Gise named SVP at WSFS
WSFS Financial Corporation, parent company of WSFS Bank, announced that James A. Gise has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Team Leader in the Middle Market Commercial Lending division. Previously he was Vice President and Relationship Manager.
Gise now leads a team of relationship managers and portfolio managers charged with providing commercial lending and deposit services to Middle Market businesses throughout Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.
Before joining WSFS in 2010, Gise spent twenty-four years with Wells Fargo (and its predecessors) in various senior relationship management and underwriting capacities.
Gise graduated from the University of Delaware where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He also received his Master of Business Administration from Drexel University. Mr. Gise is active on the boards of First State Community Loan Fund, Naamans Little League and the Delaware Bandits Baseball Club. Gise resides in Wilmington with his wife and family.
Friedman named DuPont VP
DuPont has named Gregory R. Friedman as its vice president of Investor Relations, effective Sept. 1, succeeding Carl J. Lukach who has been appointed vice president, Treasury, Tax and Investor Relations for the new Performance Chemicals company. The new company is expected to be separated from DuPont by mid-2015.
Friedman has served in several business and financial leadership positions since joining DuPont in 2001. He previously was the general auditor and chief ethics and compliance leader. Friedman also was the chief financial officer for the DuPont Pioneer business. Friedman earned his MBA from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles, and earned his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Southern California.
Sager joins Ballard Spahr
Tom Sager, the former General Counsel at DuPont Co. joined Ballard Spahr as a partner, firm Chair Mark Stewart announced. Sager will be resident in the firm’s Philadelphia and Wilmington offices.
“It is our goal in every representation to understand the perspective of our clients and to achieve success as they define it,” Stewart said. “Tom will work across disciplines to help us anticipate change and remain a national leader in the delivery of legal services. His unique insight and experience will be an invaluable asset to clients. We are thrilled to welcome him to Ballard.”
Sager began his career with DuPont as an attorney in the Labor, Benefits & Corporate Security Group and spent more than a decade as chief litigation counsel before being named Senior Vice President and General Counsel in 2008. During his tenure, he oversaw litigation involving governmental investigations, product liability, environmental, toxic tort, labor and employment, securities, antitrust, and tax.
Executive committee announced
The Fund for Women at the Delaware Community Foundation has a new team of leaders. The new Board of Trustees executive committee is:
Michele Whetzel, chair, previously served as Fund for Women’s vice chair, grants committee chair, and treasurer. She worked as a trust officer at American Guarantee and Trust Company until the birth of her second child. Since that time, she has devoted her life to volunteerism and philanthropy. Whetzel has served on numerous boards, including the Ministry of Caring Guild board, the North Star Swim Club board, and the Adopt-a-Family Board.
Kay Keenan, vice chair, is president of Growth Consulting, Inc., a strategic marketing company. Keenan is an active Rotarian, a board member of Goodwill of Delaware & Delaware County and lay leader with the Episcopal Church.
Laura Day, chair emeritus, is owner of Laura Day & Associates, a small financial and estate planning firm. Day previously held various managerial and financial management positions with the American Red Cross, a major pharmaceutical company, and with New York Life Agency. She has served various nonprofit organizations including the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisers, Delaware Money School, Delaware Junior Achievement, and Interfaith Housing Delaware, Inc.
Valerie Middlebrooks, treasurer, is a partner in the tax department of Gunnip & Company, has experience in many areas of taxation including individual, business, nonprofit, estates and trusts. The Delaware Society of Certified Public Accountants recently selected her as a Woman to Watch.
Pam Cornforth, secretary, has been president/CEO of the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware for the past fifteen years. She is the current president-elect of the Rotary Club of Wilmington, past chair of the board of directors for DANA, and past chair of the Superstars in Business Alliance board of managers.
Susan Detwiler, governance chair, previously chaired the Fund for Women grants committee. Former executive director of the University of Delaware Hillel, Detwiler is now president of The Detwiler Group, a consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, board education and fundraising for nonprofit organizations.
Suzanne Feaster, grants committee chair, was an educator for 36 years. Feaster retired in 2011 and moved to Rehoboth Beach, where she is now a substitute teacher and a court-appointed special advocate for a child in foster care. Created in 1993, the Fund for Women at the Delaware Community Foundation is a permanent endowment and additional source of funding for programs that address the unmet needs of women and girls in Delaware.
Benton joins Baird Mandalas Brockstedt
Baird Mandalas Brockstedt, LLC announced the addition of Arlene M. Benton, as an equity partner of the firm.
She has an established practice focused on real estate, contracts, leases, and estate planning. She is admitted to practice in both Delaware and Maryland. Although she will be based in the firm’s Dover office, she handles matters throughout the state. Baird Mandalas Brockstedt’s managing partner, Kevin Baird, states that “we are thrilled that Arlene has joined the firm. She is a critical addition to our existing real estate and estate planning departments, and we look forward to her expanding the firm’s real estate business in Kent County. Arlene adds a new dimension to our business as we continue to establish ourselves as the top law firm in central and southern Delaware.”
Immediately before joining Baird Mandalas Brockstedt, Benton was a partner with Curley & Benton. She previously practiced with Morris James. Benton, a native Delawarean, is a graduate of the University of Delaware and Widener University School of Law.
Romero joins HomeServices
Bill Lyons, manager of Berkshire Hathaway
HomeServices Fox & Roach, Newark Office, announced that Jill Romero has joined the firm as sales associate. Romero is a member of the New Castle County Board of Realtors. . Romero serves New Castle and Kent Counties.
