People on the Move: July 29

People on the Move is a rundown of recent hirings, promotions, appointments and other notable movements by professionals in the state. If you’re interested in submitting an entry, please contact news@delawarebusinesstimes.com. 

Monté T. Squire | PHOTO COURTESY OF DUANE MORRIS LLP

Duane Morris LLP partner Monté T. Squire has been appointed to serve on the Lawyer Advisory Committee to the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.

Squire practices in the area of intellectual property law, where he represents and advises technology-driven companies in all aspects of intellectual property litigation. Squire has extensive experience litigating cases, particularly in the District of Delaware, across a broad range of technologies and industries, including patent infringement cases involving software, internet and telecommunications technology, biomedical devices, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, semiconductor technology, aeronautical equipment and mobile navigation technology. He is also experienced handling patent licensing and other IP-related commercial disputes, as well as advising clients and providing opinions on patentability, invalidity, infringement, and risk assessment of new products and technology.

Squire has particular experience advising clients on complex legal and procedural issues specific to patent trial practice, especially the interplay between patent litigation in federal court and related parallel proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Prior to joining Duane Morris, Squire served as an Administrative Patent Judge and member of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, where he heard and presided over patent trials and appeals, including inter partes review (IPR) and related proceedings.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management named Laura LaRosa as Mid-Atlantic regional president. LaRosa is responsible for developing and implementing a growth strategy to execute across Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Tysons Corner and Delaware. LaRosa is based in Philadelphia and reports to Rob Kricena, head of U.S. markets.

Laura LaRosa | PHOTO COURTESY OF BNY

Prior to joining BNY Mellon Wealth Management, LaRosa was at Glenmede, an investment and wealth management firm serving institutions and individuals, for more than 25 years. She most recently served as a member of the management committee and as an executive director, where she led client development and growth efforts. She held a variety of other senior roles at Glenmede, including director of Portfolio Management and director of Fixed Income Management.

LaRosa earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania. She is an active member of her community and currently serves on the Executive Committee and Board of the Committee of Seventy, Board member of the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) and Board member of Friends of Rittenhouse Square. LaRosa is also a member of various other not-for-profit organizations, including the Mural Arts Philadelphia and Horizons.

Bernard Grove | PHOTO COURTESY OF WOHLESEN

 Wohlsen Construction Company announced Bernard L. “Bud” Grove has been promoted to senior vice president of Senior Living. In his role, Grove will lead Wohlsen’s senior living initiatives across its geographic footprint and provide support and expertise to assure client and project expectations are delivered.

Grove has served in numerous roles in the construction industry during his career, from field supervisor to engineer and project manager to project executive. He joined the Wohlsen team in 2011 and has served in various capacities, including vice president of government division, project executive, and vice president of operations. He recently served as vice president of project development, providing preconstruction and budgeting oversight for Wohlsen’s senior living clients.

Energize Delaware announced the promotions of Suzanne Sebastian to deputy director and Athena Bi to research, evaluation, measurement & verification (EM&V) manager.

Sebastian joined the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (DESEU), DBA Energize Delaware in 2015 as the Program Manager and has advanced her role through the years to take on more leadership responsibilities with our organization. Sebastian brings a wealth of experience through her career of more than 37 years in managing energy efficiency and renewable energy programs in Delaware that provide incentives, financing options and technical assistance to a variety of clients across residential, commercial, government and non-profit sectors in Delaware.  Prior to that position, Sebastian worked for the State of Delaware as a program planner for the Delaware Energy Office, located in the DNREC Division of Energy and Climate for thirty years.  

Bi joined the Energize Delaware team in 2019 as an associate program manager. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Delaware, Doctor of Philosophy in Energy and Environmental Policy Athena was a research assistant. Bi was employed by Gartner of Arlington, VA as senior principal, Audit & Risk and the Delaware State Senate as an energy & environmental legislative fellow where she worked closely with Senator Harris B. McDowell III, now retired, and chairman of the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (DESEU) Board and other legislators on the Renewable Portfolio Standards and other energy efficiency and renewable energy legislation and committees.

Kate Bechtold | PHOTO COURTESY OF

Kate Bechtold, MHA, RN, NE-BC, has joined Beebe Healthcare as senior vice president of Nursing Operations and Chief Nursing Officer.

Bechtold brings over 25 years of leadership experience, including 18 years in the role of chief nursing officer. She has worked in a variety of health systems across the country from the state of Washington to Massachusetts. Most recently, she was senior vice president of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Covenant Health System in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. Bechtold oversaw nursing operations and other departments across three hospitals and 10 post-acute hospitals. 

Bechtold will oversee and collaborate on nursing operations throughout the Beebe Healthcare system to assure clinical alignment and consistent practice across One Beebe – roles she excelled at with Covenant Health and throughout her career.

Foulk Living, a retirement community, announced Leslie Johnson as the new executive director of the senior living community. In that capacity, Johnson will oversee the day-to-day operations, collaborate with, and help strengthen her team, and ensure that the highest degree of resident care and services are delivered and maintained.

