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Northeast Berks Chamber announces Board Members & Officers

by The Northeast Berks Chamber of Commerce

Jan 27, 2020

Kutztown, PA…On Friday, January 10, 2020, during the first Board of Directors Meeting of the year, the Northeast Berks Chamber announced new Board Members who were approved as elected on December 11, 2019. Abigail Mirarchi, Accelerated Instructional Media, Leesport; Dr. Shawn Riley, Kutztown University College of Business; and Sherry Christman, Elite Business Solutions, Hamburg.

Abigail Mirarchi is the founder, Owner, and President of Accelerated Instructional Media, Inc (AIM), a workforce performance and development company that helps Learning, Talent Development, HR, and Change Management leaders increase and expand employee skills, competencies and capabilities. Before devoting full-time to AIM, Abigail served as R&D and Art Director for countless published educational books and monthly magazines for various industries and markets, Department Chairperson of Visual Communications overseeing 31 full and part-time Instructors and over 300 day and evening students, Training Manager for the East Coast Region, Sr. Instructional Systems Designer, Training Facilitator, Project Manager of workforce development programs ranging for 200 – 25,000 employees worldwide and a ghostwriter for a Learning Development Executive. Abigail holds master, advanced, and applied level Project Management certificates from Villanova University, an MS in Instructional Design and Development from Lehigh University, and a BFA from Kutztown University.

Dr. Shawn Riley has been an associate professor of management at Kutztown University since 2012, teaching strategic management and entrepreneurship courses for both undergraduate and MBA students. He is originally from Western Massachusetts and received his B.A. in economics from Westfield State University (in Westfield, MA), his M.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and his Ph.D. in strategic management from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to arriving in Kutztown, Dr. Riley was a visiting faculty member at the University of Washington Tacoma, where he taught courses in strategic management and entrepreneurship. He enjoys working with students and has been recognized for his teaching on multiple occasions.

Sherry Christman is the owner of Elite Business Solutions, LLC. In 1995, she received her Specialized Associates degree in Accounting from Allentown Business School. In February 2012, when her father passed away suddenly, she lost her job a few months later, and with her husband’s encouragement, she started her own business. Sherry is an active member of the Northeast Berks Chamber of Commerce, serving on the Fundraising Committee for years and now chairing the committee in 2020 and a 2016 recipient of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award during the Shining Star Event. Additionally, she serves on the Board of Directors of Kutztown Strong and an active member of Moment of Peace Adventures, Inc.   Sherry participates in school career days and loves interacting with students, while sharing her passion for her business.

Board Officers for 2020 were also announced. John L. Scott, Community First Fund, was installed as President for a second one-year term; Alyse Mitten, Interlace Communications, Inc., was approved as 1st Vice President for a second term; Connie A. Werley, Tompkins VIST Bank was approved as Treasurer for a second term; and Hope Pearson, Fleetwood Bank, was nominated and approved as Secretary. All officer terms are one year with an option for two years of service.

John L. Scott is currently the Vice President of Community Lending for Community First Fund in Northern Berks, Lehigh, and Northampton Counties. Scott has over 17 years of financial services experience, including positions with PNC Bank, Santander Bank, and Citizens Bank.

John is celebrating his twelfth year of membership at the Northeast Berks Chamber of Commerce. In 2019 Scott was the President of the chamber, in 2018 he served as both 1st Vice President and Treasurer, and in 2017 he was Member of the Year. He also serves as Secretary of the Allentown West Rotary Club. He is a longtime member and Past Master of Huguenot Lodge No. 377 F&AM in Kutztown and volunteers for Live Learn & Play, an autism support organization based in Allentown. He previously served as President of the Kutztown Community Partnership, as a board member of the Tri-Valley YMCA/Fleetwood, and on the Audit Advisory Committee for Lower Macungie Township.

John is a 2011-2012 fellow for the Center for Progressive Leadership where he studied leadership development. He attended Kutztown University and Western Governors University where he studied economics, accounting, and business management of information systems.

“As President of the Northeast Berks Chamber of Commerce, I am proud of our 30-year history. Since the organization’s inception, the Board of Directors has been comprised of members who have served as the oversight and backbone of the Chamber. As I move into my second year as Chamber President, I recognize, more than ever, the importance every board member brings to the organization. To both our retiring directors and officers and to the incoming members, I thank you for your service to the organization, members, and the communities we serve,” remarked John L. Scott.

Alyse Mitten has been in marketing and advertising for her entire career. She started Interlace Communications, Inc, Shoemakersville, over 25 years ago.  She works in all aspects of the business, including sales, building websites, and training. She keeps abreast of the innovative changes happening both with online and print marketing which provides their clients with an edge for marketing their businesses and organizations.

Connie Werley is a Business Development Officer for Tompkins VIST Bank. Her banking career began in 1992 when the company was The First National Bank of Leesport. It started in Deposit Operations where she worked for more than 20 years of her career working her way up to the Deposit Operations Manager. It was in April of 2013, after the merger with Tompkins Financial, that I accepted the position on the Retail side of banking as the Assistant Branch Manager at our Northpointe Office, which is located on Rt. 61 in Leesport. In January 2015, I was promoted to Branch Manager of the Blandon Office on Rt. 222 in Maidencreek Township. What she enjoys most about her job is the personal interaction with customers and the opportunity to meet so many other business professionals.

Hope Pearson is the Vice President of Retail Banking for Fleetwood Bank.  Prior to joining Fleetwood Bank, she served as the Vice President of Community Lending at Community First Fund where she was responsible for business development and community and economic development lending in the Lehigh Valley Market.  Pearson has over 30 years of experience in the financial services sector.

Pearson is a 2016 graduate of the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking where she also received the Wharton Leadership Certificate and is a graduate of Liberty High School, Bethlehem.  She resides in Germansville, PA.  Previously, she has served on the Board of Directors for Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Women’s Business Council and served as co-chair for the American Heart Association’s 2017 Go Red for Women event.

For more information about the Northeast Berks Chamber, visit www.northeastberkschamber.com

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