Ørsted hires former Inland Bays director
Ørsted has hired Chris Bason to serve as Stakeholder Engagement Lead in Delaware.
Bason will be responsible for developing and implementing external engagement strategies in support of Skipjack Wind and will represent Ørsted to local communities, businesses, and elected officials.
Prior to joining Ørsted, Bason served for 18 years with the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays in Sussex County. He served as the organization’s science coordinator and then spent ten years as its Executive Director.
A native of New Castle, Bason has lived in Ocean View since 2004 with his wife and two children. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in Biology from East Carolina University. Prior to joining the Center for the Inland Bays, Chris participated in wetlands research and management while working for The Nature Conservancy, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and East Carolina University.
Skipjack Wind is 966-megawatt offshore wind project off the Maryland-Delaware coast.
Kruzinski named WSFS EVP
WSFS Bank, the primary subsidiary of WSFS Financial Corporation announced that Shari Kruzinski has been named Executive Vice President, Chief Consumer Banking Officer.
In her new role, she will oversee all aspects of the Consumer Banking division including Retail Delivery, Strategy, Consumer and Small Business banking, and the Mortgage division. Kruzinski will assume the role following Rick Wright’s announcement that he will retire at the end of the year.
Most recently, Kruzinski was the Chief Customer Officer, leading the Bank’s Customer division, including Customer Experience and enterprise-wide customer initiatives. She started in 1989 at WSFS as a floating teller.
Also, WSFS will form a new division comprised of enterprise-wide functions including Customer Experience, Marketing, Communications, Community Strategy and Community Reinvestment. The new division will report to Levenson under the interim leadership of Ollie Sommer, SVP and director of Corporate Development.
Convention and Visitors Bureau names board members
The Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau, the destination marketing organization for New Castle County, has appointed three new members to its board of directors. They are Dee Durham, James F. Lardear, and James C. Williams.
Durham has served as a New Castle County Council member representing District 2 since 2018. In November 2022, she was elected to serve as President of Preservation Delaware.
Lardear is director of public and government affairs for AAA Club Alliance Inc., headquartered in Wilmington. Prior to joining AAA, he was the director of public relations at the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children.
Williams is the small and minority business development manager for the City of Wilmington’s Mayor’s Office of Economic Development. Williams and the Office of Economic Development support the city’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program, helping to increase access to procurement and contracting opportunities for small and minority-owned businesses.
The Bureau is a non-profit organization founded in 1978, chartered by the Governor of Delaware, the New Castle County Executive and the Mayor of Wilmington.
UD CIO moves to Brown University post
UD CIO heads to Brown University
Sharon Pitt, vice president of information technologies and chief information officer at the University of Delaware since 2017, has been named vice president for information technology and chief information officer at Brown University.
Long announced that Joe Kempista, assistant vice president for client support and services in Information Technologies, will serve as interim vice president and chief information officer while a national search is conducted to identify Pitt’s successor.
Pitt earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in architecture at Virginia Tech.
Tech Elevator names Campus Director
Tech Elevator , a technology training provider, has hired Lisa Sydney as Campus Director for the Philadelphia and Wilmington Tech Elevator campuses.
As Campus Director, Lisa will be responsible for the overall operations of the two campuses, including team management and staffing, admissions, student and alumni engagement, business development, event coordination, facilities management, and expansion efforts.
Burch named Realtor of the Year
Mia Burch, a member of the New Castle County Board of Realtors, has been named the 2022 Delaware Realtor of the Year.
She has held numerous leadership positions at the New Castle County Board of Realtors, including President, President-elect, and Vice President.
In 2021, Burch served as President of the Delaware Association of Realtors.
At the national level, she serves on the National Association of Realtors Member Policy and Jurisdiction Committee.
Corrections announce executive appointments
The Delaware Department of Correction announced the following executive appointments:
Chief of Administrative Services John Sebastian has been appointed Chief of Community Corrections.
State Finance Department Human Resources Administrator Christine Dunning was appointed Chief of Administrative Services.
Correctional Food Services Administrator Wendal Lundy has been promoted to Deputy Chief of Administrative Services.
Sebastian fills the vacancy created when former Chief of Community Corrections Terra Taylor was appointed Deputy Commissioner in August 2022.
Sebastian joined the Department of Correction in 1991 and served in a variety of positions. Sebastian was appointed Deputy Chief of Administrative Services in 2017, where he led several department-wide programs.
Dunning replaces Sebastian as Chief of Administrative Services, bringing 35 years of criminal justice and human resources leadership experience to the Department of Correction. Since April 2022, Dunning has served as statewide Human Resources Administrator for the Delaware Department of Finance.
She also worked in New Castle County government, and the state’s court system, and served for 27 years in the Wilmington Police Department, where she served as chief for a year.
Deputy Chief of Community Corrections Heidi Collier, who had been acting Chief following Taylor’s promotion, will remain in the position of Deputy Chief of Community Corrections.
Lundy fills the vacancy created when John Sebastian was promoted to Chief of Administrative Services. Lundy, a 15-year DOC veteran, has served as Correctional Food Service Administrator since 2015. He served in the Air Force for 20 years and worked for Aramark.
Shortridge earns resume writer credential
Resume writer and career coach Dan Shortridge, Dover, has become one of fewer than 75 people in the United States to earn a Nationally Certified Resume Writer credential – and the first in Delaware.
“The last two years have shown us that workers are more in charge of their careers than ever, and need to treat them like a business,” said Shortridge, founder of ResultsResumes.org. “You should always be looking for a new opportunity, because you never know when or where it will come from.”
The status is awarded by the National Resume Writers’ Association, a nonprofit organization that promotes best practices and standards for professional resume writers.
Shortridge has written a free guide to help State of Delaware job candidates simplify the application process and increase their chances of getting an interview, available at resultsresumes.org/statejobs. He also curates a weekly statewide marketing and communications jobs list.
Fulton names healthcare banking SVP
Fulton Bank, a subsidiary of Fulton Financial Corporation, Lancaster, PA announced the addition of Kristen Welch as the new Senior Vice President and Director of its Healthcare Banking Group. In her role, she will oversee banking activities at for-profit and nonprofit healthcare organizations with over $20 million in revenues in the New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington DC and Virginia markets.
Kristen brings 18 years of experience to the leadership role working with healthcare providers and payors to evaluate banking solutions, including taxable and tax-exempt financing, capital markets, equipment finance, treasury management, revenue cycle management, liquidity solutions, and institutional investments.
Prior to joining Fulton, she served as a senior vice president in healthcare for Bank of America and PNC Financial Services.
