Board & Committees

Board Members
The board of directors meets the third Wednesday of each month at 11:00am via conference call. The Annual Meeting in June and Fall Forum in October are in-person. Agendas and minutes are available at this link.
(All Officers and Directors are appointed by the North Country Alliance Board of Directors)

Marijean Remington, President
First Appointed 6/25/2012; Reappointed 6/17/2015; Reappointed 6/20/2018; Reappointed 6/16/2021
Marijean Remington has been the Chief Executive Officer and majority owner of Atlantic Testing Laboratories, Limited (ATL), with corporate offices in Canton, New York since 2007. Marijean has also held the positions of President, Senior Vice President for Corporate Development, Vice President, Division Manager, and Staff Consultant at ATL. She is also a member of the NYPA Economic Development Advisory Council.

Eric Virkler, Vice President
First Appointed 6/15/2011; Reappointed 6/15/2016; Reappointed 6/19/2019, Reappointed 6/22/2022
Eric is the Lewis County Treasurer. He previously worked in economic development, health care and municipal government. He is a participant in the North Country Regional Economic Development Council activities.

Joseph Russo, Secretary
First Appointed 6/15/2011; Reappointed 6/15/2016; Reappointed 6/19/2019, Reappointed 6/22/2022
Joe is an Economic Development Program Manager for National Grid. He has worked in economic and community development in New York State since 1978, with experience as a city, county, chamber of commerce and utility economic development manager.

Marshall Weir, Treasurer
First Appointed 6/12/2024
Marshall Weir is the CEO of Jefferson County Economic Development. He has  diverse backgrounds in paper, marketing, and value-added agriculture.

Rob Aiken
First appointed January 2022
Rob Aiken is the Director of Business Development and Project Manager wtih Aubertine and Currier Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors, PLLC. He is deeply involved in his community serving ont he boards of the Jefferson County LDC, the AEDC, Jefferson County Historical Society, Jefferson County WDB, is a member of the Watertown Noon Rotary, the NC Builders Exchange, and serves as event coordinator for the JCC C-Step 2-Day Leadership Event.

Elisabeth Cain
First appointed June 2024
Elisabeth is the Director of Strategic Operations at the Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake. She brings decades of experience in donor and government relations to the organization.

Carol Calabrese
First Appointed 6/15/2011; Reappointed 6/21/2017; Reappointed 6/17/2020; Reappointed 6/21/2023
Carol is the co-Executive Director of the Essex County Industrial Development Agency in Essex County, NY.

Ben Dixon
First Appointed 6/21/2017; Reappointed 6/20/2018; Reappointed 6/16/2021, Reappointed 6/12/2024
Currently Ben serves as the Executive Director of the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce. Ben was previously the Coordinator of Regional Development at St. Lawrence University, the Administrative Coordinator of the Associated Colleges of the St. Lawrence Valley,  which is a collaborative consortium of St. Lawrence University, Clarkson University, SUNY Canton, and SUNY Potsdam. Prior to his work at St. Lawrence University, he was a grants and contracts specialist at Harvard University.

Manna Doyle
First Appointed 6/16/2021, Reappointed 6/12/2024
Manna Doyle is the North Country PTAC Program Manager. His experience includes over a decade in heavy industry and manufacturing with a focus on defense contracting. 

Jeremy Evans
First Appointed 6/21/2017; Reappointed 6/20/2018; Reappointed 6/16/2021, Reappointed 6/12/2024
Jeremy is the Chief Executive Officer of the County of Franklin Industrial Development Agency.  Prior to his appointment, Jeremy served as Community Development Director for the Village of Saranac Lake, New York. He has over fifteen years of experience in economic and community development. He is a certified planner (AICP) and is working towards certification in economic development (CEcD) from the International Economic Development Council.

