The Simon Community at Five Star Bank

Finding success by putting community first. With company roots that date back to the 1850s, Five Star Bank has a long history of focusing on its customers and the communities where they live and work. Now with over $2.6 billion in assets and fifty branches across Western and Central New York, the institution is a growing and powerful presence in the area’s financial landscape.


	Martin K. Birmingham Executive MBA, Class of 2013 President and CEO “I’m delighted that we have six alumni in senior leadership positions who have gone or are going through the Simon program. It allows us to collectively leverage the analytical skillsets and frameworks we learned to deal with some of the uncertainties of business. But the other side of uncertainty is opportunity. So the extent we can all work together and leverage our experiences from Simon will be a factor in Five Star’s future successes.” >> See the full profile for Martin Birmingham
	Michael D. Grover Executive MBA, Class of 2015 Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer “It had been twenty years since I was in a classroom. I knew Simon was going to be challenging, but what I’m learning has me thinking more strategically. Simon is introducing and reinforcing concepts that are very useful as I progress in my career. For me, success is learning new tools that I can bring back to apply to my job.” >> See the full profile for Michael Grover
	Paula D. Dolan Executive MBA, Class of 1988 Senior Vice President, Director of Human Resources “Simon teaches an analytical approach to decision-making, which has been an important element in my career. There is sometimes a perception that human resources is a touchy-feely sort of business, but in reality there’s a huge financial element to it. For instance, the changes in benefits and pensions are very significant. Simon gave me the ability to make good data-driven analytical decisions that will be critically important and the ability to adjust to those changes.” >> See the full profile for Paula Dolan
	Jonathan W. Chase Executive MBA, Class of 2013 Senior Vice President, Consumer Lending Director “I was twenty-five years into a banking career and doing very well, when I suddenly had the opportunity to go back to school and refocus my career goals. Enrolling in the Simon Executive MBA program was an opportunity for me to re-energize my career. Its suite of courses offered a deep dive on fundamental business concepts that further developed my critical thinking skills and helped me apply a new framework for business decisions.” >> See the full profile for Jonathan Chase
	Charles J. Guarino Executive MBA, Class of 2015 Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing “The concepts taught at Simon and the way they change the way you approach business permeate the entire culture at Five Star Bank. One of the things I value the most out of the Executive MBA program is the team setting and the opportunity to work in groups. I have a great study team, which includes a doctor, a state trooper, and two engineers. We all offer different business perspectives and provide each other important insights and support.” >> See the full profile for Charles Guarino