation board and as an ambassador for the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce.

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Ballston Spa Bancorp, Inc., parent company of Ballston Spa National Bank, announced that Richard P. Sleasman has been appointed the new chair of the company’s board of directors.

 Sleasman joined the board in 2016 and was elected to the position of vice chair in October of 2022. He succeeds Robert E. Van Vranken Esq., who served as chair for nearly 19 years prior. 

Sleasman is the managing director of CBRE-Albany as well as the president of the newly formed CBRE-Upstate NY with offices in Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. He brings more than 35 years of leadership experience in commercial real estate brokerage and property management services to his new role as board chair. 

Active in the community, Sleasman also serves as chair of the Society of Industrial & Office Realtors’ national foundation and as past chair of the board for both the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce and the Eastern New York Red Cross. 

He graduated from Siena College with a bachelor of science in marketing and management and remains active with the college in several capacities.

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Brookhaven Golf Course head PGA professional Anthony Therrien has received an award from the Northeastern New York PGA. 

The Roland Stafford Award is presented to a PGA professional who exemplifies the qualities in honor of the true traditions of the game of golf such as integrity, honesty, and sportsmanship, according to Northeastern New York PGA.

Brookhaven Golf Course is a municipal golf course owned and operated by the town of Greenfield. It will be presented at a NENY PGA special awards banquet in November.

Therrien joined Brookhaven in 2019. The course has grown significantly in recent years and is well known for its historic connection to LPGA golfing champion and television broadcaster Dottie Pepper, who started learning the game of golf at Brookhaven as a youth.

Therrien runs PGA Junior League, “Learn to Golf” sessions, private lessons, and a robust weekly league and summer tournament schedule.

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Saratoga National Bank and Trust Co. hired  Alina Serradimigni as vice president and branch manager of the Saratoga main office.

The bank also announced the announce the promotion of Jeffrey Goliber to vice president and manager, retirement plan services.

In her new role, Serradimigni will oversee daily operations, provide quality customer service and develop banking relationships to help individuals and businesses reach their financial goals. She brings more than 10 years of banking experience to the position.

The Republic of Moldova native attended Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in banking and finance.

Serradimigni currently lives in Glens Falls and is an active member in her community. She serves as Vice President of St. George Orthodox Church and Treasurer of Adirondack Greek Festival Committee.

Goliber is responsible for managing the Retirement Plan Services department in the Wealth Management Division, including managing and coaching staff, overseeing the sales process to drive business results and ensuring exceptional customer service. He is also responsible for the administration of individual retirement plans and qualified retirement plans.

Goliber has 27 years’ experience in banking and retirement services. Since joining Saratoga National in 2019, he  has successfully held several leadership positions within Retirement Plan Services. 

The Ballston Lake native attended SUNY Potsdam, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in economics. 

He lives in Wilton and is an active member in his community. He serves as treasurer and chair of the finance committee for the Franklin Community Center, Inc. in Saratoga Springs.

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Julie & Co. Realty announced that Katie Travis is the newest member of its brokerage in Saratoga Springs.

Travis, of Saratoga Springs, was raised in Southern California, where she received her associate’s degree in communications and Bachelor of Science degree  in psychology,.

She has developed extensive experience investing and managing properties, renovating homes, as well as working with Veterans Administration loans over the last 13 years. 

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Saratoga National Bank and Trust Co. announced the promotion of Danielle A. Pelletier to branch manager of the Troy office.

The bank also announced the promotion of Whitney Burger to vice president, municipal banking relationship manager.

Pelletier joined the bank in 2015 as a teller and was promoted to assistant branch manager in 2022.

Pelletier is responsible for cultivating business relationships, managing and coaching staff and providing banking services to Rensselaer County communities. She brings more than 10 years of banking experience to the position, eight of which have been spent with Saratoga National Bank.

She is active in her community, serving as a tutor with Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County. She is a Stillwater native.

Burger is responsible for maintaining, growing and servicing the company’s municipal portfolio and deepening relationships with longtime customers.

She joined the bank in 2018 and will continue to work closely with branch staff and business partners to offer a variety of products and services to enhance the customer experience.

The Whitehall native attended Ithaca College, where she received her bachelor’s degree in communications.

Burger currently lives in South Glens Falls and is an active member in her community. She serves as board president of the Warren Washington Homeless Youth Coalition/DBA WAIT House.

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Robert Roemer has been named vice president of information technology at Ballston Spa National Bank.

