CXtec has hired Michael Button as a regional sales manager who will manage one of the company’s commercial sales teams. Prior to joining CXtec, he worked as a business development manager at WYNIT Distribution. Button earned his master’s degree in business administration and his bachelor’s degree in political science from Syracuse University.

Hiscock & Barclay, LLP has welcomed intellectual-property lawyer Barry F. Manna as of counsel in its Syracuse office. He is a registered patent attorney and will be a member of the firm’s patents & prosecution practice area. Manna brings more than a decade of experience in patent, trademark, copyright, and trade-secret matters to the firm. Prior to joining Hiscock & Barclay, he was a senior associate at Harris Beach PLLC. Manna was also an intellectual-property attorney for Marjama Muldoon Blasiak & Sullivan LLP, McCormick Paulding and Huber LLP, and United Technologies Corp. He received his law degree from Western New England College School of Law. Prior to becoming an attorney, Manna graduated from Clarkson University with a degree in mechanical engineering and worked for United Technologies Corp. in the aerospace industry as a development engineer on propulsion and fuel cell systems. 

Tompkins Insurance Agencies has hired Jason (Jay) DeChick as an account executive in its commercial lines division. He is based at the Tompkins Trust Company/Tompkins Insurance offices in Auburn, working with businesses across the Finger Lakes region. DeChick has five years experience in the financial-services industry. Prior to joining Tompkins, he worked for First Niagara in banking, before moving to insurance services. DeChick holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from SUNY Canton and is a New York state-licensed agent/broker for property and casualty insurance

The CNY Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has hired Laura Abert as chapter management professional. She will serve as an independent contractor for CNY SHRM, while maintaining her private clients, where she assists with graphic design, web development, and other marketing initiatives. Abert is the founder and president of Chair 2 Marketing. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with minors in economics and sociology from Alma College

Kerri D. Howell has been appointed director of communications and media relations for the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. She brings Whitman extensive experience in strategic communications, most recently as the director of public relations and marketing for St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center. Howell has also worked in management roles in public relations for various large companies and nonprofit organizations, including Lockheed Martin Corp. She holds a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Geneseo, and a master’s degree in communications management from Syracuse’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, where she has served as an adjunct professor in the public relations department since 2004

Heather McCoy has joined Steve Chirello Advertising as an administrative assistant and graphic designer. She previously worked as an advertising consultant for both print and digital media in Oswego County. McCoy was also an Internet sales and marketing manager for two Syracuse–based auto dealers and an office manager for a computer software and service company.