Category Archives: Personnel Briefs

The Arrow Family of Companies announced the appointment of Blake Jones, vice president and director of marketing, to senior vice president for Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Co., Saratoga National Bank and Trust Co. and Upstate Agency LLC.

As part of the senior leadership team,  Jones will be responsible for all activities related to the Arrow Family of Companies branding, marketing, communications and community outreach and development.

Jones joined the company in 2012, was named director of marketing in 2017 and vice president in 2018. She has more than 15 years of experience in communications and marketing.

Shes earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Washington and Lee University. She is active in the community serving on various local nonprofit committees including the Southern Adirondack Child Care Network.

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Associates of Glens Falls Insurance  announced the hiring of Carol Taylor as commercial lines assistant account manager.

Taylor spent over 20-years working on the provider side for a human services agency in Texas.  She transitioned into the insurance arena five years ago and attained her New York State insurance agent license after moving to the area in 2019.

Taylor, of Queensbury, also holds the certified insurance service representative (CISR) designation.

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Peckham Industries Inc.,  which has locations in Warren and Washington counties,  announced that its board of directors has named Damian Murphy as chief executive officer.

Murphy will serve as a member of the board. He has over 25 years of experience in the construction materials sector, working with both public and privately held companies.

Murphy succeeds John R. Peckham, who has served as president and chief executive officer since 1992.

Most recently, Murphy founded OPL Advisors, an advisory firm to the industry. Prior to that, he was part of the original founding team at Summit Materials and served as regional president through its growth, initial public offering (IPO) and continued expansion. He also served in company and regional president roles for Oldcastle-CRH in the mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions.

Prior to that, he served as vice president of Aggregate Industries’ Rocky Mountain region, responsible for aggregates and hot mix asphalt production and sales. Before joining Aggregate Industries, Murphy worked in the mid-Atlantic region for a top 10 privately held aggregate supplier and began his career in Europe.

Murphy received a bachelor of engineering degree with a concentration in minerals engineering from the Camborne School of Mines in the United Kingdom and holds a master’s in business administration from the University of Dayton, Ohio.

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Integrated Staffing in Saratoga Springs has hired Matt Nazarian as a talent acquisition specialist.

Nazarian was previously employed at Stewart’s Shops and as an assistant football coach/ He also worked for Wynn Las Vegas as a slot supervisor.

He received a bachelor’s degree from Hartwick College and a master’s degree from Trinity College. He has also received a Management Achievement Award from Hartwick College and a corporate recognition award from Stewart’s Shops.

His responsibilities at the company will include recruitment for large corporations nationally as well as niche local placements. 

Jessica E. Stover, Esq., a former partner of The Towne Law Firm, and Christine E. Taylor, a former associate, have both been named as principal partners of the firm.
Stover is in charge of the firm’s Saratoga Springs office location.
Before moving to Saratoga Springs in 2007, Stover attended Union College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. She went on to Syracuse University School of Law, where she received her J.D. degree. She also obtained an L.L.M. in Real Property Development from the University of Miami School of Law.
Stover’s real estate law services include both residential and commercial purchase and sales, leases, bank representation, homeowners’ associations/condo associations; title examination and title insurance law, and estate planning.
Taylor joined the firm in 2018 and has refined her practice to focus primarily on the hospitality industry, serving clients across the entire northeast as well as nationally.
Taylor, originally planning to focus her career on entertainment law, attended UCLA School of Law where she received her J.D. degree.
A former professional opera singer, she began her career working with a variety of production companies and movie stations. She ultimately returned to Upstate New York where she transitioned to providing comprehensive legal services to various small businesses, with a specific focus on campgrounds and RV parks.
The Towne Law Firm has local area offices in Glens Falls, Saratoga Springs, and Albany, NY

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Sustainable PR, a Glens Falls-based public relations agency providing earned media services to green companies, has expanded its team to serve the communication needs of companies in the green economy.
David R. Evanson, John F. Kouton and Nicole Hallberg collectively bring decades of marketing communications experience in financial communications, public affairs and content marketing to clients seeking to leverage sustainability as a driver for growth, the company said.
The company also announced its first client, Soho Waterworks, a Brooklyn-based start-up water distributor.

The Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce (ARCC) welcomed two new team members. Joining the ARCC team are Carol Ann Conover in member services and Karen Mattison as finance manager.
Conover, a South Jersey native, has a professional background spanning multiple business sectors. She began in health care as a nurse’s aide at ACMC through college and went on to become an administrator for a comprehensive cardiac facility by the age of 25 before relocating to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where she began her writing career with a small local paper.
She authored several regular feature columns and she has written food and travel columns and reviews for several newspapers and online journals.
She has worked in hospitality at Davidson Brothers in Glens Falls and most recently The Queensbury Hotel. She has served at the Glens Falls Farmer’s Market with Dickinson’s Delights, and has been an active fundraiser, most recently for the Great Cycle Challenge benefiting Children’s Cancer Charities.
She also operates a freelance writing and social media and marketing business.
Mattison, owner of Busy Bee Bookkeeping, LLC, earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the College of St. Joseph after which she worked for a local CPA firm for 13 years. In 2018, she started her own business and obtained her IRS enrolled agent designation in 2019.

Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Co. announced the promotion of Kristi Manning to branch manager/officer of its Northway Exit 18 branch in Stewart’s Plaza.
The bank also announced the appointment of John VanNatten as regional market leader for the Adirondack Region.
In her role as branch manager, Manning will oversee branch operations and develop banking relationships with business and personal customers.
She started with the bank in June 2003 as a travelling teller, and was promoted in July 2019 to assistant branch manager of the Broad Street branch.
Manning currently serves as treasurer for the South Queensbury Volunteer Fire Co. and Auxiliary. Originally from the South Glens Falls area, she currently lives in Hudson Falls.
VanNatten will oversee the Essex and Clinton county market areas for the bank. The position interacts with all lines of business in the region including retail branches and the business development teams.

Seeley Office Systems has hired Ashtin Givens as a business development specialist.
Givens brings with her nearly six years of experience in business development and client management. She has worked in many different industries and has helped support organizations both big and small.
She holds a B.S. in human development and family relations from SUNY Plattsburgh.

Morgan Stanley announced that Matthew Baitinger, a financial advisor in the firm’s Glens Falls office has completed the firm’s Insurance Accreditation Program and now holds the Insurance Planning Director (IPD) designation.
Recipients of the IPD designation have demonstrated a commitment to, and understanding of, holistic goals-based wealth management planning through the incorporation of insurance solutions into their practice as a foundational component of risk management.

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Geoffrey S. Mullen has been hired as a partner at Teal, Becker & Chiaramonte (TBC).
Mullen comes to TBC with 25 years of experience working in public accounting.
He has extensive experience in real estate partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, private equity portfolio companies; technology companies; state and local taxation and tax credits; flow-through companies; consolidated corporate tax filings; international tax planning; and real estate transaction planning.

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The Towne Law Firm announced a major expansion of its professional team and its geographic reach to accommodate increasing client needs in multiple jurisdictions throughout the Northeast.

Mannix Marketing announced the addition of Cameron Cardinale to Mannix Marketing as a social media intern for GlensFalls.com.
Cardinale was hired as a social media intern in June, working closely with Liz Sutton, the social media manager at Mannix Marketing.
He drives traffic to local businesses through Instagram and is starting the first Glens Falls TikTok and Reel channels. His goal is to market fun things to do in the Glens Falls region to the next generation.

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Glens Falls National Bank and Trust Co. announced the appointment of Mark Wolfenden as director of internal audit and senior vice president