Buffalo ReUse Announces Newly Elected Board of Directors September 2011.

To contact the Board of Directors email to info@buffaloreuse.org or write to Buffalo ReUse Board of Directors, 158 Eaton St., Buffalo NY 14208

2011:

At its annual meeting September 30, 2011 the members of Buffalo ReUse elected a new Board of Directors. Newly elected members are Colleen August, Jay Manning, & Antoine Thompson.

Brief Bios of Board Members 2011–2012

Keith James - Board Chair (Elected chair 2011,re-elected Sept 2011- 2 year term))

Keith is a longtime resident of Buffalo’s East Side community and has spent many years volunteering in public service for his community and the greater City of Buffalo. Keith is also a Fire Fighter for the City of Buffalo. With Board of Directors experience, Keith first became interested in ReUse because of its concept and vision, which is to serve and strengthen an under-served community from within.

David Laguerre - Vice Chair (Elected VC 2011, re-elected Sept 2011- 2 year term))

David is a longtime resident of Buffalo’s East Side community. He has spent the majority of his professional career working for one local company and has served in several capacities, including maintenance, collections, billing, and accounts receivable. David is looking forward to serving as a personal link between Buffalo ReUse and the people and community ReUse serves.

Jay Manning - Treasure (Elected Sept 2011- 2 year term)

Jay and his family have been “Homesteading” a house on the East Side of Buffalo for a little over a year. During this time he has come to appreciate the unique items that are available at Buffalo Reuse, as the majority of the items that have been used to restore their home have come from there. Throughout this process he has decided that this is an organization that he would like to become involved in. His background is in biomedical engineering and is a recent graduate of the University at Buffalo’s Executive MBA program. Prior to this Jay spent over 15 years as facility manager at a not for profit organization, being in charge of a 70 acre campus and over 100,000 square foot building. Jay is currently on the Board of Directors of Buffalo City Mission and Cornerstone Manor, and enjoys using his talents to improve the City of Buffalo. As a management professional, and an urban homesteader, he has a unique skill set that is a greatasset to Buffalo ReUse.

Alison Mueller - Secretary (2009-present, re-elected Sept 2011- 2 year term))

Alison is Director of Merchant Supply Systems for a worldwide industrial gas and equipment technology company and has served as an officer in the Air National Guard. Having moved to Buffalo three years ago, Alison is excited by the renewal underfoot in this city. As a volunteer for ReUse, she believes in its mission and programs that offer opportunities and skill sets to those who might not otherwise have an opportunity to learn them. Alison also looks forward to bringing her corporate experience to ReUse, linking ha

Vince Kuntz - VP of Operations, Board Chair (2009–2011, re-elected Sept 2011- 2 year term))

Vince is a building contractor, specializing in preservation, and as such, he has been salvaging, reusing, and recycling building materials since the 1980′s. Vince is also a certified Carpentry Instructor at the Construction Training Center of WNY. A supporter of ReUse’s business and mission since its inception, Vince looks forward to the challenge of making ReUse’s work even safer and more cost effective in addition to helping ReUse grow its educational outreach programs and training activities.

Colleen August (Elected Sept 2011- 2 year term)

Colleen is a Realtor with Real Estate Investments, a Real Estate Brokerage servicing all of Western New York’s Real Estate needs both residential and commercial. She has been with Real Estate Investments since beginning her Real Estate career in 2006. Previous to that, Colleen was a Regional Retail Manager with Nine West Group for twelve years, covering the territory from Albany, NY to Buffalo, NY.

Colleen is a graduate of Medaille College receiving her Bachelor of Science in Journalism.She has been a Girl Scout Leader since 2004 and is a Co-Service Unit Manager for the Williamsville Girl Scout Service Unit. In 2008, she was awarded the Service to Youth Award by the PTA/Williamsville, NY School District. Colleen has three children, Alex, Jake and Rachel, her number one hobby is spending time with them and their activities.

Derek Bateman (Elected Sept 2011- 2 year term)

Derek has been a Co-op, Community and Credit Union Organizer for over thirty five years. This means one or two nights a week over the last 35 years He has participated in not-for-profit Board meetings or their sub-committee meetings learning the Board perspective to not-for-profit organizations. For 15 of these years he has served as Executive Director running not-for-profit organizations (Parkside Community Association, East Buffalo Community Ownership Project, Energy Cooperative of Western New York and Office of Urban Initiative) learning the Executive Director perspective. Derek is the founder or co-founder of four not-for-profits (Buffalo Cooperative Community Federal Credit Union, Parkside Federal Credit Union, Hamlin Park Construction, and Lake Effect Energy, LLC.) which taught him the entrepreneurial perspective. He also had hands on experience developing a start-up organization (during his tenure with the Energy Cooperative of Western New York he helped recruit their first board of directors, grew the organization from 35 members using $1 million worth of energy a year to over 1,000 members using over $20 million worth of energy a year). Derek has an MBA from University at Buffalo (learned how to be a private sector bureaucrat) and an MSc in Regional and Urban Planning from the London School of Economics (learned how to be a public sector bureaucrat) and discovered he didn’t like being a bureaucrat. He has been a landlord for the last 31 years and personally benefited from Buffalo ReUse when he was able to repair his 80 year old building with materials that were in keeping with its historic qualities. He is quite able to assist the Buffalo ReUse Board around the issues of board process for not-for-profit boards and he is committed to Buffalo ReUse surviving and thriving as a community-based economic development catalyst.

