Brooklyn's Progress
December 2007/January 2008

BANKING/ FINANCE
Northfield Bank: Kathleen Owsiany joined Northfield Bank as Vice President/Corporate Governance. Ms. Owsiany joins Northfield after serving as Executive Vice President/Director of Operations for First Morris Bank & Trust in Morristown, New Jersey. Kathleen received a Bachelor of Science from Montclair State University and is accredited as a Certified Bank Auditor, Certified Financial Services Auditor, Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Information Systems Auditor and Certified Risk Professional. As Vice President of Corporate Governance, Ms. Owsiany will focus her efforts on enterprise risk management, SOX implementation and Corporate Governance.

Raymond Meisch joined Northfield Bank as Vice President/Commercial Lending. Mr. Meisch brings over 35 years of commercial lending experience to Northfield.  He most recently was a Vice President in the Commercial Lending Department of Penn Federal Savings Bank.  Prior to joining Penn Federal, Ray spent 26 years with Chemical Bank in New York City, currently JPMorgan Chase. Ray joined the Northfield Bank New Jersey Commercial Lending Team in the first quarter of this year and will focus his efforts on assisting small to mid-sized business with their commercial credit needs.  Ray is based out of Northfield’s Avenel, New Jersey office. 

Kim Hendricks joined Northfield Bank as Training & Development Specialist. Ms. Hendricks joins Northfield with over 20 years of experience in the financial industry.  She most recently served as Designer and Development Facilitator for Independence Community Bank, which was acquired by Sovereign Bank in 2006. Kim received a degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix and obtained a Certificate for Corporate Training and Instructional Design from New York University.  She has also attended various training programs at Langevin and Cornell University. As Northfield’s Training & Development Specialist, Ms. Hendrick will develop and implement a comprehensive and consistent training program across all business lines of the Bank.

EDUCATION
Long Island University - Brooklyn Campus: Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus has appointed Elizabeth Storinge as the new Dean of Admissions.

Dean Storinge joined the Brooklyn Campus at the start of the fall semester after heading the admissions office at Mount Ida College, a private liberal arts college in Newton, Mass., since 2004. Prior to that she was associate director of freshmen admissions at Northeastern University in Boston, joining the staff of that private institution in 1993. A native of Skaneateles, N.Y., she earned an M.S. in counseling and college student development at Northeastern University in 2003 and a B.A. in psychology at Ithaca College in 1993.

HEALTHCARE
Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center: Dr. Marc Ross has been named medical director of the Kingsbrook Rehabilitation Institute. As director, Ross will be in charge of Brooklyn's largest rehabilitation center, with the borough's only state-certified traumatic brain injury and recovery unit.

PUBLIC/ NON-PROFIT
New York City Workforce Investment Board: Blake Foote was appointed executive director of the New York City Workforce Investment Board (WIB).

The board supports Mayor Michael Bloomberg's economic development agenda by providing oversight and developing policies to connect New Yorkers to jobs and ensure that employers across the City have the skilled workers they need to grow, compete and prosper.

Ms. Foote served as Executive Director of NYC Business Solutions Hiring at the New York City Department of Small Business Services from 2005 to 2007, where she oversaw the City's recruitment initiatives for large New York City businesses in target industries; provided management support to the City's Workforce1 Career Centers to better enable the placement of more New Yorkers in jobs in high growth industries; and managed the agency's partnerships with workforce funding organizations. Previously, she served as Sector Employment Program Manager at the National Economic Development and Law Center and Fast-Track Training Academy Director at Jobs Consortium in Oakland, California. Ms. Foote holds an M.P.A. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a B.A. in International Relations from Georgetown University.

New York City Economic Development Corporation: Doug Jones was named Vice President, Director of Government and Community Relations. Mr. Jones joined NYCEDC from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce in September 2004, where he was the Director of Economic Development. Since coming aboard, he has been responsible for maintaining NYCEDC’s relationships with elected officials and community stakeholders in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

He was a critical team member in implementing strategies to achieve political and community support on the East 125th Street Development and for projects on the Brooklyn Waterfront. 

REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Forest City Ratner: Joanne Minieri, who joined Forest City Ratner in 1995, was promoted to president of the Brooklyn-based company.

Ms. Minieri, who joined Forest City Ratner in 1995, oversaw projects that include the MetroTech center office campus and the New York Times building near Times Square.

She has been involved in the $4 billion Atlantic Yards development, which includes an arena, a 511-foot tower and 15 other buildings over an active rail yard in Prospect Heights.

Bruce Ratner had been serving as president in addition to his role as chief executive. He will remain CEO and assume the title of chairman.

Forest City’s portfolio includes 11 office buildings and 19 retail centers, along with 626 residential units.