ALBANY - Robert B. Catell, chairman and CEO of KeySpan, has been elected chairman of The Business Council of New York State for the next 12 months. Heidi A. Nauleau, chairman of the Aarque Companies, has been elected vice chair of The Council, and Paul S. Speranza Jr., secretary and general counsel for Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., has been elected vice chair for finance.
In addition, the Board of Directors of The Business Council has elected eight of New York's top business leaders to terms on the board, and has voted to add two other business leaders to the Board of Trustees of The Council's research affiliate, The Public Policy Institute of New York State. The elections took place Wednesday, Sept. 18, at The Business Council's Annual Meeting in Bolton Landing, Warren County.
The new officers of The Business Council :
- Robert B. Catell, chairman and CEO of KeySpan, joined the former Brooklyn Union in 1958 and rose steadily through its managerial ranks. In 1991, he was elected president and CEO of Brooklyn Union, and he became that company's chairman and CEO in 1996. When Brooklyn Union merged with the Long Island Lighting Company to form KeySpan in 1998, he became its chairman and CEO. He is a past chairman of the American Gas Association. For the last two years, Catell has served as chairman of the New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce. He succeeds William Allyn, chairman and CEO of Welch Allyn Ventures, who chaired The Business Council for two years.
- Heidi A. Nauleau, chairman of the Aarque Companies, a privately owned holding company based in Lakewood, Chautauqua County, which has a number of manufacturing facilities. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Nauleau has served in a variety of positions with Aarque since 1981. She became its president in 1992 and its chairman in 1996. As vice chair of The Business Council, she succeeds Catell.
- Paul S. Speranza Jr., secretary and general counsel for Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., a regional supermarket chain with more than 60 stores in three states. A graduate of Syracuse University, he earned degrees in law from the University of San Francisco and New York University. He joined Wegmans in 1976, and is responsible for legal affairs, government relations, taxation, labor relations, and risk management. He is one of three company board members. As The Council's vice chair for finance, he succeeds Alair Townsend, publisher of Crain's New York Business, who served as The Council's vice chair for finance for seven years.
The Council's new directors are:
- Charles C. Barrentine, vice president of Eastman Kodak and manager of its Kodak Park site in Rochester. A graduate of LeMoyne-Owen College, he joined Kodak in 1972 and has held a broad range of management positions in manufacturing. He was elected a corporate officer and vice president in December 2000, and he took his current position in August 2001.
- John C. Cavalier, chairman of the board of MapInfo Corporation, a Rensselaer County-based software company that makes mapping software and offers a variety of location-based solutions and services. Cavalier, who graduated from the University of Notre Dame and earned an MBA at the University of Michigan, has had a successful career as CEO of software companies. He joined MapInfo as president, CEO and director in November 1996.
- Gregory M. Harden, president and CEO of Harden Furniture in McConnellsville, Oneida County. A graduate of Colgate University, Harden joined Harden in 1982 as a regional sales representative. He become executive vice president in 1982 and president and CEO in 1991. In that role, he oversees all production and marketing development for Harden upholstery and case goods.
- Terry L. Brown, president of O'Brien & Gere Limited of Syracuse, a $110 million firm that offers a variety of engineering and technical services. After earning a bachelor's degree from Clarkson University and serving as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, Brown joined O'Brien & Gere in 1975 as a construction engineer. He rose through the ranks in a variety of positions in project management, becoming president of O'Brien & Gere Technical Services in 1992. In 2000, he was named chairman, president, and CEO of O'Brien & Gere Limited.
- Paul Crotty, group president, Verizon Communications, one of the nation's largest telecommunications companies. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame and serving as an officer in the U.S. Navy, he graduated from Cornell Law School. After becoming a partner in the New York City firm of Donovan Leisure Newton and Irvine, he served as commissioner of finance and commissioner of finance in the administration of Mayor Edward Koch. He later served as corporation counsel to New York City under Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
- Bob Segert, president of Northeast Solutions Consulting for EDS, a global information-technology services company. He earned a bachelor's degree from Purdue University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. After working for several years at Frito-Lay, he joined EDS in 1984 as a consultant. He moved to EDS Corporate Strategy in 1988, and took his current position in June of 2002.
- William J. Clark, Jr., vice president of agency, State Farm Insurance, in Ballston Spa, Saratoga County. In that role, he oversees agency operations in upstate New York and throughout New England. He has been active in a number of company initiatives designed to help schools improve and to provide specific support to make that school improvement possible.
- James H. Quigley, vice chairman and regional managing partner, Deloitte & Touche. A 1974 graduate of Utah State University, Quigley has served a variety of manufacturing clients of Deloitte & Touche for 28 years. He is a member of the firm's board of directors, and of the Deloitte & Touche global board of directors.
The new trustees of The Public Policy Institute are:
- Bernard J. Kennedy, retired chairman of National Fuel Gas Company.
- Michael Marvin, chairman emeritus of MapInfo Corporation.
The Business Council is New York's largest broad-based business group, representing nearly 4,000 member companies large and small across the state. The members of The Business Council represent well over 1 million employees in all regions of the state and in all sectors of the economy. Based in Albany, The Council lobbies for a better business climate and offers cost-cutting services to its members.
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