ACCOUNTING
Lynda M. Gilbert
Lynda M. Gilbert of Cumberland has been promoted to audit manager at Suls Westgate & Parente LLP. Gilbert, a certified public accountant, joined the firm in 1995. She is a member of the Rhode Island Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. SW&P is a full-service public accounting firm offering a wide range of business and financial consulting, tax and accounting services since 1926.
Paul O’Brien
Paul O’Brien has been named a partner of Sullivan & Company. O’Brien, who joined the company in 1986, will now be responsibile for business planning and personal financial planning. He has extensive experience with tax issues concerning partnerships, limited partnerships, S corporations, trusts and most recently, limited liability corporations, in the fields of health care, construction, housing, manufacturing, wholesale and real estate. O’Brien graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a bachelor of science degree in accounting. He also holds a master’s degree in taxation from Bryant College. He is a member of the Federal and State Taxation Committee of the Rhode Island Society of Certified Public Accountants and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
BANKING
John J. McSweeney
John J. Mc-Sweeney has been elected president and chief executive officer of the Fall River Five Cents Savings Bank. A Dartmouth resident, he joined the Fall River Five in 1997 as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Previously he was vice president and team executive with the Bank of Boston. McSweeney has also served in senior management positions at various financial institutions in the Boston area including South Shore Bank/Multibank, the Provident Institution for Savings, and Suffolk Franklin Savings Bank. He earned his bachelor of arts and his master’s degree in business administration from Boston College.
James V. DeRentis
James V. DeRentis has been appointed senior vice president of retail banking at Bank Rhode Island. He will be responsible for all aspects of retail delivery through the bank’s 13 branch locations and he will oversee the administration of the bank’s investment program through the Essex Corporation. He also joins the bank’s senior management committee. He is a member of the board of directors of SWAP (Stop Wasting Abandoned Property) and the Providence Preservation Society. DeRentis holds a bachelor of science degree from Bryant College, and a master’s of business administration from Providence College.
EDUCATION
Louis R. Francis
Louis R. Francis, Jr. has been appointed the University of Rhode Island’s director of affirmative action, equal opportunity and diversity. He leaves his post as the top executive at the Minority Investment Development Corporation, where he worked for five years in its mission to increase access to capital for urban, minority and disadvantaged small businesses throughout the state. Francis, who is a graduate of URI, will develop and oversee affirmative action/equal opportunity employment programs in compliance with government regulations. The East Providence native holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a law degree from The George Washington University School of Law. He is active in organizations such as the URI Minority Alumni Chapter and the URI President’s Advisory Council on Minority Affairs. He is past vice president of the Rhode Island NAACP.
GOVERNMENT
Ronald Grandchamp
Local travel agent Ronald Grandchamp has been appointed to the State of Rhode Island Commission, representing Newport County. He will serve on the Commission until December, 1999. Grandchamp is a travel agent at Middletown Cruise & Travel.
PARCEL
Bart Wagner
Bart Wagner recently joined
Eastern Connection express parcel service as operations manager. He comes to EC from System Freight in James-burg, NJ, where he served as a terminal manager for one year. He was also employed at RPS for 11 years at its regional offices in Albany, Boston, Springfield, Providence and Cape Cod. He is a graduate of Siena College, in Albany, NY.
SENIOR CARE
Robert Budway
Robert Budway has been appointed chief operating officer of Village Retirement Communities. He will be responsible for overall operations at the company’s catered retirement residences in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Prior to joining VRC, he worked for Horizon Bay Seniorcare as vice president of operations. He brings 28 years of experience in the field of senior care to the Greenville assisted living center.
SERVICES
Dennis R. Brennan
Dennis R. Brennan has become president and owner of Brennan Oil & Heating, Inc. of North Providence. A graduate of Wentworth Institute in Boston, and a graduate of LaSalle Academy in Providence, Brennan holds a Master Mechanical Contractor’s license as well as a Contractor’s license in electrical and telecommunications. He is a member of the Oil Heat Institute, Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce and is an advisor to the Heating Curriculum of the New England Institute of Technology. Founded in 1966, by Joseph Brennan Sr., the company is a family owned and operated fuel oil supplier and heating servicer.
