By Deborah Fitzgerald, Utica Chapter President

I look forward to welcoming the coming year as president of the Utica Chapter. The new slate of officers for the 2003–2004 year is as follows:

President-Elect: Robert Ritz
Vice President: TBA
Treasurer: David Wonjas
Secretary: Thomas VanHatten

Please feel free to contact any of the officers with your ideas, comments and questions throughout the coming year. We are looking forward to continuing to serve the needs of the chapter as best we can.

We plan to offer several two-hour breakfast CPE sessions starting in the fall. If there are any special topics you would like presented, please let me know. In addition to these sessions, we have been invited to participate in a series of Estate and Charitable Giving Strategies sessions offered by the Community Foundation of Oneida and Herkimer Counties, Inc. Look for a flyer in the mail.

In addition to our CPE presentations, we are also having our annual golf outing this summer. I’ll keep you posted as details become available.

In the fall, we will have a food drive collecting items for a local food bank in conjunction with our November CPE session. Adding to our community service efforts, we also look forward to participating in the Toys for Tots campaign, which has always been a successful event for the chapter.

The officers and I would like to further develop our education program, getting more involved with the local high schools to keep our young people aware of the accounting profession. As a chapter, we need volunteers to help with this endeavor. Eileen Kilty, our Young CPA Committee Chair, has been working hard and welcomes any additional assistance.

Our Members in Industry Committee, led by John Lauchert, had a successful first year. They hope to increase interest in the group for the coming year by holding several breakfast meetings offering speakers focusing on relevant topics for our industry members. They have already started to work with other groups, such as the Institute of Management Accountants and the Financial Executive Institute, to bring seminars and conference to members in industry.

In closing, I would like to thank Elizabeth Park, Utica’s most recent president. I look forward to maintaining her accomplishments as well as embarking upon my own. Be in touch!