NEW YORK – (September 24, 2012) – William F. Berardi, a long-time certified public accountant (CPA) practicing in Kingston, N.Y., has been selected to receive the 2012 Michael H. Urbach CPA Community Builders Award for his significant impact on community-based charities.
Berardi, a CPA for more than 30 years and a principal of Berardi, Gottstine & Miller, will be formally presented at the annual meeting of the New York Council of Non-Profits (NYCON)
www.nycon.org, on October 4th in New Paltz.
This the ninth year the award – named after the late Urbach, the first CPA to serve as the New York State Commissioner of Taxation and Finance during the Governor George Pataki administration – has been given. The honor seeks to recognize the roles, talents and leadership that a CPA provides as a board member for community-based charities. The award is co-sponsored by the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA)
www.nysscpa.org and NYCON.
“I am thankful for the opportunity to have worked with our community’s organizations and their board members to fulfill their important missions and am flattered to have been nominated to the Community Builders Award in honor of the late Michael H. Urbach,” Berardi said.
“Importantly the award brings attention to the resources, trainings and benefits offered by NYCON and the NYSSCPA which may be of interest to organizations in order to expand and enhance the effectiveness of the resources which their organizations have available,” he said.
Berardi is currently the president and board member of the Mid-Hudson Chapter of the New York State Society of CPAs. He has also served NYSSCPA as a president-elect, vice president, secretary and treasurer. He is also currently a member of the Ulster County Comptroller's Citizen Advisory Committee, the Key Bank Advisory Board, the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley Finance Committee and the Kingston Consolidated School District Audit & Finance Committee.
Berardi ‘s “extensive dedication and work to serve his community is worthy of recognition,” said Tracy Niemotko, an attorney, CPA and colleague who wrote one of several award nomination letters NYCON received on Berardi’s behalf.
Berardi’s previous community services include acting as trustee of several scholarship funds, chairman and treasurer of John A. Coleman Catholic High School, and serving on the boards of multiple organizations such as the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce, Save Them Now, an organization that addresses criminal and drug offenders incarceration recidivism; the Kingston Mid-Town Business Association and the Kingston Land Trust.
He has also worked as a professional education instructor for SUNY Ulster, and as a mentor for the Ulster County School to Work Partnership, the NYS Dept. of Economic Development and the Marist College Alumni network.
The NYSSCPA is a nonprofit professional association that represents more than 28,000 CPAs in the state of New York.
Founded in 1927, NYCON is a 501(C)(3) membership-based, statewide association of diverse charitable nonprofit organizations. With more than 3,000 members, NYCON works to build the capacity of nonprofits that provide responsive, cost-effective services to New York communities.
For more information about Berardi or the Community Builders Award, please contact Alonza Robertson, the NYSSCPA Media Relations Manager, at
arobertson@nysscpa.org or call 212.719.8405.