Lorna Castanik (Re-elected Sept 2011- 2 year term)

Lorna lives in Cheektowaga, New York and is the treasurer of the Cedargrove Neighborhood Action Committee. She has introduced Michael Gainer and Buffalo ReUse to the Cheektowaga Town Supervisor to develop a relationship for demolitions being scheduled in Cheektowaga. Lorna works as a customer service representative for Tectran Manufacturing, a manufacturer and distributor of heavy duty truck parts. Lorna is also a member, volunteer and foster home for English Springer Rescue America, a not for profit rescue organization that works to rescue, rehabilitate and re-home abandoned English Springer Spaniels.

Franklin Redd (Appointed for balance of 2009 term, re-elected Sept 2011- 2 year term))

Franklin blended social activism and financial advocacy throughout his twenty five year career in financial services. Franklin’s Firm, Embassy Capital Group, LLC is a former NY Registered Investment Advisory Firm and he has extensive experience in the mortgage banking, commercial lending, securities and insurance industries.

In December of 1999, Franklin founded Embassy Capital Group, LLC as a boutique financial advisory firm committed to financial literacy, asset administration and both strategic and tactical financial implementation services. In 2008, Franklin established ECG Private Equity Pool, LP (ECG PEP, LP) to maximize the use of tax qualified funds for targeted investment.

Currently, Franklin consults in the area of tax efficiency management/investment, loss mitigation and financial modeling. Franklin is committed to “Eco-Capitalism” and socially conscious investing as a means for sustainable economic development and financial empowerment while promoting the democratization of capitalism.

Antoine Thompson (elected Sept 2011- 2 year term)

Antoine served on the New York State Senate from 2007–2011. He sponsored legislation, hosted public hearings and meetings and allocated funding for various community, housing, public works, health, education, cultural and other projects. He secured millions of dollars for various housing, infrastructure, cultural and development projects. Antoine Chaired the State Senate Committee on Environmental Conservation. He also co-Chaired the NYS Senate Taskforce on Minority/Women Business Enterprise development (MWBE). From 2001–2007 Antoine served on the Buffalo Common Council sponsoring legislation, responding to constituent problems, and helping to facilitate various housing, cultural and economic development initiatives. He organized community meetings and secured more that $70 million for development projects in his district. He chaired the Community Development Committee and was Chair of the Committee on Minority Women Business Enterprise.

Antoine’s skills include organizational management, program administration, fundraising, new program development, staff supervision and development, issue advocacy and organizing, financial management, and community relations.

In 2010 he received the New York Environmental Legislator of the Year Award as well as the NYS Solar Industry Legislator of the Year Award. Antoine understands the opportunity that Buffalo ReUse has to play a key role in the community and the environment and is excited about helping to move it forward.

2009

At its annual meeting October 7, 2009, the members of Buffalo ReUse elected a Board of Directors to lead the organization through the next phase of its growth. Newly elected members are Vincent Kuntz, Keith James, Alison Mueller, David Laguerre and Daniel Ash. Michele Johnson was elected to her second two-year term. Vincent Kuntz was elected Board President.

Kuntz said “We wish to thank outgoing Board President Stephanie Simeon, Board Members Jessica Biegaj, Katie Biggie, Darren Kempner, Kirstin Lowry Sommers, Adam Wilson and Trevor Torcello for their dedicated service to our organization. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors and expect to maintain a productive relationship as we all work to improve neighborhoods in the City of Buffalo.”

Also announced at the meeting was the transition of Interim Executive Director Harvey Garrett to a short-term consulting position. Alison Mueller, Board Secretary, said “Harvey’s analysis of our financial situation was instrumental in securing a future for ReUse. He gave his time and expertise to stabilize our financial systems and community programs. We thank him for his service as we navigated through a challenging period of our growth.”

Brief Bios of Board Members 2009- 2011

Daniel Ash - Treasurer

Daniel is an Information Security Specialist with experience in planning, deploying and supporting information systems, including IT policy and compliance, as well as audit and risk management. As a member of the Buffalo ReUse’s Board, Daniel’s skills will further the development of its asset and risk management policies and operations and also strengthen ReUse’s information security systems. As a longtime customer and volunteer of ReUse, Daniel is committed and ready to serve the organization’s mission, vision and values.

Lorna Castanik

Keith James

Michele Johnson

Michele is a founding Member of the organization and also an original member of the Board of Directors for Buffalo ReUse. In addition to her longtime service and commitment to Buffalo ReUse, Michele is also a co-founder of both the Mayor’s Anti-Flipping Task Force and Broadway Fillmore Alive. She served as a Housing Court Liaison in the Fillmore District, was Producer of the local documentary “Flipped”, is a mother of four, and a longtime East Side resident.

Vince Kuntz - Board Chair

David Laguerre

Alison Mueller - Secretary

Franklin Redd

Buffalo ReUse™ • 296 E. Ferry Street, Buffalo NY 14208
716-882-2800 •
HOME • Green Demolition • The ReSource • Donate Materials
[] • Volunteer • Membership • About • Media • Photos • Contact
Blog/News• facebook • Jobs • Mailing List • Legal • Site Map

© 2010 Buffalo ReUse™