Pinckney Hugo Group, a full-service marketing- communications firm, has promoted SUZANNE RICE, of Syracuse, to media supervisor. She was previously a senior digital-media strategist and has been with the agency for three years. Rice is a Google-qualified individual with certifications in Google Ads, Search Advertising, and Google Analytics IQ. She has a bachelor’s degree in communication and rhetorical studies from Syracuse University. Prior to joining Pinckney Hugo Group, Rice gained experience in digital marketing at Bankers Healthcare Group and Advance Media New York.

MCKENZIE CRAMER, of Cicero, was promoted to senior account manager at Pinckney Hugo Group. She was previously an account manager and has been with the agency for three years. Prior to joining Pinckney Hugo Group, Cramer was a product marketing associate at ADI Global Distribution. She has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University.

Syracuse University’s D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) recently announced that BARBARA CARSON will join the institute as managing director of programs and services. In this role, Carson will lead the IVMF’s expansive portfolio of career training, educational, and care coordination programs, which taken together serve and impact more than 20,000 servicemembers, veterans, and military family members each year. Carson will also provide leadership and operational oversight of the IVMF’s Washington, D.C. headquarters, planned to open later this summer. Prior to joining the IVMF, Carson was a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) and spent nearly a decade in leadership roles at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Most recently, Carson served as the deputy associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Assistance, responsible for developing, implementing, and evaluating the SBA’s disaster loan program throughout the nation. Previously, she served as the SBA’s deputy associate administrator for government contracting and business development, where she advocated to increase small-business contracting opportunities in federal agencies and led several SBA federal procurement programs. Carson also previously served as the SBA’s associate administrator for the Office of Veterans Business Development, responsible for programs, policy, and advocacy on behalf of the nation’s veteran-owned business community. Carson is a colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve (USAFR), most recently assigned to the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Office of Public Affairs. Her service spans 25 years as an active-duty and reserve officer, and her experience includes nuclear command and control and public affairs assignments across the United States, Japan, and Europe. In addition, Carson is also a military spouse. Her husband is a retired U.S. Air Force pilot also with over 25 years of service, and together they are the parents of newly enlisted Airman Basic Carson of the Utah Air National Guard. 

JAMES DYLAN FURNEY of Pyramid Brokerage Company has recently received his New York State broker license. He specializes in a wide range of corporate and commercial real-estate services in the office, industrial, investment, and retail markets. Furney holds a bachelor’s degree in business management with a minor in communication and social interaction from SUNY Oswego. He is exclusively representing a growing number of developers, investors, and businesses in the Central New York-Mohawk Valley region.

BLAIR ESTARFAA has joined the Syracuse women’s basketball staff as the program’s video coordinator. He comes from the University at Buffalo, where he spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach on Felisha Legette-Jack’s staff at Buffalo and served as the program’s director of basketball operations the previous year. Estarfaa brings over a half-decade of coaching experience at the NCAA Division I, II, and III levels with him to Syracuse to join Legette-Jack’s Orange staff. A four-year letterwinner on the men’s basketball team at SUNY Cortland, Estarfaa helped guide the Red Dragons to the 2016 SUNYAC Championship. As a senior, he was part of the Cortland squad that reached the second round of the Division III NCAA Tournament. Estarfaa began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Alfred University, after graduating from Cortland in 2016. From 2017-19 Estarfaa was an assistant coach and JV head coach at Daemen College in Buffalo, where he helped guide the Wildcats to a 46-14 record in his two seasons on the sidelines. He made the move to women’s basketball in July 2019 as the director of operations at Buffalo, where he managed the team’s budget, coordinated the program’s daily schedule, organized team travel and meals, and supervised the video coordinator. Additionally, as the team’s director of operations Estarfaa oversaw Legette-Jack’s schedule and helped coordinate appearances, was the team’s compliance liaison, and helped organize community outreach and fundraising opportunities. In 2020, Estarfaa made the move to assistant coach within the Bulls’ program. Buffalo posted a 40-18 record over the two seasons he served as an assistant coach, which included the 2022 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship and a trip to the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Estarfaa earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and sport studies from SUNY Cortland in 2016.