Category Archives: Personnel Briefs

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Warren County announced the hiring of two new employees, Kali DeMarco and Rebecca Devaney.

DeMarco, a graduate from Green Mountain College, is the farm-to-school coordinator. Her focus will be to strengthening partnerships between local food producers and area public schools in Warren and Washington counties. The objective of this program is to connect locally grown, fresh, healthy foods to schools and to teach students the importance of healthy eating in an educational setting.

DeMarco will also work to create and implement the Harvest of the Month program, which highlights a different local product each month.

After graduating from Green Mountain College, DeMarco earned a B.S in natural resource management and a B.A. in animal care and conservation, focusing on law and policy. Before her time at CCE, DeMarco worked at The Wild Center, a natural history museum in the Adirondacks.

Devaney, a graduate of Siena College and currently perusing her M.S. in Agriculture and Plant Health Management from Washington State University, is the new community horticulture coordinator.

She will oversee Warren County’s master gardener volunteer program, and assists with related programs for CCE Saratoga. She will also deliver educational programs and resources on diverse community-based horticulture topics.

Devaney is originally from Long Island, spent her undergraduate years studying environmental science at Siena College. She went on to spend five years working as an educator at the Queens and Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, where she received a certificate in horticulture.

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NBT Bank announced Mark Sidoti has joined the company as a community banker.

He is based at the NBT office located at 295 Broadway in Saratoga Springs.

As community banker, Sidoti will be responsible for managing customer relationships and serving as a financial partner for the Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls region.

Sidoti brings more than 30 years of business development and sales experience in the 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 and the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.

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Upstate Agency LLC announced that Kevin Rucinski recently joined the team as commercial lines practice leader.

Rucinski will be responsible for the management, leadership and growth of the commercial lines division, including oversight of day-to-day operations, projects and profitability goals. He will develop and execute both strategic and tactical plans to ensure long-term success, client retention and growth of the commercial lines practice.

Rucinski brings more than 14 years of insurance experience in the greater Capital Region to the company.

He is certified through the International Risk Management Institute (IRMI) as a construction risk insurance specialist (CRIS), and through the National Underwriter Company as a commercial lines coverage specialist (CLCS). He is licensed with the New York State Department of Financial Services as a property and casualty insurance agent/broker.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I. He currently lives in Wilton.

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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.