Dermody, Burke & Brown, CPAs, LLC recently hired CHRISTINE SAAR as a tax senior manager in its Syracuse office. She is a CPA with a diverse background in both public and private accounting. Saar’s specialties range from tax planning and compliance for small, closely held businesses to large, consolidated manufacturers. She brings more than 18 years of public accounting experience to the tax department at Dermody, Burke & Brown. Saar holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Clarkson University. 

Riger Marketing Communications has hired ANN ROSE as art director. With more than 20 years of experience, she will take a lead role in the agency’s creative endeavors. Rose has broad experience as a graphic designer and marketing strategist, having worked in agency, freelance, and corporate environments. She most recently worked in health-care marketing. Rose brings Riger and its clients a fresh perspective as a multi-tooled creative problem solver, strategist, and writer who excels in graphic and digital design, brand development, web design, and production. She holds a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Long Beach.

KURT RADEMACHER has joined Barton & Loguidice (B&L) in the facilities practice area as senior managing engineer in the firm’s Syracuse office. He received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Clarkson University. Rademacher has nearly 20 years of experience in quality review, HVAC analysis, system selection and presentation, project execution and planning, construction support, peer review, and proposal development. As a mechanical engineer, he has led teams, performed and reviewed design of mechanical systems for municipal, industrial, and federal projects. Rademacher’s breadth of work includes municipal building, laboratories, mission-critical systems, electrically hazardous environments, pharmaceutical cGMP, bio-gas cogeneration, code review, odor control systems, and evaluating LEED for buildings with high process energy in municipal, federal, energy, industrial, and higher education markets. Rademacher is a licensed professional engineer in New York and a LEED-accredited professional.
WILLIAM DUSSING has joined B&L’s facilities practice area as chief electrical engineer in the firm’s Syracuse office. He received his associate degree in mechanical technology from Onondaga Community College. He started in 1985 as an electrical designer and worked his way up to a licensed professional engineer. Dussing has 35 years of experience in low, medium, and high-voltage electrical design, project management, product application, and maintenance & testing of electrical apparatus. Previously, as a senior project engineer, he interfaced with local utilities and governing agencies on system protection projects which included protective device application, settings and coordination, short circuit analysis, arc-flash assessment, load flow, system planning, and feasibility studies. Dussing has expertise in power-system design, including layout and integration of electrical utilities, bulk-power substations, and underground and aerial distribution systems. He was also the senior engineer responsible for the design, layout, and integration of two separate pilot battery-energy storage systems (BESS) projects in the Northeast, as well as technical assistance for many others. These included system protection, utility interface equipment, and interconnection. Dussing is a licensed professional engineer in New York and Maryland, holds OSHA certifications in construction safety and health, and has extensive training in the facilities-engineering practice area. 

DR. JASON R. FORNI, a former military podiatrist, has joined Carthage Area Hospital’s Podiatry Clinic, located at 3 Bridge St. in Carthage with longtime podiatrist Debra Williams. Forni is from Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio, where he attended high school. He continued his education with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Cedarville University in Ohio and received his doctorate in podiatric medicine from Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine. After college, in 2008, he began his career in the Army. Forni’s military career led him to Fort Gordon, Georgia for his residency and his chief residency at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was chief of podiatry at Fort Stewart, Georgia from 2011-2016 and was an adjunct professor at the Army Medical Department Center and School at Fort Sam Houston, Texas from 2015-2016. Most recently, Forni was the chief of podiatry at Fort Drum. During his time in the military, he received the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, among others. Forni is board-certified in foot surgery by the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery. 

ERYL CHRISTIANSEN was promoted from president to CEO and president of Eastern Shore Associates Insurance (ESA), at the agency’s annual meeting in April. Christiansen has been with ESA for 10 years and served as president for the past two years.

JOSHUA WILLIAMS was recently hired as a life-insurance agent and broker at ESA. He is based at ESA’s Fulton office. Before joining the firm, Williams worked for the past five years in financial services. He holds an associate degree in business administration and management from Mohawk Community College.

THOMAS ANTHIS joined the ESA board as a member at large. Anthis, an insurance agent and broker in ESA’s North Syracuse office, has been with the firm for five years.

Terakeet, an enterprise search engine technology company headquartered in Syracuse, recently hired AMY HATCH as senior director of content. She comes to Terakeet most recently from CVS, where she served as the senior director of content strategy. Prior to that, Hatch held positions at Marketo and SAP, serving as the head of content strategy and global head of content marketing, respectively. Her background is varied. She began as a reporter in the newspaper business before launching a popular mom blog. Hatch’s keen instinct for content and engagement supported a thriving 10 years of freelancing for brands like AOL, Johnson & Johnson, Meredith Corp., Huffington Post, and more. She was hired by SAP to oversee the content strategy for its customer experience business unit, which she transformed into an award-winning content engine complete with a multitalented team of content creators. The SAP results drew recruiters from Marketo/Adobe, as well as CVS. Hatch’s immediate objectives as senior director of content include assuming responsibility for Terakeet’s content marketing practice inclusive of overall quality, editorial, workflow, cross-discipline integration, and content-team development. Hatch will also be a member of Terakeet’s leadership team.