Mohawk Valley Chamber names five new board directors

UTICA — The Mohawk Valley Chamber of Commerce recently named five new members to its board of directors. The quintet, which began serving three-year board terms on Jan. 1, includes Catherine Cucharale, Rudy D’Amico, Meghan Fraser, Danese Hanna, and Matthew Wilson.

Cucharale is vice president of operations and chief compliance officer at M. Griffith Investment Services, Inc., and has been with the New Hartford–based firm since 1998. She oversees adherence to regulatory compliance requirements and is directly responsible for formulating and implementing policies and procedures with the firm’s back-office operations, according to the chamber.

D’Amico has been president and CEO of the Central Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CABVI) since May 2008. He has worked at CABVI since 2003, first as vice president of operations, then executive vice president. D’Amico currently serves on the board of directors for Industries for the Blind of New York State, the New York Vision Rehabilitation Association, and the National Association for the Employment of People who are Blind.

Fraser, a 2007 graduate of SUNY Oswego with a bachelor’s degree in English, has worked for F.X. Matt Brewing Co. as its marketing and public-relations representative since then. She also serves as the vice president of the Mohawk Valley Advertising Club board of directors. Fraser also volunteers for organizations such as the United Way of the Valley and Greater Utica Area, the Boilermaker Road Race, The Stanley Center for the Arts, the Women’s Fund of Herkimer & Oneida Counties, and Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church.

Hanna is vice president and branch manager of NBT Bank’s Utica Financial Center at 270 Genesee St. in Utica. She has 14 years of experience in retail banking. Before joining NBT Bank, Hanna held management positions with M&T Bank, the Savings Bank of Utica, and Partners Trust. A resident of New Hartford, Hanna holds an associate degree in retail management from Bay Path College in Massachusetts.

Wilson is founder of MPW Marketing in Clinton. Originally from Oxford, England, he is an advanced math graduate of The Henley College in Oxfordshire. Wilson moved to the Mohawk Valley in 1999 to be with his wife Vicki, a native of the area. After working as an advertising consultant for seven years, he started MPW in 2006. Today, the firm is one of the area’s largest advertising agencies, working with a broad spectrum of clients from local nonprofits to larger retailers and major regional/national accounts, the chamber said. Wilson is a volunteer and board president for Rebuilding Together Mohawk Valley, a volunteer home-rehabilitation organization.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com