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President, Elizabeth "Dolly" Decker

Elizabeth “Dolly” Decker, Broker/Owner of Hello Dolly Real Estate, the Real Estate Matchmaker, specializing in Highland and Southern Ulster County real property for 40 years. A lifelong resident of Ulster County, the mother of two grown men, grandmother of one young man and step-grandmother of seven young women. Always striving to see the good in people and working to promote and improve our community. An experienced leader in several nonprofit organizations including Highland Downtown Business Association, Southern Ulster Chamber of Commerce, Ulster County Board of Realtors, UC Multiple Listing Service and UC Habitat for Humanity. Chosen 2003 REALTOR of The Year and honored for service and commitment to the real estate profession. Currently serving on the Community Service Committee of the Ulster County Board of Realtors and the Esopus Economic Development Committee.

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Vice President, Russell E. Gilmore

After a fourteen-year stint as a Bank Manager and Regional facilities Manager, I began a twenty-two-year career as Director of Operations at two of the Nation’s largest childcare facilities for adjudicated youth with learning and social-emotional disabilities. During that time, I also taught evening classes, as an Adjunct Professor of Behavioral Science, at Dutchess Community College and Marist College. For three years, I served as Executive Director of a private school for high school dropouts in Newburgh, as an experiment with the NYS Board of Regents. This past year, I earned my NYS Home Inspection license and opened my own service, Hudson River Valley Home Inspections, LLC. For my community, I serve as Vice President of the Highland Landing Park Association, my 4th term on the Zoning Board of Appeals and I serve as an Alternate Delegate to the 3rd Judicial District of the State of New York. Working to develop our local character and promoting our local businesses is essential to successfully grow our great Highland community.

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Treasurer, Steve Laubach

My name is Steve Laubach. I have lived in Highland with my wife Debbie and three children since 1982. I have worked in the insurance business for 40 years. Most of my career has been with Nationwide Insurance where I started as an agent in 1982. I spent 13 years as a sales manager for Nationwide between 1990 and 2002. I won several presidents’ conference awards and was the top ranked sales manager for Nationwide in 1998. In 2002 I went back into agency work with Nationwide where I owned and operated Laubach Insurance Agency. In 2020 I sold my agency to SIG Agencies (Stamford Insurance Group) and joined that agency as a producer, still working out of my home office in Highland. SIG subsequently sold to Relation Insurance and our agency is now part of their organization. I am a Charter Member of the Highland Rotary Club established in 1984 and served as its 3rd President during the 1986-1987 Rotary year. I was one of the leaders of the club’s first large project in Highland, the Adult Day Care Center. I also served two consecutive terms as President of the Highland Club from 2005 to 2007 and again in 2014. When I am not working, I enjoy participating in the Highland Rotary Club projects, teaching Junior Achievement, and spending time with my family. I also enjoy golf and baseball. I served our community as a member of the Town of Lloyd Police Reform & Reinvention Committee, and I am currently an alternate member of the Town of Lloyd Board of Ethics.

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Steven E Laubach

Laubach Insurance Agency

PO Box 891

Highland, NY 12528

steven.laubach@laubachinsurance.com

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Secretary, Amy Dooley

Amy Dooley moved to Ulster County in 2004 to raise her children close to family members in New Paltz and Kingston. In 2019 she had the opportunity to move to Highland to live next door to her mother. Amy has fully embraced Highland as her community, opening a small art gallery and creative studio in the Highland Hamlet called Studio 89. Amy serves on the Town of Lloyd Economic Development Committee as well as her new role of Secretary of the Highland Business Association.

Amy previously spent 20 years as a massage therapist, and 7 years as a Realtor in Ulster County before going back to school in 2015 for her first loves, design, photography, and art. She has been self-employed most of her adult life and has applied her creative skills to marketing her businesses. She looks forward to bringing her creative ideas to the Highland Business Association to help support other local businesses.

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Director, Robert Forrest

My name is Robert Forrest. I started in the Sign & Design business designing logos and all types of signs. For over 20 years I owned a sign business in Dutchess County. I was also a speaker for the New York State Cornell Cooperative Extension Conference and was responsible for speaking on the topic of "effective sign design and placement".

In the late 90s, I added graphic arts to our services and produced a national 4-color magazine for a non-profit, and designed ads and flyers. I was part of a small team that put on national conferences in the Tampa Bay and The Orlando Conference Centers (1999 and 2000). In 2003 we put on a national conference in Branson, Missouri. I designed the 10' x 30' banners (backdrops for the stages) along with all the signage and printed material for these conferences.

Returning to New York I was a manager for a print publication company and was directly responsible for taking its 21 publications and converting them from paste-up into a digital workflow between Macintosh computers and PCs ensuring a smooth workflow, speeding up production, and relieving the company of its high production costs saving the company over 1/4 million dollars each year.

I have been designing websites since 2000 and have incorporated all my experience into ADK Digital Media. I also did the graphics and layout for many publications, some being distributed nationwide.

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Director, Sal Sorbello

Founding owner of Sorbello Landscaping in 1989. I have been a lifelong Highlander, graduating Highland High School in 1969. I married in 1989 to Christine, who is employed by the Highland Central School District for over 20 years. I have been in the Highland Rotary Club since 2017 working on several community projects including the Centennial Garden on the Rail Trail, Legion Hall gardens, and St. Pauli Sheds.

I am also on the board of the TOL Historical Society. In 2020, my nephew Steven Sorbello who had been working and learning the business from an early age, took over the business. Since 2020 he has expanded into not only yard maintenance but estate clean outs, salvageable items are repurposed to people in need through habit for humanity and community groups. The company has worked with several real estates in the area.

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Director, Joe Dirac

Joseph Dirac is a professional business and personal development consultant. Joe is president of  Dirac Assets Development and the Veterans Vocational Assistance Foundation (a not-for-profit organization) that he founded. He is a US Army veteran. He previously worked as a project director for the AARP Foundation Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) for over 20 years. During this time he worked on various employment and training projects and programs. He has served on the executive committee of a local Workforce Investment Board and has chaired a consortium of agencies which operated a local One Stop Employment and Training Center.
He is certified as a National Career Development Association, Global Career Development Trainer and holds a NYS Family Development Credential from Cornell University.