Business Council Speakers Bureau

Heather Briccetti joined The Business Council as vice president of government affairs in December 2007. In this position, she worked to drive the organization’s pro-jobs agenda. She was appointed acting-president & CEO of The Business Council in February 2011.

Prior to joining The Business Council, Briccetti was a consultant and lobbyist for Powers and Company, where she advised clients on a range of state and federal government relation issues. While she was there, Briccetti finished the Javits Center expansion and the new Yankee Stadium park.

Before joining Powers and Company, Briccetti served as an assistant counsel to the New York State Senate Majority, working on a range of issues, including economic development, budget reform and consumer protection. She also worked for the Assembly Majority for several years, serving as a legislative aide and counsel to the Racing and Wagering Committee.

Additionally, Briccetti served as special counsel in the state Attorney General’s office, where her responsibilities included coordinating activities between the bureaus in the Attorney General's office and the state Legislature and Governor's office.

She also worked in private practice as one of the founding partners of a law firm, and as chief public defender in Rensselaer County, being the first female appointed to that position.

Briccetti was recently appointed by Governor Andrew Cuomo to serve on the Chairman’s Committee for the Regional Economic Development Councils and the High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing Advisory Panel.

She was born in Tunisia, at which time her parents were volunteers in the Peace Corps. They later worked as public school teachers when her family moved to Syracuse, New York. Briccetti originally attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a 16-year-old, and then transferred to the State University of New York at Binghamton, where she received her undergraduate degree. After an internship with a Syracuse-based Assembly member, Briccetti attended Albany Law School and earned her J.D.

Briccetti currently resides in Brunswick, outside of Albany, with her three sons.

To contact Heather Briccetti click here.

Marcus Ferguson manages Financial Services, Small Business and Telecommunications issues for Business Council members.

He most recently spent seven years as assistant counsel to the Majority Leader in the New York State Senate. While assistant counsel, he provided legal assessment and analysis to the members and senior staff of the Senate on legislative issues involving tax and revenue, consumer protection, human rights and privacy. He also represented the state Senate on the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation which planned the redevelopment of lower Manhattan after September 11th.

Marcus is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and New York’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2002.

To contact Marcus Ferguson click here.

Tom Minnick, Director, Center for Human Resources is  responsible for Labor and Human Resource issues at The Business Council. He provides state and federal labor and human resource information to members through The HR Line, The Council's 800 telephone service. Tom also manages Construction and Transportation issues for the Business Council.

Tom joined The Business Council in 1997, with over twenty years experience as an HR generalist and manager for several member companies. He received his bachelor's degree from Niagara University and his MBA from Sage Graduate School. Tom holds an SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources) designation from The Society for Human Resource Management's Certification Institute.

To contact Tom Minnick click here.

Maggie serves on the Business Council's government affairs team as a director of federal affairs and provides policy and advocacy support in the areas of health care and health insurance, workers' compensation and unemployment insurance, government reform, education and workforce, and contract procurement. 

Maggie has served in a variety of capacities in state government prior to joining the Business Council, with ten years of service at the New York State Department of Labor, most recently as Deputy Commissioner for Federal Programs overseeing the divisions of unemployment insurance, workforce development and employment services.  Her public service includes twelve years with the New York State Senate for members from western NY and the Hudson Valley, as well as a special assistant for local government relations in the office of Deputy Secretary to the Governor.  While serving in the legislature her policy areas included education and school aid; transportation funding; health care and insurance; and labor and workers’ compensation.  Maggie is the chair of the Village of Athens Planning Board and serves as a board member of the Greene County IDA. 

She is a graduate of New York University and resides in the Hudson Valley.

To contact Maggie Moree click here.

Ken is responsible for management of The Business Council's government affairs staff and the Council’s overall legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts; he is also directly responsible for the Council’s lobbying on economic development and taxation issues.  He has served on numerous state advisory panels, and is currently a member of the state’s Business Taxpayer Advisory Committee.  Ken has been with The Business Council since 1982. He is a graduate of the SUNY Albany Graduate School of Public Affairs (MPA '83) and SUNY at Brockport (BA in Political Science, '80).

Liaison with: Empire State Development Corporation, Department of Taxation and Finance, Workers' Compensation Board, and the Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform.

Ken has been with The Business Council since 1982. He is a graduate of the SUNY Albany Graduate School of Public Affairs (MPA '83) and SUNY at Brockport (BA in Political Science, '80).

To contact Ken Pokalsky click here.

Darren Suarez is director of government affairs, where he fosters The Business Council’s advocacy efforts by spearheading the Council’s energy and environment/OSH committees.

Darren comes to The Business Council from Hinman Straub LLC, where he served as a government analyst. While there, he lobbied on behalf of a number of Fortune 500 companies on energy and environment issues. Before that Darren was the program director for environmental and economic development for the New York State Senate. While working for the Senate he represented the Majority Leader in meetings and public events. He also, developed, amended, and negotiated economic development tax incentives. He worked for the City University of New York and Cornell University. He worked for the New York State Department of Labor as a job services representative working with employers to meet their workforce needs.

Darren holds a degree in Political Science from UMass - Dartmouth. He was the recipient of the 2006 Economic Development Service Award in recognition of work in attracting AMD to construct a $3.2 billion 300 mm-wafer fab in New York State.  He was the coauthor of the 2005 amendments to the Empire Zone tax incentive program. He was awarded the 2005 New York Nature Conservancy’s Salamander Award for working to protect New York’s biodiversity and a joint recipient of the 2004 National Conference of State Legislatures Staff Chair Award for work as a primary author of New York’s Brownfield Cleanup Program.

To contact Darren Suarez click here.

Heather D. Jung is manager of government affairs. In that roll, she has expanded The Business Council’s advocacy efforts by spearheading the creation of a travel and tourism committee. That committee will work to formulate a legislative agenda to improve and expand the industry across New York State. Jung will also work to increase member involvement with the homeland security council and the contract procurement committee. She also works on events and fundraising for The Business Council Political Action Committee.

Heather comes to The Business Council from the New York State Democratic Senate Campaign Committee where she served as deputy director. Before that, Jung served as a legal assistant to Steven J. Baum in Amherst New York and as a consumer aide for the Buffalo Office of Attorney General, under Eliot Spitzer. She also served as the volunteer coordinator on the Brown for Buffalo election campaign.

Heather holds a degree in political science and international affairs from the University of Buffalo. She lives in the Center Square neighborhood of Albany and is active in local charitable organizations.

To contact Heather Jung click here.