By Phyllis Graybow, Rockland Chapter President

On May 28, the Rockland Chapter held its annual organizational meeting, during which I had the honor of being elected president. Although I acknowledge the daunting task of leading our chapter into its third and final provisional year, I am eager to continue building upon the wonderful and solid foundation set by my predecessors, Steven Kaplan and David Evangelista. I look forward to continuing the successful events run in the prior two years, such as our “Networking with Professionals,” our full-day 1040 Tax Update with Professor Samuel Dyckman, our half-day IRS/New York State Update and our popular annual golf outing.

In addition, I am planning many new initiatives. One of my goals is to increase membership in both the Rockland Chapter and the state Society. Consequently, I am organizing some informal “Meet and Greets” for which the only admission fee will be to bring a new fellow CPA so that he or she can have the opportunity to meet other members and to learn how their joining would benefit them. I will host the first of these events at my home in July.

Another ongoing chapter goal is to expand the CPA profession as a whole. To help meet this goal, we have scheduled a Career Recruitment Dinner in September when the chapter will host high school and college advisers in order to showcase the many varied fields that our profession encompasses. I hope to initiate an internship program between our members and the business students attending local colleges. In addition to awarding annual scholarships to deserving high school students, our chapter will invite many Academy of Finance students to a multitude of our events so that they can experience firsthand how we interact with other professionals as well as with one another. Established in 1982 and located in more than 275 schools nationwide, the Academy of Finance introduces students to career opportunities in the financial services industry.

Rockland is proud to host the 2004 Young CPA Symposium. We are thrilled to announce that Janet Toborg will chair the event that already is well under way to being an enjoyable and educational experience for all Society young CPAs.

Coincidentally, another goal of our chapter is to expand our Young CPAs Committee membership, ensuring continuity and the passing of the torch on to others. Under the able stewardship of Anat Kuperman and Michael Buxbaum, some upcoming Young CPA events will include a holiday party, a skill-building seminar and a joint social with the Westchester Chapter’s Young CPAs Committee.

Yes, the 2003–2004 year promises to be an exciting one in Rockland. I am excited to be sitting on this year’s executive board beside President-Elect Glenn E. Albin, Treasurer David R. Herman, Secretary Michael Seidenberg and Vice President Ron Tassello. We look forward to forging new and continued relationships with other businesspeople eager to sponsor events with us. We are very fortunate to be CPAs in this small, close-knit county, and because we owe, in large part, our success to it, we recognize our obligation to give back to the community when planning our events. Many new people have expressed interest in becoming an active part of the chapter. We look forward to adding your names to our committees in order to make Rockland the most successful chapter possible!