He will be responsible for leading and managing the bank’s information technology strategy including core, network, application, and telecommunication services.

 Bringing 25 years in leadership and technology experience from a local federal credit union, Roemer most recently worked as a senior vice president of systems delivery. 

He graduated from Sage Junior College of Albany with a degree in computer information systems. Active in the community, Roemer is a trustee and wish grantor for Make-A-Wish NENY.

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Saratoga National Bank and Trust Co. announced the promotion of Leslie D’Angelico to business development sales manager.

D’Angelico will be responsible for day-to-day management of the business development team with a focus on developing, growing and deepening new and existing relationships across the bank’s footprint and business lines. She will also continue to support the bank’s retail branch teams.

D’Angelico has more than 20 years of experience in banking, 12 of which have been spent with Saratoga National Bank and the Arrow Family of Companies. In that time, she has successfully held leadership and individual producer roles within Retail Banking.

She attended SUNY Adirondack and has completed several courses from the American Institute of Banking. She lives in Queensbury and is active in the community serving on two boards, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Southern Adirondacks and Queensbury Community Scholarship Association.

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Saratoga Hospital has appointed Scarlet Clement-Buffoline as the vice president of operations for ambulatory and physician services.

 Clement-Buffoline has more than two decades of administrative experience in positions of increasing responsibility at Capital Region hospitals. 

Most recently, she served as the executive director of Saratoga Hospital Medical Group, the hospital’s multidisciplinary practice. In that role, she was responsible for development of a strategic plan for the Group, oversight of operations, and initiating processes to improve access to high-quality care in the region.

 Clement-Buffoline will have oversight of the entire Saratoga Hospital Medical Group, as well as all outpatient services, including imaging, radiation oncology, regional therapy centers, and urgent care locations.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and health from SUNY Potsdam, and a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the University at Albany. A fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, she is board certified in healthcare management. She is also a member of the Association of Healthcare Management – Western New York and the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. 

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Discover Saratoga announced the hiring of Alyssa Foote as manager of weddings, sports, and sales events. 

Foote brings a combined eight-plus years of planning, coordination, and hospitality experience to the role. She has worked in a variety of market segments, most notably weddings and social. 

She has previously worked at the Courtyard by Marriott and Excelsior Springs Event Center and the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls. She will  work with new couples and showcase Saratoga as a premier wedding destination and work with meeting groups.

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Lemery Greisler LLC recently announced that Claire McRae has been promoted to member.

McRae has been with the Capital Region business law firm since the start of her legal career in 2011. She concentrates her practice in the areas of corporate and transactional law, including mergers and acquisitions, as well as the formation and day-to-day operation of corporations, limited liability companies and other business entities. She also practices estate planning and estate settlement, which includes the drafting of wills and trusts as well as the representation of fiduciaries, beneficiaries, and creditors in estate probate and estate administration.

Prior to graduating law school at Boston College, McRae interned with the Albany County District Attorney’s Office and the Schenectady County Probation Department. She is admitted to practice in New York state and is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the Saratoga County Bar Association.

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Bucknam & Conley CPAs, a CPA firm specializing in tax and providing services nationwide, announced that Riley Markle has joined the firm as office administrator/project manager. 

She will be the front-line client interface of the firm, will manage our technology and client experience initiatives and will oversee the internal workings of the office.  

After graduating from the University of Albany, Markle enrolled at SUNY Empire State College where she is pursuing an MBA with a concentration in Human Resource Management.   

Riley gained her prior experience in operations, human resources, and office administration while working at a law firm in Albany and later in a consulting firm in Saratoga. 

The company also announced that both Daulton McHale and Bryce Kahler passed their last part of the CPA exam.  

 McHale is officially a licensed CPA in the state of New York. He is a senior tax associate and Kahler is a tax and accounting associate.  They work on a wide range of industries and have a broad perspective on the varied tax and accounting issues that clients encounter.

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NBT Bank announced that Catherine Raymond has joined the company as talent acquisition manager. 

Raymond, who has more than a decade of experience in talent management, will design, implement and manage effective hiring strategies for candidates across the company’s seven-state footprint that align with NBT Bank’s business goals.

Most recently, Raymond served as talent acquisition operations manager for Oneida Nation Enterprise. Prior to that, she was the division manager for an accounting and finance staffing firm. 

She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Nazareth College and has received numerous awards for her work. Active in her community, Raymond volunteers at the Boys & Girls Club and with the Wounded Warriors Project.

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