The SUNY New Paltz School of Business Hall of Fame Selection Committee for 2009 is pleased to announce the inductees to this year's inductees: Marjorie Rovereto as Business Person of the Year, Arnaldo Sehwerert as Alumnus of the Year, Lauren Guido as Student of the Year and M&T Bank will receive the Dean's Award of Excellence.
Business Person of the Year
Marjorie Rovereto is the President and CEO of Ulster Savings Bank; roles she has held since 2006. She was appointed a Trustee of the bank in 2007. With over $700 million in assets, a billion dollar mortgage portfolio, 350 employees and 14 branches Ulster Savings is a vibrant part of our region's business and cultural communities. During her 25-year career with the bank, Ms. Rovereto has held various positions of increasing responsibility including Servicing Officer, Mortgage Banking Division Vice President, Senior Vice President and Executive Vice President.
A cum laude graduate of SUNY Albany, Ms. Rovereto continued her education with accounting and management courses at Union College. In 1989, she graduated from the American Community Banker's National School of Banking at Fairfield University.
Ms. Rovereto's commitment to her community and the Mid-Hudson Valley are reflected in the depth and breadth of her community service. In addition to her roles as a Trustee of Ulster Savings Bank, she also serves on the Board of the Ulster Savings Charitable Foundation. Her community service has included terms as the Chair of a number of Boards including Rural Ulster Preservation Company, Benedictine Hospital, United Way of Ulster County, and the Ulster County Workforce Investment Board. She has also served on the Board of Directors of the YMCA, Health Alliance Planning Inc., Mid Hudson Pattern for Progress, SUNY New Paltz Foundation and Ulster County Community Foundation.
Recent honors of Ms. Rovereto include the Pride of Ulster County, YWCA Businesswoman of the Year and the 2007 Rip Van Winkle Council Boy Scouts of America Distinguished Citizen Award.
Dean’s Award of Excellence
152 years after its founding in 1856, M&T Bank is considered one of the country's most highly regarded banks, recognized for its financial strength and sound management. M&T's parent company, M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE: MTB), has over $65 billion in assets and today is one of the 20 largest commercial bank holding companies headquartered in the U.S. Its customers are able to bank at over 700 branches throughout New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, and Delaware.
M&T Bank has built its business on a tradition of reliability, accuracy, and responsiveness to the needs of its customers and believes strongly in taking an active role in the communities it serves. Through the volunteerism of its employees and financial contributions made through the bank's philanthropic arm, the M&T Charitable Foundation, M&T supports a diverse range of cultural, civic, education, health care, human service and youth organizations that add value to the communities in which it does business. Within the Hudson Valley, M&T employees served on several community boards, including the SUNY New Paltz Foundation Board and Business Advisory Council, as well of the Boards of the Mohonk Preserve, Bardavon Opera House, Anderson School and Mid-Hudson Patterns for Progress.
The M&T Charitable Foundation has supported numerous community organizations and projects in our area such as the SUNY New Paltz Gala, Business Plan Contest, and Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, as well as Taste of the Hudson Valley, Anderson Educational Foundation and Mill Street Loft. In 2007, through the M&T Charitable Foundation, the bank made $15.5 million in charitable donations to over 2,945 organizations, including nearly $400,000 throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley region. Business Week has named M&T as one of the "Most Generous Companies in America."
Alumnus of the Year
Arnaldo J. Sehwerert is the Regional Director of the Mid-Hudson Small Business Development Center (SBDC), a position he has held for over five years. The SBDC provides general business counseling for small business owners and entrepreneurs in the Mid-Hudson Valley. Mr. Sehwerert was responsible for establishing the Women's and Minority Business Institute, and is an important part of the Internal Revenue Services' Latino Small Business Outreach initiative.
Prior to joining the SBDC, Mr. Sehwerert worked for DMS-RAPP Collins Direct Marketing, Publinversiones Advertising Group, Colomina Sehwerert Consulting, Polar Breweries, Inra Personnel & Management Consultants and IESA Graduate School of Management all in Venezuela, as well as SUNY Binghamton and Cornell University.
As an active member of the community, Mr. Sehwerert is a member of the Ulster County, Dutchess Regional, and Orange County Chambers of Commerce, and serves on many boards and committees including, the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce, Hudson Valley Center for Innovation, The Solar Energy Consortium, Ulster County Cornell Cooperative Extension, Dutchess County Angel Network, Ulster County BOCES Latino Community Outreach, SUNY Ulster Latino Initiative, SUNY New Paltz Business Advisory Council, and, Quality of Life and Business Services Committee of the Ulster Tomorrow Project. He is the past Vice President of the International Advertising Association Board of Directors, Venezuela Chapter, and past member of the Venezuelan Direct Marketing Association Board and Marina del Rey Yacht Club.
Mr. Sehwerert earned a Ph.D. in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, a Master of Science in Management from SUNY Binghamton, and a Bachelor of Science from SUNY New Paltz.
Mr. Sehwerert was the recipient of the 2007 Internal Revenue Service Partnership of Excellence Award.
Student Leader of the Year
Lauren Guido received her B.S. degree in Management and Marketing from SUNY New Paltz in May 2007 and is currently an MBA student with a Management concentration. In the winter of 2008, Ms. Guido accepted a full time position as an Assistant Cost & Rate Analyst at Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation and has been working there ever since. While working full time, she continues to take MBA classes and maintain a 3.95 GPA.
Ms. Guido made the most of her time at SUNY New Paltz. She participated in the Business Plan Contest where her team won second place, and completed two internships- one as a Human Resource Generalist for Gateway Community Industries, Inc. and the other as a Marketing Intern for Ulster Savings Bank.
Ms. Guido also worked for the School of Business. In the Fall of 2007, she was the Leadership Lab Coordinator and an Organizational Behavior Research Assistant as part of a graduate assistantship for the School of Business. In addition, in the Summer of 2007, Ms. Guido assisted the Associate Dean with the School's AACSB accreditation efforts by researching peer schools and analyzing student exit surveys, and the MBA Coordinator by assisting with the application and enrollment process of MBA students.
While at SUNY New Paltz, Ms. Guido was involved in several student associations including the Management Association, Dean's Student Advisory Board and American Marketing Association. She was the Director of Programming for the Management Association in the Fall of 2007. She also served as the student representative for the Business Advisory Council's Internship Committee in the Fall of 2007.
Ms. Guido was inducted into the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society, and received the School of Business Academic Award and SUNY New Paltz Outstanding Graduating Student Award, in May 2007. She was the recipient of the Dr. Donald Bishko Memorial, Dr. Edwin A Ulrich Business and HR Leader of Tomorrow scholarships.
Thank you to our Sponsors!
Presenting Sponsors
Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation
M&T Bank
Corporate Sponsors
KeyBank
Ulster Savings Bank
Vanacore, DeBenedictus, DiGovanni & Weddell, CPA, LLP
Business Sponsors
Everton H. Henriques '78 & '83g & Jeannie Irvine '78
Mid Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union
Timely Signs of Kingston, Inc.
Company Sponsors
Alfandre Architecture
First Investors Corporation
Mohonk Mountain House
Rondout Savings Bank
Rose & Kiernan, Inc.
TD Bank
