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Much Work Remains to Contain College Costs
A college education is a powerful tool to empower future leaders, giving them the life-experience, knowledge, and professional skills necessary to thrive personally and professionally. Yet, crushing student debt continues to inhibit our next generation of public servants and entrepreneurs, and sky-high college costs remain a challenge for prospective students. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “free” college […]
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A college education is a powerful tool to empower future leaders, giving them the life-experience, knowledge, and professional skills necessary to thrive personally and professionally. Yet, crushing student debt continues to inhibit our next generation of public servants and entrepreneurs, and sky-high college costs remain a challenge for prospective students.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “free” college tuition program is misleading, at best, and does little to address systemic problems of debt and affordability affecting the broader student population. The Commission on Independent College & Universities (www.cicu.org) recently issued a report that showed a steep decline in student enrollment this fall, as compared to 2016. This program threatens an important private-sector industry and does nothing to help financially struggling low-and-medium-income students who find themselves at a financial disadvantage.
Getting more help to more students and recent grads
The Assembly Minority Conference is renewing its call to enact the Affordable College for All Initiative, which would help prospective college attendees at both public and private institutions, as well as address crippling debt holding back recent graduates. Our plan does the following.
• Increases the household-income threshold — The state’s existing Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) eligibility limit has not been adjusted from $80,000 in almost two decades. We propose phasing in raising the threshold to $125,000 in order to bring more students into the program.
• Makes the TAP awards bigger — We propose raising the maximum award to $6,470, from $5,165. In addition, all TAP recipients would receive at least a $500 increase.
• Assists graduate students — Graduate students lost TAP eligibility in 2010, and bringing it back would give even more New Yorkers the much-needed break they deserve. The average graduate-school borrower takes on more than $57,000 in combined debt from graduate and undergraduate education.
• Gives student-loan payers a tax break — New York gives outlandish tax breaks to Hollywood studios and luxury yacht owners, but not college graduates swimming in debt. Single filers could receive up to $4,000, head-of-household filers could get up to $6,000, and married filers could receive up to $8,000 in taxable income reductions on the principal and interest of their loans.
The governor’s headline-grabbing “free” tuition plan was a narrowly tailored initiative that ignores room and board, textbooks, and existing debt. It barely scratches the surface of a growing problem. We must enact programs that treat all students and institutions equitably and provide relief at each layer of higher education.
Brian M. Kolb (R,I,C–Canandaigua), a former small-business owner, is the New York Assembly Minority Leader and represents the 131st Assembly District, which encompasses all of Ontario County and parts of Seneca County. Contact him at kolbb@nyassembly.gov
DiMarco, Abiusi & Pascarella, CPAs, P.C.
DiMarco, Abiusi & Pascarella, CPAs, P.C. has hired TROY P. SEGAR as a principal. He is a graduate of SUNY Oswego and a CPA. CHRISTIAN DODGE has joined the firm as a supervisor. He is a graduate of St. John Fisher College and a CPA. JULIA BAILEY, ANDREW VANRIPER, and DANIELLE DANNHEIM joined the firm
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DiMarco, Abiusi & Pascarella, CPAs, P.C. has hired TROY P. SEGAR as a principal. He is a graduate of SUNY Oswego and a CPA. CHRISTIAN DODGE has joined the firm as a supervisor. He is a graduate of St. John Fisher College and a CPA. JULIA BAILEY, ANDREW VANRIPER, and DANIELLE DANNHEIM joined the firm as staff accountants. Bailey and VanRiper graduated from Le Moyne College and Dannheim from SUNY Oswego. Bailey, VanRiper, and Dannheim previously served as interns. ANARAY LOSURDO joins DiMarco, Abiusi & Pascarella as an administrative assistant. She is a liberal arts candidate at Cayuga Community College expecting a December 2018 graduation. Losurdo has prior experience as a secretary and related administrative positions. KRISTIN SLAYTON was promoted to firm administrator at the firm. She graduated from Bryant & Stratton and Cayuga Community Colleges and previously served as an administrative assistant at the firm.
Dermody, Burke & Brown, CPAs, LLC
Dermody, Burke & Brown, CPAs, LLC recently hired UYEN NGUYEN and BRITTANY BECKER in its Syracuse office. Nguyen joined the firm as a manager in the Auditing & Accounting department. She received both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in accounting from Syracuse University and is a CPA. Nguyen previously worked in public accounting
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Dermody, Burke & Brown, CPAs, LLC recently hired UYEN NGUYEN and BRITTANY BECKER in its Syracuse office.
Nguyen joined the firm as a manager in the Auditing & Accounting department. She received both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in accounting from Syracuse University and is a CPA. Nguyen previously worked in public accounting as a senior auditor at Ernst & Young, LLP.
Becker was hired as an associate in the Auditing & Accounting department. She received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from SUNY Potsdam and an MBA in professional accountancy from Utica College. Becker comes to the firm with experience as a bookkeeper/accountant from her family’s business. She is working to complete the certification process to earn her designation as a certified public accountant (CPA).
