Keith Laake to lead the ARCC's Board of Directors

Keith Laake, the President of Cost Control Associates, in Queensbury, NY, this week became the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Laake served as the organization’s Treasurer in 2006 and 2007 and has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2002.

In addition to Mr. Laake, William Flaherty, Vice President of Business Services for National Grid, is the 2008 Vice-Chair of the Board; David Kaiser, a Senior Vice President with Glens Falls National, is the Treasurer; and Marcy Dreimiller, the Vice President for Human Resources with Glens Falls Hospital is the Secretary. The remaining members of the ARCC’s Executive Board include: Andrew Cruikshank, CEO of the Fort Hudson Health System; David Caruso, Vice President of the Stewart’s Shops; Derry Cooke, Director of Operations for Boston Scientific; Connie Gerarde, President of Keena Staffing; and Carl Cedrone, of Edward Jones Invesments, who is also the Immediate Past Chair of the Board.

The 2008 Board of Directors also includes a number of newly elected and appointed volunteers such as; Monty Liu, President of the Monty Group LLC; Stuart Guinther, Plant Manager of Lehigh Northeast Cement Company; Joan Heber, of Airway Meadows Golf Club; John Brodt, Vice President of Behan Communications; Christopher Della Bella, Executive Manager of the D’Ella Auto Group; and Matt Fuller, Esquire, of Fitzgerald, Morris, Baker and Firth, PC.

“Our nominating committee works hard each year to identify and elect a diverse cross section of our members to serve on the 27 member Board of Directors,” said Keith Laake, Chair of the Board. “The 2008 Board includes a good mixture of people from Washington, Warren and Northern Saratoga Counties. We have Board members from the tourism, manufacturing, retail, and professional services sectors as well as leaders who are the owners of small businesses to the key decision makers at some of our region’s largest employers. These volunteer leaders actively participate in our Board meetings so that we have a dynamic and often times enlightening discussion of the issues facing our region’s economy with the goal of providing policy recommendations for the Chamber’s professional staff to implement.”