Board of Directors

SKIP CARLSON ELECTED CHAIR OF THE BOARD AT THE SARATOGA COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Saratoga Chamber’s Board includes 29 Volunteers

Saratoga Springs, NY – Skip Carlson, Vice President of External Affairs of the Saratoga Casino Hotel, has been elected the 2021 Chair of the Board of Directors of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. He assumed this volunteer leadership role, on January 1, 2020, as Kevin Hedley, of Hedley & Company, PLLC, completed his one-year term as Chair of the Board and now becomes the Immediate Past Chair.

The Chair Elect for 2021 is Tara Anne Pleat, of Wilcenski & Pleat, PLLC and she will become the Chair of the Board in 2022. The 2021 Vice Chair of the Chamber’s Board of Directors is Amy Smith, of Saratoga Arms Hotel. The 2021 Treasurer and Secretary is Chad Kiesow, of Stewart’s Shops.

New members elected by the membership to serve a three year term on the Chamber’s Board of Directors starting January 1, 2021 and running until December 31, 2023, include: Vincent Laurenzo, of Quick Response Restoration; Dennis Kiingati, of Hamlet & Ghost, David Rosenberg, of Brix Wine & Liquor and Andrew Wise, of Saratoga National Bank & Trust Company. Three members were also appointed to serve a one-year term on the Chamber’s Board of Directors starting in January 1, 2021, including: Heath Ames, of Cantina; Susan Commanda, of Hudson River Community Credit Union and Rod Sutton, of Amsure.

The other members who will continue to serve on the Chamber’s Board of Directors in 2021 include: Shelly Amato, of The Wesley Community; Tom Bellhouse, of West Point Thoroughbreds; John Bove, of J.A. Bove Fuels; Rajat Ghoshal, of Polyset; Alexandra Gutelius, of Clifton Park Halfmoon Public Library; Kimberly Ireland, of National Grid; Melissa Johnson, of Target Distribution; Laurie Kelly, of GLOBALFOUNDRIES; Paul Loomis, of Gilbane Construction; Martin Mbugua, of Skidmore College; Randy Metevier, of Applied Materials; John Rogan, of Saratoga Eagle; Theresa Skaine, of Skaine & Associates; Christianne Smith, of Designsmith Studio; Melissa Ward, of NewWard Development and Charles Wait Jr., of Adirondack Trust Company.

“In what was truly an unprecedented time in our Chamber’s history, Kevin Hedley as Chair of the Chamber’s Board did an amazing job leading our organization,” said Carlson. “He worked closely with the Chamber’s professional staff to ensure that we did everything we could to collaborate with our community partners in the private, public and nonprofit sectors to reopen our economy and to save our local businesses. As we enter 2021, the Chamber continues to lead the way as a visible and vocal advocate for local vaccination sites and support for local small businesses. Kevin’s leadership put us in a position to take on these important challenges. We cannot thank him enough for this commitment to our Chamber and our local community.”