August 1999

Task Force Studies Forming New Chapters

By Danielle D'Angelo

In an effort to better reach out to NYSSCPA members across the state, 1998-1999 Society President George T. Foundotos created a task force to study whether or not to form new chapters. The group will examine how to meet the needs of NYSSCPA members who live in some of the chapters' outlying regions, and also will address the New York City area.

Chaired by Ronald J. Huefner, past president of the Buffalo Chapter and a member of the Society's board of directors, the task force first met in July. While it has not fully formulated its methodology, it plans to study the Buffalo, Mid-Hudson, Northeast, and Southern Tier chapters, which serve large geographic areas. Northeast, for example, encompasses members from Albany and Plattsburgh even though more than 100 miles separate the two cities.

"We have areas of population that may be too far from existing chapter bases to be adequately served," Huefner said. "We are looking at the geographic boundaries of these chapters to see if we should consider forming additional local groups."

New York City Also Examined

The task force also will consider whether the Society should establish one or more new chapters in the New York City area. The NYSSCPA currently only has the Staten Island Chapter in New York City even though Manhattan and other boroughs are home to a large percentage of members.

According to task force member Rosemarie Barnickel, immediate past president of the Staten Island Chapter, over half of the 600 members on the chapter's mailing list reside in Brooklyn, but few of these individuals attend meetings. Barnickel and other task force members feel that new chapters can help increase participation from existing members, as well as attract new CPAs to join the Society.

In addition to Barnickel and Huefner, taskforce members include Micki Levine, Kevin O'Connor, and Philip Westcott, who respectively are the immediate past presidents of the Nassau, Mid-Hudson, and Southern Tier chapters.