Area business people ‘On the Move’
Harry VanVliet IV, a funeral director with Gilpatric-VanV
Funeral Home LLC in Ulster Park, N.Y., has qualified for recertification as a Certified
Funeral Service Practitioner, by the Academy of Professional Funeral Service Practice.
••• Kathy Combs, of Highland, N.Y., has been named executive directof of the New Paltz Regional Chamber of Commerce.
An Ulster County native, Combs has lived and worked in the New Paltz area for more than 20 years. She has experience in the food and wine industry and was the owner of the 36 Main Restaurant & Wine Bar in New Paltz. The restaurant received a Zagat Award as the Best New Restaurant in the Hudson Valley & Westchester in 2009 and was recognized by Hudson Valley Magazine as “One of the 7 Best New Restaurants” in 2008.
Prior to opening 36 Main, Combs was for 15 years general manager of P&G’s Restaurant. She has most recently shared her restaurant and customer service expertise with Rocking Horse Ranch as the assistant food and beverage director.
Combs has chaired the Taste of New Paltz for three consecutive years, participated on the New Paltz Regatta Planning Committee and is a member of the New Paltz Rotary Club.
••• Jess Davis, of Kingston, N.Y., has been named manager of the new Bank of Greene County branch scheduled to open Feb. 25 at 2 Miron Lane in the town of Ulster, N.Y.
A lifelong resident of Kingston, Davis has 10 years of banking experience, with positions of increasing responsibility, including teller, personal banker, operations specialist, and bank manager. She is a graduate of Kingston High School, a board member of the Community Action of Ulster County, Junior Achievement, and member of the Junior League of Kingston,
The Ulster branch will be the bank’s first in Ulster County and will include a cyber café, two drive-up windows, a drive-up ATM, and safe deposit boxes.
••• Jonah Schenker, Ed. D., principal of Ulster BOCES Hudson Valley Pathways Academy, has been chosen a 2015 recipient of a Global Professional Development Scholarship from EF Education First and will join a delegation of educational administrators who will travel to Finland, a country boasting one of the world’s highest performing education systems. There, participants will explore global education through workshops, visits to innovative organizations, and culturally immersive activities with their delegations.
The Hudson Valley Pathways Academy at Ulster BOCES is an education model based on STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) education and supported through the state’s P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) initiative. Pathways at Ulster BOCES is a school that is designed to give students who are at risk in their college aspirations the chance to earn an associate’s degree at no cost to families and to offer graduates the opportunity to be first in line for jobs with industry partners.