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Message From the President By Beth van Bladel, Northeast Chapter President Thursday, Sept. 18, was an eventful day for the Northeast Chapter! I invite you to read along as I share with you the key discussion points from our Board of Directors’ meeting and our officers visitation and ethics CPE. First, I would like to extend my appreciation to Tim O’Connor and Siobhan Gervasio, of Marvin and Company, P.C., for coordinating the day’s events. The Board of Directors met to review the activities of the Northeast Chapter Committees with special emphasis on the Cooperation with Educators Committee as it seeks to expand its reach to high school students at risk, through the Sponsor-a-Scholar Program and the NYSSCPA Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession (COAP) Program. This is a great opportunity to be a positive influence in a young person’s life as we share with them our experiences as CPAs. If you would like to learn more about the Cooperation with Educators Committee, please contact our cochairs Ron Guzior (rguzior@bstco.com) or Tim O’Connor (tno@marvincpa.com) The Board of Directors also received presentations from two Northeast Chapter members who sit on NYSSCPA statewide committees. I want to extend my appreciation to both David Hasso, Chair of the NYSSCPA’s Government Accounting and Auditing Committee, and Heather Mowat, Member of the NYSSCPA’s Relations with the Legal Community Committee, for sharing with us the action plans of their respective committees and their own personal experiences. We learned there are many benefits of getting involved with the NYSSCPA statewide committees. They provide an opportunity to network with a diverse group of CPAs (public, industry and government), they are a great resource for technical advice, they play a key role in advocating for our profession and they provide useful CPE through the planning of annual conferences. Did you know there are over 60 NYSSCPA statewide committees? If you would like to learn more about these committees, I invite you to go to www.nysscpa.org. Finally, the Board of Directors held a discussion on how the Northeast Chapter should advocate for our profession. We concluded that advocacy begins when we “lead by example.” Advocacy takes place in the service of nonprofits when we volunteer to sit on Finance Committees and Boards. Advocacy takes place in the service of schools, when we volunteer to support our children’s programs. Advocacy takes place when we make ourselves available to the media when they have questions requiring our expertise. And finally, advocacy takes place when we participate in the legislative process. At the officers visitation dinner, the NYSSCPA leadership joined us to further explore our role in the legislative process. I would like to extend my appreciation to Jeffrey Hoops, president of the NYSSCPA, and Louis Grumet, executive director of the Society, for coming to Albany to share with us their viewpoints on the first major accountancy reform bill to be passed by the New York State Senate in over 50 years. They both emphasized how chapters are critical to the success of our State Society and the CPA profession. Now that the Accountancy Reform Bill has been unanimously passed by the New York State Senate, our goal is to have the New York State Assembly pass similar legislation in 2004. In order to meet this goal, it is imperative that we all participate in the legislative process. We can do so by making a contribution to the Political Action Committee (PAC). The PAC is a nonpartisan committee that makes contributions to candidates who understand and support our legislative activities. We can participate in the legislative process by being a resource to our local legislators. Do you know your New York State Assemblyman or an aide to a New York State Assemblyman? If so, please reach out and voice your support for the Accountancy Reform Bill. Thanks very much to Ian Benjamin, Chair of the NYSSCPA’s Professional Ethics Committee, for bringing clarity to the issue of Professional Ethics during our two-hour seminar. If
you have any thoughts you would like to share
with me, please do not hesitate to contact me
at 518-475-5156 or |
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