A few years ago, when Michael Desmond was chapter president, our board and committees voted to establish our chapter’s NextGen Committee. Today, I am happy to report that several of those NextGen Committee members have gone on to join and even chair other chapter committees. Jordan Fritz is an excellent example of this—Jordan is now our chapter’s president-elect. So I’ve seen firsthand that our NextGen program works, and it has been awesome to watch.

In an effort to fully integrate our NextGen members with the chapter at-large, we organize events that allow current NextGen members to meet our board and committees. Once such event was our Oct. 20 euchre tournament at Rohrbach Brewing Company, organized by Michelle Staebell. Participants entered the tournament as individuals and were able to play with a new partner every few hands. It was a wonderful networking event, and all who attended had a good time.

More than 200 regional high school students attended the Rochester Chapter’s World of Accounting event on Nov. 13, organized by committee chair Harry Howe. Students participated in mock interviews, toured the accounting offices of Mengel Metzger Barr & Co., and were introduced to recent college graduates working in the accounting profession, as well as accountants in industry and government. I would like to thankCheryl Yawman for leading the mock interview sessions, and Michelle M. Cain and Mengel Metzger Barr & Co. for once again welcoming World of Accounting students to the firm, which is one of the highlights of the day.

Nationally renowned spreadsheet expert Bill “Mr. Excel” Jelen shared his skills at the Burgundy Basin Inn on Nov. 10, in an event we cosponsored with the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). More than 100 attendees could choose between basic and advanced Excel courses, and all participants left with Mr. Jelen’s book, Slaying Excel Dragons, to continue their Excel studies at home. Thank you to CMA Kimberly Foreman, president of the IMA Rochester chapter, for her extensive efforts in organizing the event. 

Other successful chapter activities include the Taxation Committee’s Nov. 20 Rochester Tax Institute, scheduled by Anthony Sandonato and keynoted by New York State Department of Economic Development Commissioner Howard Zemsky. Cosponsored with the Monroe County Bar Association, the meeting offered attendees a full day of CPE on several tax topics presented by local CPAs and lawyers. Antoinette Spina’s presentation on multistate tax considerations on Dec. 15 at Midvale Country Club gave members a valuable end-of-year update that outlines the rules government auditors use to determine which state has nexus based on the business transaction. Thank you to Citizens Bank for sponsoring the session, which allows us to keep CPE costs low. One last thank you toMichael Doody and EFPR Group for hosting this year’s Business and Industry Conference.

We are always looking for feedback on our events and suggestions for future ones. Please email me directly with your comments, and I will share them with our committee leaders. 

mbryant@pharmasmart.com