Brian Gladwin
First Appointed 6/15/2011; Reappointed 6/21/2017; Reappointed 6/17/2020; Reappointed 6/21/2023
Brian is Vice President, Senior Commercial Banking Relationship Manager for NBT Bank, N.A.  He has over 27 years of commercial banking experience with Key Bank and with NBT Bank. He is involved with a number of not-for-profit entities as a Board Member.

Patrick Kelly
First Appointed 6/15/2011; Reappointed 6/17/2015; Reappointed 6/20/2018; Reappointed 6/19/2019, Reappointed 6/22/2022
Patrick is Chief Executive Officer of the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency.  He is a board member and Vice Chairman of the New York State Economic Development Council, the Chairman of the Northern New York Power Proceeds Allocation Board, and a board member of the St. Lawrence Health Alliance, the North Country Alliance, and the North Country Economic Development Fund.

Melinda Little
First appointed June 2023
Melinda is the executive director of Point Positive, an angel investing organization in the Adriondacks. 

Molly Ryan
First appointed January 2022
Molly Ryan is the Executive Director of the Clinton County IDA and the Director of Economic Development for Clinton County. She previously served as the Chief of Staff for Assemblyman Billy Jones.

Cheyenne Steria
First Appointed 5/20/2020; Reappointed 6/21/2023
Cheyenne Steria is the Director of Finance and Incentives at Naturally Lewis, the umbrella for the Lewis County IDA and the Lewis County Development Corp., where she is part of the dynamic team bringing creative, innovative economic development to Lewis County. 

Christy Wilt
First Appointed 9/22/2016; Reappointed 6/20/2018; Reappointed 6/16/2021, Reappointed 6/12/2024
Christy is the Director of Planning, Tourism and Economic Development for Hamilton County. She is also the Executive Director of the Hamilton County Industrial Development Agency. She serves on the Town of Arietta Board as a Council Person and, in her spare time, she is a real estate salesperson.

Education and Outreach Committee
Meets as needed, beginning in January. Agendas and minutes are available at this link.
Jeremy Evans, Chair
Carol Calabrese
Ben Dixon
Manna Doyle
Marijean Remington
Joe Russo
Donna Wadsworth

Garry Douglas
Lori Bellingham
Stephen Hunt
Michelle Capone

Loan Review Committee
Meets the second Thursday of each month. Agendas and minutes are available at this link. 
Brian Gladwin, Chair
Marijean Remington

Ron Bacon
Al Dunham
Stephen Hunt
Ross Pancoe
Matt Siver

Communication Committee
Meets the second Wednesday of each month at 1:00pm via conference call. Agendas and minutes are available at this link.
Joe Russo, Chair
Rob Aiken
Carol Calabrese
Jeremy Evans
Brian Gladwin
Marijean Remington
Molly Ryan
Eric Virkler

Michelle Capone
Aviva Gold
Dale Rice
Matt Siver
Patricia Wilson


Nominating Committee
Meets as needed. Agendas and minutes are available at this link.
Patrick Kelly, Chair
Ben Dixon
Marijean Remington
Joe Russo
Donna Wadsworth


Audit/Finance Committee
Meets as needed. Agendas and minutes are available at this link. 
Eric Virkler, Chair
Brian Gladwin
Marijean Remington
Cheyenne Steria
Christy Wilt
Dave Zembiec

Michelle Capone
Matt Siver


Governance Committee
Meets as needed. Agendas and minutes are available at this link. 
Molly Ryan, Chair
Jeremy Evans
Patrick Kelly
Marijean Remington
Cheyenne Steria
Eric Virkler

Jamey Hoose
Michelle Capone

Membership Committee
Meets on the third Tuesday at 10:00am. Agendas and minutes are available at this link. 
Rob Aiken, Chair
Elisabeth Cain
Ben Dixon
Manna Doyle
Marijean Remington
Christy Wilt

Bob Ahlfeld
Aviva Gold
Liz Mezzetti
Leigh Rodriguez
Matt Siver