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.
McGraw Hill, an education company, announces Melissa Tracy, Food Studies and Social Studies Teacher at Odyssey Charter School, one of the inaugural winners of the McGraw Hill Pathfinder Awards, which recognize educators for innovative and inventive teaching. Each McGraw Hill Pathfinder Award recipient won a $5,000 cash prize.
A driven, entrepreneurial educator at a K-12 charter school in Delaware, Tracy is the driving force behind one of the most unique career and technical education programs in the country. Thanks to her creativity and inventiveness, Tracy transformed an elective Food Studies course into a massive agriscience program that has multiple outdoor gardens, goats and chickens, a hydroponic lab and opportunities for students to earn dual-enrollment college credits. Students learn about the environment, history, culture, and power through the lens of food, and the 3,500 vegetables they grow on-site each month are regularly donated to local charities.
“If you had told me when I first started teaching that I would be an agriscience teacher almost full time, I would have told you that you’re insane,” Tracy said. Her advice for educators? “Think big…Never stop learning…Surround yourself with solutions-oriented people.”
A Better Delaware announces Jane Brady has joined the organization. Brady will serve as Co-chair with founder Chris Kenny. Brady previously served Delaware for three terms as Attorney General and served one term as a Delaware Superior Court Judge.
“We are very pleased to have someone with Jane’s background and experience be a part of A Better Delaware. Her grasp of the issues affecting Delaware today is keen and will be a great asset to our advocacy for improving Delaware for the families and businesses here,” Chris Kenny said.
“I am quite familiar with and have admired the significant work that A Better Delaware has done in a very short time. I look forward to working with representatives of Delaware’s business and civic communities to make Delaware a better place to live and do business,” Brady said.
Brady graduated from the University of Delaware and Villanova University School of Law. She recently received her MBA from the University of Delaware Lerner School. She lives in Lewes with her husband, Michael Neal, and their son, Trent.
The Delaware Republican State Convention name Julianne Murray (Seaford, DE) as the new State chair of the DEGOP. The Convention delegates also elected Jim Weldin (Newark) as vice chair, Brandon Brice (Wilmington) as the party secretary, and Ben Gregg (Hockessin) as the new treasurer.
Murray promised to be a positive voice for Republicans statewide and create a stronger Republican Party. She pledged to work with every delegate to earn their trust and move the Party forward in preparation for the 2024 elections. Murray challenged every delegate to leave the convention committed to working together to make Delaware a better place to live, work and raise a family.
Weldin is currently the chair of the Colonial Region of the Republican Party, a retired Newark Police Officer, and a baseball coach. “We must build the party by working with people in every neighborhood and inside the communities all over Delaware. We must build first at the grassroots level,” Weldin said. He was elected based on his track record of building a political organization and his operational skills.
Retired business leader and CPA, Gregg, was elected following his campaign for State Rep in the 12th Rep. District. Brice is a community leader and business executive active in the Wilmington community.
Beebe Healthcare announce the appointment of Cameron Yau, MD, to its medical staff. Dr. Yau is a board certified orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in hip and knee replacement and revision surgery. He advocates for minimally invasive approaches to joint replacement and is specially trained in anterior approaches to hip replacement. This advanced technique typically allows for a quicker and less painful recovery process for patients.
Dr. Yau is a member of Beebe’s Medical Staff, performing procedures at Beebe, and practicing independently in the community at Orthopaedic Associates of Southern Delaware, PA.
Previously, Dr. Yau served as chief of surgery at Three Rivers Health in Michigan. Before that, he served at various healthcare institutions in Ontario, Canada. He is recognized for his commitment to research, focused on the advancement of orthopaedic surgical approaches to optimize clinical outcomes.
Dr. Yau earned his medical degree at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He went on to complete residency training in the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Toronto, followed by fellowship training at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. There, Dr. Yau focused on complex adult hip and knee reconstruction, with specialized interest in anterior approaches to hip replacement.
Dr. Yau is certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and is licensed by the Medical Council of Canada. Additionally, he is a Fellow of both the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada and the Royal College of Physicians of Canada.
Shore United Bank announce Brad Preisinger and Jeff Starcher have joined its team of mortgage banking experts. Preisinger and Starcher bring with them a wealth of experience in residential lending, having closed billions of dollars in loan volume and successfully completed thousands of home purchase, construction, and renovation projects over the course of their careers.
Preisinger and Starcher join Shore United Bank after spending decades with Sandy Spring Bank, where they played key roles in growing the bank and its lending footprint, while helping their clients navigate complex home financing projects.
“I am excited to join Shore United Bank and continue my work in the construction lending industry,” Preisinger. said “I have always been impressed by the bank’s commitment to its clients and look forward to working with a team that shares my passion for delivering exceptional service.”
Starcher added, “Shore United Bank has a strong reputation for supporting its clients through all phases of their business, and I am eager to be a part of such a dedicated and experienced team. I am looking forward to contributing to the bank’s continued growth and success.”
Wealth manager Chuck Posnecker has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Local Journalism Initiative (LJI).
Posnecker is a senior wealth advisor at Bryn Mawr Capital Management, a subsidiary of WSFS Bank, where he counsels high-net-worth families and nonprofits on portfolio management and financial planning. Born in Las Vegas and a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, he and his wife moved to the Delaware region in 2012. He is also a proud Leadership Delaware Class of 2020 Fellow, where he began to truly embrace the need for community engagement and partnership.
“What I love about LJI’s mission is that it’s strengthening so many aspects of our community,” Posnecker said. “Whether you’re passionate about education, the arts, the environment, health care or something else, local journalism helps advance all of those issues by deepening our understanding of what’s going on, exposing opportunities for improvement, and empowering communities to drive positive change.”
Combined with his passion for Delaware, Posnecker’s financial expertise will help LJI build sustainable models to address gaps in local news and information needs, LJI President Allison Taylor Levine said.
Michael French, CPA, former managing director and director of Tax & Small Business, has retired from BLS with over 43 years of service in public accounting.
French started at BLS on January 1, 1980, as the firm’s first ever co-op. He has the distinguished achievement of working his entire public accounting career at BLS and working his way from an entry-level position to director to Managing Director. French’s passion and desire to uphold BLS’s Legacy has been instrumental in preserving a culture of quality and integrity both for clients and within the Firm. As he began to contemplate retirement, he passed the baton to the firm’s new executive directors on January 1, 2022 so they could begin a new era of governance and glean as much as they could from the depth of his knowledge and experience at BLS.
French looks forward to spending time with his wife, Tara, and his children, along with regularly reconnecting with long-time friends. He and Tara would like to travel to Europe and other parts of the USA they haven’t seen, as well as revisit some of their favorite places. They hope to visit wherever their children will be at least quarterly (always an accountant) and as many national parks as they can. In addition, Michael’s hobbies of brewing beer, gardening (for hops, of course) and landscaping are on the top of his retirement list.
