MANCHESTER — The Business & Industry Association, New Hampshire's statewide chamber of commerce and leading business advocate, elected officers and directors for 2022-2023, and honored outstanding volunteer members at its Annual Business Meeting Thursday, May 12.

BIA held the business meeting, and networking event with executives of New Hampshire’s top employers, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Manchester.

Elected as officers were Chair Tom Jokerst, general manager, Anheuser-Busch; Chair-elect John Kacavas, chief legal officer & general counsel, Dartmouth Health; Past-chair Sheryl McQuade, regional president of Northern New England, TD Bank; Treasurer Steve Lawlor, principal and CPA, Nathan Wechsler; Secretary Scott Ellison, partner, Cook Little; President Michael Skelton, president and CEO, BIA.

Elected to BIA’s Executive Committee were Todd Black, senior vice president, Unitil; Douglas Foley, president, Eversource; Donna Morris, president, Greater Salem Chamber of Commerce; Joseph Murray, vice president public affairs, Fidelity Investments; Maria Proulx, president, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Hampshire; Kathyrn Skouteris, vice president, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care; and Venu Sunkara, director of operations and site leader, Watts Water Technologies.

Newly elected to the Board of Directors are Timothy Archer, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of New England; Barbara Beckwith, general manager, Mountain View Grand Resort; Jamie Burnett, president, Sight Line Public Affairs; Robert Dapice, executive director/CEO, NH Housing; Christopher Hodgdon, vice president of government affairs, Comcast; Theodore Kitchens, airport director, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport; and Leslie Walker, managing director, Mason + Rich CPA.

Re-elected directors are Andrew Curland, CEO and president, Vitex Extrusion/Momentum Manufacturing Group; Ginamarie Alvino, vice president and director of legal reform; The RiverStone Group; Joseph Carelli, president – New Hampshire/Vermont, Citizens Bank; Michael Costa, president and CEO, Fiduciary Trust of New England; Eric Crainich, president, Design Standards Corporation; James Faulhaber, NAFTA operations lead, Osram Sylvania – Automotive Lighting; David Greer, CEO, Wire Belt Company of America; Philip Hastings, president, director and shareholder, Cleveland, Waters and Bass, P.A.; Michael Karsonovich, CEO, StatLab; Leonel Klassen, senior vice president of operations, Elektrisola, Inc.; Joel Maiola, principal, Granite Edge Consulting; Marian Noronha, president, Turbocam International; Michael O’Reilly, senior vice president, Bangor Savings Bank; David Patterson, president and CEO, Cirtronics; Tyler Reed, plant leader, General Electric Company; Mike Rizzo, CEO, Admix, Inc.; Denis Robinson, partner, Pierce Atwood, LLP; Michael Shultz, vice president, Regulatory and public policy; Consolidated Communications; and Thomas White, president, New England Wire Technologies.

Four departing directors were honored: Pat Closson, director, chair of Corporate Department and chair of the Healthcare Group, McLane Middleton; Linda Fanaras, CEO/strategist, Millennium Agency; Steven Shawver, executive vice president, chief legal officer and secretary, Sig Sauer, Inc.; and Val Zanchuk, owner, Graphicast, Inc.

BIA’s board is one of the largest in New Hampshire, featuring the state’s top executives.

“All our board members, past and present, are vital to the success of BIA’s mission to promote a healthy business climate and robust economic future for New Hampshire,” said BIA President & CEO Michael Skelton. “We’re incredibly grateful for their contributions.”

For the full list of BIA’s Board of Directors, visit https://members.biaofnh.com/board-of-directors.

The following members received BIA’s Above & Beyond Awards, honoring standout volunteer efforts: Tonia Chase, formerly of Lydall Performance Materials; Andrea Chatfield, Cook Little; Jeff McIver, The Mountain Club on Loon; Sheryl McQuade, TD Bank; John Nyhan, Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce; Joe Shean, R.P. Abrasives; Cameron Shilling, McLane Middleton; Tricia Soule, N.H. Business Committee for the Arts; and Leslie Walker, Mason + Rich.

For more information, visit BIAofNH.com.

For photos from the event, visit https://www.biaofnh.com/bia-photo-gallery/.