Page 48 - BusinessWest October 3, 2022

NATHANIEL MUNSON
TIFFANY POIRIER
bankESB recently promoted three team members — Nathaniel Munson to vice president, commercial credit officer; Lisa Phakos to com- pliance officer; and David Viamari to assistant vice presi- dent, assistant controller — and welcomed Cara Cusson
to the Marketing Department as its Marketing Communica- tions manager. Munson joined bankESB in 2018 as portfolio manager and was promoted to assistant vice president, portfolio manager in 2020. He is responsible for managing
People on the Move
before that was the production manager in the Com- munications Office at Deerfield Academy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from UMass Amherst and a master’s degree in corporate and organizational communication from Northeastern University. She is a volunteer for Safe Passage.
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Massachusetts College of Lib- eral Arts (MCLA) announced that Brenda Burdick, director of Strategic Communications at General Dynamics Mission Systems, has been elected to the role of chair of the board of trustees for the college. Gov. Charlie Baker appointed Burdick to the board in 2018,
and she was reappointed for a sec- ond five-year appointment this summer.
Prior to her election, Burdick had served as chair of the student affairs committee and academic affairs
She also volunteers at the Hampshire County Sherriff’s picnic and has volunteered during the Northampton Family Fourth event at Look Memorial Park. Florence Bank also recently presented its
2022 President’s Award to three staff members for outstanding service. Established in 1995, the President’s Award recognizes outstanding performance, customer service, and overall contribution to Florence Bank. Honorees are nominated by their colleagues at the bank. This year’s award winners are Tiffany Poirier, commercial loan-support assistant manager in the Commercial Department; Shaina
Snape, a customer-service specialist in the Customer Service Center; and Nicholas Andrus, a customer-service representative. All three employees work in the bank’s main branch in Florence.
Poirier was hired at the bank in March 2017. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Westfield State University and has 15 years
of banking experience. Snape began working at Florence Bank in 2018 and has 12 years of banking experience. Andrus was also hired in 2018 and has eight years of experience in banking.
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Dean Gomes recently joined Bulkley Richardson as senior manager of Information Tech- nology. His career has been dedicated to IT management, and he spent the last 13 years as director of Enterprise Tech- nology at the law firm of Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider, LLP with offices in New York City, Wash-
ington, D.C., San Francisco, and Hartford, Conn. Gomes earned a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Pace University in New York City. Bulkley Richardson also recently welcomed four attorneys to the firm. Matthew Dziok earned a juris doctor degree from Western New England Uni- versity School of Law, where he graduated second in his class. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in crimi- nal justice from UMass Boston. Briana Dawkins is a graduate of Western New England University School of Law and earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Curry College, summa cum laude. She was an intern at the U.S. Department of Labor and the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. Shriti Shah graduated from the Uni- versity of Connecticut School of Law. She received a master’s degree in Management Studies in 2007 and a bachelor’s degree in commerce in 2004 from the University of Mumbai. Jacob Kosakowski is a gradu- ate of Suffolk University School of Law and earned a bachelor’s degree from UMass Amherst, summa cum laude. He served as an intern for Chief Justice Paul Dawley and the Child Abuse Unit of the Northwest- ern District Attorney’s Office.
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The board of directors of the Northern Berkshire
UnitedWay(NBUW)announcedtheappointmentof Duffy Judge as its new executive director. Judge has filled the
role of inter-
BRENDA BURDICK
LISA PHAKOS
SHAINA SNAPE
NICHOLAS ANDRUS
DAVID VIAMARI
credit analysts and portfolio managers in underwriting new loans. Prior to bankESB, he was with Westfield Bank
for six years, most recently as senior credit analyst. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western New England University and
a certificate from the New England School for Financial Studies. Munson is an active member of Mountain View Baptist Church in Holyoke, cur- rently serving as a trustee and Sunday school director. Pha- kos joined bankESB in 2001 as assistant branch manager. She moved to the Audit Depart-
ment as staff auditor in 2006 and was promoted to compliance specialist in 2018. She is responsible for implementing and managing the COSO internal- control frameworks across the Hometown Financial Group family of banks, which includes bankESB, bankHometown, and Abington Bank. She is also responsible for compliance reviews of all marketing and advertising materials, manages the Compliance Department monitoring program, and completes regular compliance monitoring and audits. Phakos attended the ABA Foundational Compliance School and the Mass Bankers Compliance Academy and serves on the board of governors of the Western Mass. Compliance Assoc. She is also a board mem- ber and secretary for the Nonotuck Valley Hockey Assoc. Viamari joined bankESB in 2020 as accounting officer. Prior to bankESB, he was employed by Wolf & Co., P.C. for 10 years, most recently as senior auditor. He oversees general finance and accounts payable for bankESB and financial and regulatory reporting for the Hometown Financial Group family of banks. Viamari holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from UMass Amherst and is a member of the Boston chapter of the Financial Managers Society and a finance committee member for the Lathrop Home. Cusson will be responsible for strategic mar- keting communication plans and programs, manag- ing and directing the company’s sales material and promotional inventory program, managing commu- nications-related projects and priorities, and manag- ingthepromotionofsponsorshipsanddonations company-wide for bankESB and across the member banks of its parent company, Hometown Financial Group. Prior to joining bankESB, Cusson was the director of Planning and Special Projects in the Uni- versity Relations Department at UMass Amherst and
committee as well as vice chair of the board. She suc- ceeds Mohan Boodram as chair of the board. Burdick started her career at General Dynamics in Pittsfield in 1995 before becoming the Marketing and Pub-
lic Relations manager in 2002, and later adopting
the role of senior manager of Marketing and Public Relations in 2014. Before joining General Dynam- ics, Burdick was director of Sales and Marketing for Swift River Inn in Cummington and was both a Sales manager and a Public Relations assistant for Canyon Ranch in Lenox. She also served as a member of the Berkshire United Way board of directors from 2008 to 2017, which included one two-year team as chair- person and two two-year terms as vice chairperson. Burdick holds a bachelor’s degree in business admin- istration with a double major in business communi- cations and marketing from Bryant University. She currently serves on 1Berkshire’s executive committee as the vice chair and has been with the organization since 2009.
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Florence Bank recently presented its 2022 Community Support Award to Linda Bushey, a mortgage specialist in the main office in Florence. The Community Support Award was established by
the bank in 1997 as a means
of formally recognizing employees who are active
in the community and give their personal and professional time to local nonprofit organizations. Each year, the award recipient can select an organization of his or her choice, and the bank
will donate $500 to that organization. Bushey chose to support two organizations, so $250 will be granted to the Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden Agricultural Society and Three County Fair, which promote agricultural education and scientific agriculture, and $250 will be granted to the Greater Northampton St. Patrick’s Committee Inc. Bushey was hired at Florence Bank in 1994 as a teller and held a variety of positions before becoming a senior mortgage processor. She is now a mortgage specialist with 32 years of banking experience. She received the Florence Bank President’s Award for outstanding service in 2001 and is a 2017 recipient of the inaugural Leonard Von Flatern Jr. Volunteer AwardpresentedbytheHampshire,Franklinand Hampden Agricultural Society. Bushey serves on the Three County Fair board of directors and is
a longtime fair volunteer. She is treasurer of the Greater Northampton St. Patrick’s Committee and also volunteers in many events for the committee.
im execu- tive direc-
People
CARA CUSSON
DEAN GOMES
LINDA BUSHEY
48 OCTOBER 3, 2022
DEPARTMENTS
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