Johnson has worked in senior living for 13 years. Having majored in dietetics in college, she started her career as a dietitian in a large healthcare system. She said her field of study had appealed to her because of the role that nutrition plays in disease management and prevention and the opportunity this provided for her to help improve others’ quality of life.

As she gained experience in the healthcare setting, Johnson determined that she wanted to expand her abilities in order to “make a greater impact in the overall care we provided. I also wanted to contribute to a work environment where staff feels empowered and appreciated. I’ve always believed that a happy staff leads to happy residents,” she said. Johnson pursued her credentials for becoming a healthcare administrator and had successful experience in that role at several different sites.

Belfint, Lyons & Shuman, P.A. (BLS), a public accounting and consulting firm, announced: Tyler Dorso, CPA, Tyler Starr, CPA, John Still, CPA, and Jonathan Turner, CPA have been promoted to supervisor; Andrew Treon has been promoted to senior accountant; and Brody Hudson, Jennifer Miller, and Alyce Smith have been promoted to staff II accountant.

Dorso joined the firm in June 2015 and is a member of the firm’s Tax & Small Business department. He assists individuals and small businesses with tax planning, compliance, and financial statement services. He earned his Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting and Finance from West Chester University and currently resides in Upper Chichester, PA.

Starr joined the firm as an intern in the summer of 2016 and continued with the firm upon graduation. Tyler is a member of the firm’s Employee Benefit Plan Practice Group within the Accounting & Auditing department where he specializes in auditing employee benefit plans of for-profit, nonprofit, and governmental entities. He earned his Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting and Finance from West Chester University. Tyler currently resides in Wilmington, Delaware.

Still joined the firm in January 2019 and is a member of the firm’s Accounting and Auditing department. He has experience performing audits, reviews, compilations, and tax returns for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. He also has experience auditing governmental clients and performing IOLTA pre-certifications for law firms. John studied at the University of Delaware, obtaining both a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and currently resides in Newark, Delaware.

Turner joined the firm in October 2019 and is a member of the firm’s Tax & Small Business department. He enjoys preparing information that individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations can rely on to make informed and impactful decisions. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from University of Delaware, Masters degree in Taxation from Rutgers, and is the Treasurer of the Ardencroft Association. Jonathan currently resides in Wilmington, DE.

Emmel has been promoted to Administrative Services Supervisor in the Tax and Small Business department. She joined the firm in February 2020 and is an invaluable member of the BLS Team and to the many clients that she assists throughout the year. Stacey currently resides in West Grove, Pennsylvania.

Jennings has been promoted to Administrative Services Supervisor in the Audit department. She oversees the daily duties of employees to ensure that quality standards are being met and proper procedures are being followed. She will be celebrating her 9th anniversary with BLS in October and currently resides in Wilmington, Delaware.

Treon joined the firm as an intern in the summer of 2019 and continued as a full time team member in 2020. He has experience with corporate and individual taxes as well as for-profit and nonprofit auditing and is currently pursuing his CPA license. Andrew has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from West Chester University and resides in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Hudson joined the firm as an intern in the summer of 2021 and continued as a full time team member in September 2021. He is a graduate of Penn State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and is currently working towards his Masters Degree in Business Administration at West Chester University. Brody currently resides in West Grove, Pennsylvania.

Miller joined the firm in August 2021 and is a member of the firm’s Tax & Small Business department. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Goldey-Beacom College and currently resides in Townsend, DE.

Smith joined the firm as an intern in the summer of 2020 and continued as a full time team member in June 2021. She is a graduate of Rowan University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BLS

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation announced that as part of the Board’s ongoing succession planning, Sheree M. Petrone and Stephanie N. Gary were appointed to serve as members of the Board of Directors of Chesapeake Utilities.

Petrone joins the Board with extensive energy industry experience, having served in executive positions at Dynegy Inc. and Exelon Corporation. Gary serves as vice president of finance at TidalHealth, a Maryland-based health system of hospitals and specialty offices.

Petrone served as executive vice president and head of the retail electricity business of Dynegy Inc., and vice president of commercial and retail divisions at Exelon and in financial roles at PECO, an Exelon company. Past management roles included positions at Trigen Energy and Westinghouse. Petrone currently serves as president of Atwater Advisory where she focuses on strategic growth strategies and value creation. She has deep experience across the value chain, including management, business development and customer service in competitive power generation markets and regulated transmission and distribution businesses.

Petrone’s alma mater is the University of Delaware, where she serves as an executive mentor at the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Magee Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation and past chair of its strategic planning committee. Petrone is also a member of both The Forum of Executive Women and Alliance Francaise de Philadelphie, and she previously was a member of the Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment in Washington, D.C.

In Gary’s role as vice president of finance at Delmarva-based TidalHealth Inc., she leads the organization’s finance functions, including strategic financial planning and analysis, forecasting and decision support. Prior to TidalHealth, Gary held management positions at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Methodist Health System, during which she managed operating and capital budgets, strategic planning and the finance and business operations.

Gary formerly served on the Board of Duncanville and Cedar Hill Chambers of Commerce in Texas, and currently serves as treasurer of a nonprofit organization that provides community programs and services to residents in the Dallas County area.