KENNETH WILLIAMS, regional sales manager at Wilmington Trust, has been promoted to group VP. Based in the company’s Syracuse office, he is responsible for managing Wilmington Trust’s Central and Capital regions in New York state. Williams has two decades of experience in the financial-services industry. Before joining M&T Bank in 2008, which acquired Wilmington Trust
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KENNETH WILLIAMS, regional sales manager at Wilmington Trust, has been promoted to group VP. Based in the company’s Syracuse office, he is responsible for managing Wilmington Trust’s Central and Capital regions in New York state. Williams has two decades of experience in the financial-services industry. Before joining M&T Bank in 2008, which acquired Wilmington Trust in 2011, he served as a manager and financial advisor at American Express and HSBC. Williams received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from SUNY Oswego.
NBT Bank has hired JOHN ROTT as branch manager of the bank’s DeWitt office. He brings almost 20 years of management experience, including the past decade in the financial services, to his new position. Rott comes to NBT Bank from KeyCorp, where he served as a licensed relationship manager and branch manager. Before that, he
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NBT Bank has hired JOHN ROTT as branch manager of the bank’s DeWitt office. He brings almost 20 years of management experience, including the past decade in the financial services, to his new position. Rott comes to NBT Bank from KeyCorp, where he served as a licensed relationship manager and branch manager. Before that, he served as a licensed banker for both HSBC and First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. as well as a financial representative for Northwestern Mutual Life. Rott received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Columbia College of Missouri in Syracuse.
KAREN BROGNANO has joined NBT as VP and senior commercial banking relationship manager based at the bank’s Utica Financial Center. She has more than 25 years of experience in banking in the Mohawk Valley, including positions with Savings Bank of Utica and M&T Bank. Brognano was previously VP of commercial lending with Key Bank. She is a graduate of Syracuse University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration
ARTHUR B. MUCITELLI has joined the Utica office of Cushman Wakefield/Pyramid Brokerage Company as a commercial real-estate agent. He was previously a licensed real-estate salesperson with RM Realty Results and is currently attending Mohawk Valley Community College, working toward his degree in business management.
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ARTHUR B. MUCITELLI has joined the Utica office of Cushman Wakefield/Pyramid Brokerage Company as a commercial real-estate agent. He was previously a licensed real-estate salesperson with RM Realty Results and is currently attending Mohawk Valley Community College, working toward his degree in business management.
Hayner Hoyt Corporation has hired recent SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry graduate MYUNGJOO PARK as a project engineer. With a degree in construction management, she previously interned at Housing Visions and the Syracuse University Steam Station. KYLE ROBINSON joins the Hayner Hoyt team as a project engineer. Also a recent graduate of
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Hayner Hoyt Corporation has hired recent SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry graduate MYUNGJOO PARK as a project engineer. With a degree in construction management, she previously interned at Housing Visions and the Syracuse University Steam Station.
KYLE ROBINSON joins the Hayner Hoyt team as a project engineer. Also a recent graduate of SUNY ESF, he graduated with a degree in construction management. He previously worked at S.J. Thomas Co., Inc. as an assistant project manager and has experience in estimating and carpentry.
JUSTIN HAYWARD joins the company as a project engineer. He recently moved back from Oakmont, Pennsylvania, where he was the senior agronomist at Oakmont Country Club. Hayward holds a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Delhi.
JOHN M. DAVIS has joined Pinnacle Human Resources, LLC as its business development manager, focused on growth in the Central New York and Western New York markets, while also overseeing business development for the organization (including the Capital Region and beyond). He holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Clarkson University with extensive experience
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JOHN M. DAVIS has joined Pinnacle Human Resources, LLC as its business development manager, focused on growth in the Central New York and Western New York markets, while also overseeing business development for the organization (including the Capital Region and beyond). He holds a bachelor’s degree and an MBA from Clarkson University with extensive experience working with small, medium, and large private organizations, not-for-profits, and municipal/government clients.
The Ulysses Philomathic Library (UPL) board of trustees has named KSANA BROADWELL the next director of the library. She received her master’s degree in library science from the University at Buffalo in 2010. Broadwell served as librarian at the Ford Memorial Library in Ovid for three years before assuming becoming librarian at the Ulysses Philomathic
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The Ulysses Philomathic Library (UPL) board of trustees has named KSANA BROADWELL the next director of the library. She received her master’s degree in library science from the University at Buffalo in 2010. Broadwell served as librarian at the Ford Memorial Library in Ovid for three years before assuming becoming librarian at the Ulysses Philomathic Library in 2014. Her history with UPL dates back much further however; as a child growing up in Trumansburg, she was a library patron almost from birth, and she spent her high school and early college years volunteering at the circulation desk.

Siena survey: 61 percent of New Yorkers plan to spend the same on holiday gifts this season
“With a majority of New Yorkers saying that their finances are about the same as a year ago, it’s not surprising that most hope to
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