Category Archives: Personnel Briefs

Morgan Stanley has named Rhonda Viapiano as branch manager of its Albany branch office.
The Albany branch is part of three locations in the capital region for which she has oversight, including the Latham, and Saratoga Springs branch offices.
Viapiano has spent her entire 35 year career in financial services, performing a variety of roles in capital markets, sales, operations and field management.
Outside her role as branch manager, she is co-chair of Morgan Stanley’s National Diversity and Inclusion Council. In September 2018, Viapiano was named among the Top 10 branch managers by On Wall Street. In 2019, she was named a Morgan Stanley MAKER, a class of trailblazing women of accomplishment nominated by their peers. She has also spearheaded several educational forums in support of women business owners.

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Saratoga Hospital’s Saratoga Community Health Center has added a fifth primary care provider, Dr. Sophia Conroy, to help keep pace with increased demand for these services.
She joins Drs. Renee Rodriguez-Goodemote and Alexander Cardiel, family nurse practitioner Claudina Ashelman and physician assistant Kelly McAree on the primary care team.

Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Blake Realtors announced that Mary Ellen Boese has joined the staff as a licensed real estate agent.
Boese has lived and worked in Saratoga Springs for more than 20 years.
She received her masters in business administration degree from Sage graduate school.
Boese is an active outdoor enthusiast. She resides in Saratoga Springs with her daughter and son.

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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.
In her roles prior to joining Seeley Office Systems, Givens was responsible for cultivating new business relationships in the greater Capital Region.

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Elliot Edwards has been named vice president of retail banking at Ballston Spa National Bank (BSNB).
Edwards will oversee customer service and sales initiatives for the retail banking department and manage retail deposit activities in support of the bank’s overall goals and strategic initiatives.

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.
The firm now has 24 attorneys based in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., including new offices in Glens Falls; Arlington, Mass.; and Sparta, N.J.

The Saratoga Automobile Museum announced that Abby Ingraham was hired as the new director of development.
Ingraham’s background and diverse experience in account management and building partnerships is anticipated to strengthen and expand current museum fundraising and sponsorships. In addition, Ingraham will be responsible for overseeing the museum’s growing membership base.
Ingraham, a Capital Region native, attended The College of Saint Rose and holds a B.A. in public communications. She has worked for nonprofit associations over the past decade.
Her most recent position was with the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association in East Greenbush as director of associate memberships and partnerships. Prior to her role with the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association, Ingraham was a senior account executive for ISSA – The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association in Albany and Chicago.

DeAngelus Goralczyk, PLLC (DG Law) announced that Rebecca Borden has joined the firm.
Borden brings over two decades of experience in practicing law, with a concentration in the areas of commercial and residential real estate, banking and corporate law, and title insurance clearance and curative matters.
Borden received a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Skidmore College in 1995. She earned a Juris Doctorate from Northeastern University School of Law in 1998.
Her work history includes handling all aspects of loss mitigation foreclosure alternatives on both commercial and residential properties, including handling title claims and title curative work. Additional areas of practice include zoning and land use, condominium law and formations, and business and banking law and commercial transactions.

Harris-Pero Legal Counsel, PLLC, of Saratoga Springs, recently named Jessica R. Botelho, Esq. as a partner at the firm, now Harris-Pero & Botelho, PLLC.

Botelho joined the firm last May after gaining significant experience in the areas of estate planning, trust and estate settlements, and elder law at firms in Glens Falls and Albany.

She graduated from Albany Law School in 2014, after receiving a B.A. in psychology from the University at Albany. Her practice focuses in the areas of estate planning, trust and estate settlements, and elder law.

Morgan Stanley announced that Kathleen Grasmeder, managing director, portfolio management director, financial advisor in the firm’s Glens Falls and Oneonta Wealth Management offices, has been named to Forbes Magazine’s list of Top Women Wealth Advisors for 2020, listed on forbes.com.
The “Top Women Wealth Advisors” is a select group of individuals who have a minimum of seven years of industry experience. The ranking, developed by Forbes’ partner SHOOK Research, is based on an algorithm of qualitative and quantitative data, rating thousands of wealth advisors and weighing factors like revenue trends, AUM, compliance records, industry experience and best practices learned through telephone and in-person interviews.

Kathleen Occhiogrosso, SPHR, SHRM-SCP has joined Saratoga Human Resources Solutions, Inc. as a senior human resources consultant.

Occhiogrosso will be responsible for working with business clients to address and solve their HR challenges.

Occhiogrosso brings over 30 years of HR leadership experience to her new role. She is experienced in all facets of HR including employee engagement, HR department operations and performance metrics, labor relations, compensation, recruiting, compliance, and benefits. 

She has served as vice president of HR/CHRO for the Seton Health System, now part of St. Peters Health Partners; vice president of HR/CHRO for St. Mary’s Healthcare in Amsterdam and director of human resources for Logistics One in Saratoga Springs.

Lisa M. Licata with Sterling Homes Inc. has been awarded the Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager (CRB) designation, a premier brokerage management credential in the industry.
There are 48 individuals in New York state with the designation and Licata is the third in the Capital District area. She is also a part of the Broker/Owner/Manager Council of the Greater Capital Association of Realtors.
The CRB title is conferred by the Real Estate Business Institute (REBI) and is an official designation of the National Association of Realtors. All recipients were required to complete a comprehensive program combining experience with management education and subscribe to the Realtor Code of Ethics.

Herzog Law Firm PC announced the addition of Daniel S. Glaser, Esq., to head its growing real estate division.
Glaser spent the past 11 years building and managing his own law firm. He concentrates his practice in residential and commercial real estate representing buyers, seller, and lenders while also handling title insurance.
He is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the Real Property Section of the New York State Bar Association.