The Binghamton Advisory Board helps to connect regional businesses and the School of Management. The School of Management established the Binghamton Advisory Board in 2010. The board focuses on:
- Bridging the gap between researchers, educators and practitioners
- Building partnerships between business community and the school
- Support philanthropic, fundraising and networking activities
Binghamton Advisory Board Members
Kevin Blake
Partner, Advisory Services
ICS Solutions
Group ICS Solutions Group is one of Upstate New York's largest privately held IT firms. Under Blake's leadership, ICS Solutions Group has grown exponentially year after year both in customer volume and staff and has been consistently ranked as the top IT firm in Central New York by the Central New York Business Journal.
David Chambers '99, MBA '03
Chief Financial Officer
Delta Engineers, Architects and Land Surveyors, DPC
Chambers began working with Delta in 1986 as a summer construction inspector, held a number of technical and then managerial positions over the intervening years, and was named CFO in 2007.
James Franz
Partner
Hinman, Howard & Kattell, LLP
Franz is a member of HH&K's Business and Corporate Law, Labor and Employment, Health Care Law and Not for Profit Corporation and Foundation Practice Groups. He served as Chairman of the Firm's Business and Corporate Law Practice Group for nearly twenty years. Jim has served as counsel to a wide range of businesses in various areas of commerce in the role of lead or general counsel.
Marilyn Geller '72
Director
Southern Tier Pain Management Center
Jeff Lake
Regional President
NBT Bank
Lake is responsible for all banking activity in the community, a region that has eleven branches offering full retail, commercial and trust services. He worked in the Commercial Banking Group at JPMorgan Chase and its Binghamton predecessor banks for 20 years before coming to NBT in 2002.
Jonathan Layish '91
President/Founder
Red Barn Technology Group, Inc
Layish grew up in Great Neck, NY and graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a BA in philosophy. He founded Argile Industries, a flooring company in 1990, and sold out in 1998. He then founded Red Barn Technology Group, Inc in 1996 as a small retail store. Red Barn Tech Group is now a diverse technology company. Its primary business is high performance computing for research and educational institutions nationwide. Jon has two wonderful daughters and is usually shadowed by Susie, his golden retriever.
Peter Newman, MBA '98
Regional President
M&T Bank
Newman is responsible for one of M&T Bank's seventeen regions, with a geography encompassing the 10 counties running along New York's Southern Tier including the cities of Corning, Elmira, Ithaca, Cortland and Binghamton.
James Orband '81
Managing Partner
Hinman, Howard & Kattell, LLP
HH&K's practice focuses on banking, construction, corporate law and estate planning and Orband has served as Managing Partner since 1999. Additionally, he is a principal, director and corporate secretary of Surescan Corporation and a director of Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York.
Jeffrey Schapiro
Chief Executive Officer
Cleaner's Supply
With more than 20 years' experience starting and acquiring accelerated growth companies, Schapiro oversees the largest supplier of packaging related products to Dry Cleaners throughout North America. Under his leadership, Cleaners Supply acquired WAWAK Sewing Supplies, which occupies the largest market share for sewing notion products to tailors, alterations shops and major retailers throughout the United States. Cleaner's Supply operates two distribution centers and a manufacturing facility, including a facility in Reno, Nevada.
Ehtisham Siddiqui
Vice President and General Manager, Controls and Avionics Solutions
BAE
Siddiqui is head of this trans-Atlantic operation which provides controls and avionics for aircraft engines, air transport, military aircraft, helicopter, regional and business aircraft applications. The business is a key supplier to GE Aviation, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, Embraer, and Gulfstream — and supports more than 600 airlines worldwide. Ehtisham is a registered professional engineer, has authored eight technical papers, and holds a patent in the area of high-speed rotating machinery.
Mary Ward
Vice President, Financial Operations
Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of NY
Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York was founded in 1886, and is one of the leading life insurance companies in the United States, providing competitive insurance products and services in all fifty states. A financial professional with more than 25 years of accounting experience, Ward began her career with Security Mutual Life in 2008, and in 2014 was promoted to her current position of Vice President, Financial Operations. In her current role, Ward is responsible for overseeing financial reporting, taxes, general accounting, and payroll. She is a member of the Company's Enterprise Risk Management, Investment, Security Compliance and Product Development Committees.
