School of Management honors career partners for impact on student success

The Career Resource Center (CRC) is an exclusive resource for nearly 4,000 students in the School of Management. The CRC recently celebrated several recruiting and internship partners for their considerable impact on student success and career development.

Mark Tronconi, BS ’82, MBA ’85, tax partner at Tronconi Segarra & Associates, was named CRC Alumnus of the Year. A CPA, Tronconi has championed the School of Management within his firm for more than 20 years, participating in many student club technicals and professional development events — and encouraging his fellow alumni to do so as well. As chair of the school’s Accounting Advisory Council, he also led the establishment of a new fellowship for Master of Science in Accounting students.

“Mark’s commitment to creating opportunities for students to thrive has been exemplary, and we are so grateful for his genuine heart, and his generosity of time, talent and treasure,” says Rose Hu, clinical assistant professor of accounting and law, and director of the MS in Accounting program.

Elizabeth Zak, banking officer and campus recruiter at M&T Bank, was awarded Recruiting Partner of the Year for her commitment to promoting a strong partnership between UB and M&T, which is consistently a top employer of School of Management students. Zak is a regular presence in the school for information sessions, career fairs, MBA Advantage and other career-focused events that contribute to students’ professional success.

New Recruiting Organization of the Year went to Constellation Brands, a Fortune 500 producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits. Two years ago, Marisa Lobsinger, BS ’10, MS ’11, manager of technical accounting and controls, inquired about posting a summer internship opportunity. Since then, Constellation Brands has become a valued partner, participating in on-campus recruiting, class projects, accounting technicals and as a Corporate Champion in the UB MBA program.

On the internship side, the CRC lauded two pairs of Interns and Supervisors of the Year. The awards recognize productive, meaningful collaborations between students and their mentors — and are chosen based on their nominations of one another. Interns often write about how they grew professionally by completing challenging assignments and hearing about their supervisor’s career path. Meanwhile, supervisors frequently share how impressed they were with their intern’s work, dedication and integrity.

This year’s Interns and Supervisors of the Year are Jacob Fox, MBA ’22, and Nita Bhatia, CEO and co-founder of CrowFly, and Jordan Storch, MBA ’21, and Peter D’Errico, chief financial officer at MidCity Office Furniture.

Northwestern Mutual was recognized as Outstanding Internship Organization. Through the firm’s financial advisory internship program, management students gain industry knowledge and an understanding of whether a career as a financial advisor may be for them.

“Some terms students use to describe their experience with Northwestern include openness to questions and ideas, encouragement, transparency, flexibility, future focused — and, in one student’s words, ‘the best experience of my academic career,’” says Carrie Gardner, director of internships and experiential learning in the School of Management.

Lastly, Life Storage was honored with the New Internship Partner award for its work to communicate and implement a vision for experiential learning. Jonathan Manly, MBA ’98, vice president of revenue management at Life Storage, took his expertise and experience as an intern supervisor and created a successful revenue management analytics internship for School of Management students this year.