Rockland Chapter Adapts to Challenging Times
By Sharon Siegel
Rockland Chapter Immediate Past President
A quick introduction: I have been an active board member of the Rockland Chapter for many years and have been a CPA for many more years. I am working at local CPA firms in Rockland County. I am very excited to be working as the president of the Chapter this year.
I would like to extend a grateful thank you to all our board members for the past year. And a big thank you to Lenore Sanchez for serving as our past president for two years. Unfortunately, we have had two past presidents retire from the board this year, and we will miss them; best wishes to Phyllis R. Graybow and Mitchell L. Gusler. Thank you both for your years of service, and your contributions to the Rockland chapter and the profession.
Things don’t always work out as we expect, so it’s important to be willing to work with your situation. As CPAs, we worked without a vacation through July 15, cancelled vacations plans, and experienced one of the craziest tax seasons ever. Our chapter had some great in-person CPE events planned for this year. A pandemic decided to change these meetings. Over the summer, we moved the in-person CPE events to Zoom and decided to not charge for these events. Thank you all for attending these events If anyone has some CPE topics they would like to see covered, please let us know.
The chapter is always looking for new board members, so if you are interested in joining our virtual board meetings, please contact us, as we would love to have you. This invitation includes students also. Please get involved with the Society as soon as you can, as you will make some great business contacts and have some great minds to help you with any accounting or career questions you may have. Good luck to you all with the virtual learning.
In July, I attended the NYSSCPA virtual Leadership Conference. The board members of all the chapters are working diligently to promote the profession. Please do as much as you can to get more students and recent graduates involved in our organization. We also need to do more to get even younger people interested in the profession. As there are fewer graduates entering the profession, there are fewer members joining the Society. As many of you know, accounting is a rewarding field that provides some financial stability. I am very appreciative that I didn’t lose my job during this roller coaster of an economic time. Unfortunately, that is not the same situation for everyone.
Thank you for reading this article. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me at the email address below.
slscpa10@verizon.net
ROCKLAND CHAPTER SLATE FOR THE 2023-2024 YEAR
OFFICERS
President: David Evangelista, CPA
President - Elect: Shari Berk
Treasurer: Michael Milisits, CPA
Secretary: Denise Collins, CPA
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mitchell A. Davis
William P. Hughes
Jain Jacob
Lenore Sanchez
Larry J. Shaffer
Corey Zbar
Dave Herman
Judith Bachman
Nancy Seeback
Sharon Siegel, Immediate Past-President
Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River. The county's population, as of the 2010 census, was 311,687, increasing by 4.6% to a 2015 Census estimate of 326,037, making it the third most densely populated county outside of New York City within New York State (after Nassau and neighboring Westchester counties, respectively). The county seatis New City. Although Rockland County does not directly border any New York City boroughs, it lies only 9 miles northwest of the city at their closest points, and is accessible through 10 exits on the New York State Thruway. The name derives from "rocky land", as the area was described by early Dutch and English settlers.
Rockland County is the smallest county by area in New York State outside ofNew York City. It comprises five towns and nineteen incorporated villages, with numerous unincorporated villages (sixteen) and hamlets.
The county's elevations range from 1,283 feet (391 m) atop Rockhouse Mountain to sea level along the Hudson River. Approximately 30% of Rockland County is devoted to parkland, belonging to either the five towns, incorporated villages, the state, or the county. These parks provide walking and hiking trails, ball fields, dog runs, historic sites, ponds, streams, salt marshes, and equestrian trails. Some popular state parks include Bear Mountain State Park on the northernmost tip of the county, Harriman State Park also along the county's northern boundary, and Nyack Beach State Park along the Hudson River, with trails connecting to Rockland Lake State Park.