Hires/Promotions/ Honors

Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute named David

F. Schneeweiss to its board of directors. Schneeweiss is managing director and senior portfolio manager of investments with Wealth Management and Consulting at Wells Fargo Advisors.

Buffalo Lodging Associates, a hotel development and management company, promoted Evan Baker to general manager for Sleep Inn Buffalo/ Amherst, located at 75 Innkeepers Lane in Amherst. Baker, a graduate of SUNY at Cobleskill, joined the company in July 2008.

Synacor, a Buffalo technology company, named Balasubramian Rajagopal, Amrita Jain and Apurva Doshi developers, Pooja Jayaram and Dave Henry quality assurance analysts, and Divya Mehra a product group manager. Also, the company transitioned John Burow to product manager.

Company items

Fidelis Care welcomed the following Erie County providers to its network: Dr. Margarita K. Giotis, PSA Healthcare, Retina Consultants of WNY, Town and Village Pediatrics, Western New York Retina, Amherst Diagnostic Imaging, Buffalo Diagnostic Imaging, and Dr. Sadashiv S. Shenoy.

Liazon partnered with the Alden and West Seneca Chambers of Commerce to offer their members the Bright Choices benefits program. The program provides Chamber members with an array of benefit choices and options from leading carriers that small companies may not be able to access individually.

Hearing Evaluation Services of Buffalo will open a state-of-the-art facility in Wehrle Professional Center at 2733 Wehrle Drive in Williamsville by the end of this year. HES is an audiology practice that has provided hearing health care and hearing aid services for more than 28 years. The practice will be sharing office space with the Hearing&Speech Center of WNY. H&S employs more than 50 speech pathologists who provide speech services throughout WNY and will be expanding their services at the Wehrle Drive complex to include occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychology, social work and special education. Currently, HES has two offices in Amherst and Orchard Park.

Seneca One Realty, owners of One HSBC Center, recently announced a 98 percent occupancy rate with many businesses choosing to renew their leases and expand the space they currently occupy. Most recently, the Canadian Consulate General increased the amount of space it occupies at the Center by 50 percent, signing a new long-term lease for 35,700 square feet. Also, PricewaterhouseCoopers extended its lease through 2014, the Seymour H. Knox Foundation, extended its lease through 2014 for its 38th floor suite, and UBS Financial Services, extended its lease at the Center through 2017. One HSBC Center is also home to: George F. Phillips Jr.; HSBC Bank USA; Harold C. Brown& Co.; Phillips Lytle; and The John R. Oishei Foundation.

Contributing

The Bank of Akron donated more than $28,000 to more than 10 local fire companies and other charities and fundraisers during 2009. In addition, the bank supplied promotional items to various fundraising organizations.

Patents

Title: “Customizable optical reader” No.: 7,594,610 Inventors: Walczyk, Joseph (Syracuse); Fauth, Dieter (Schorndorf, DE); Holzhauer, David (Camillus); Hussey, Robert M. (Camillus); Keys, Barry (Batavia); Livingston, Joseph (Camillus); Robinson, Michael D. (Weedsport) Assignee: Hand Held Products (Skaneateles Falls) Date issued: Sept. 29, 2009

Title: “Resin bonded sorbent” No.: 7,595,278 Inventors: Powers, Thomas (Mayville); Incorvia, Samuel A. (North Tonawanda) Assignee: Multisorb Technologies (Buffalo) Date issued: Sept. 29, 2009