Networking Event Recap: Mentoring

Sara Bruton graduated from Messiah College in 2009 with a degree in accounting and is employed as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with Simon Lever, LLP in Lancaster, PA.

After working in the public accounting field for a year, Sara approached Messiah Accounting Professor James Krimmel with an idea to start a mentoring program that would pair recent Messiah College accounting graduates with current Messiah College accounting students. Over the past two years, the Messiah College Accounting Alumni Mentor Program has involved more than 35 accounting students and alumni participants. The goal of the program is to provide opportunities for alumni and student to network and grow in areas of faith, business and academic excellence.

Sara serves as a board member of the Lancaster Operating Board for Junior Achievement of Central PA and is a member of the Messiah College Alumni Council.

Bonnie Day is a junior accounting major at Messiah College from Centreville, MD. She has had the opportunity to serve many leadership roles on campus such as President of S.I.F.E. (Students In Free Enterprise), a service oriented business and entrepreneurship club, as a Site Coordinator at Messiah’s VITA tax service, and as an Accounting Department Tutor. Along with these leadership roles, Bonnie also keeps busy as an active member of the Messiah College Accounting Club and as a work study in the Accounting Department and the Financial Aid Office. Bonnie is blessed with the opportunity to study abroad with the International Business Institute this summer, and plans to graduate this coming December to pursue her plans to become a CPA and studying for the exam in the spring. Bonnie recently had a wonderful experience working as an Audit intern at McKonly and Asbury, LLP.

Mentoring and being mentored are a big part of Bonnie’s life as she has benefited from her experience with various mentors throughout college and as she prepares for her future career in accounting. Messiah’s Accounting Alumni Mentor program and McKonly and Asbury’s buddy program have provided Bonnie with essential support and wisdom from mentors and friendships who can provide their own experiences and advice. In addition to being a mentee, Bonnie has also had the opportunity to be a student mentor through Messiah’s Accounting Department Student Mentoring Program. Having the dual experience of being a mentee and a mentor has been such a blessing in Bonnie’s life and she hopes to continue to pass along the incredible insight that she has gained as a mentee.

Carl is currently Senior Vice President and Director of Strategic Planning & Investor Relations for Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc., Lititz, Pennsylvania. In this role, he is responsible for the development and implementation of annual and long-range strategic planning, managing corporate development, strategic growth and government relations activities and providing direction to all shareholder relations and stock administration functions. Previously, Carl served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Tower Bancorp Inc., Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Carl originally joined Graystone Financial Corp., the predecessor to Tower Bancorp, Inc., from the Harrisburg law firm of Rhoads & Sinon LLP, where he was a Partner and Manager of the Banking and Securities Practice Group and advised financial institutions concerning mergers & acquisitions and other corporate, securities and regulatory matters.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Forgotten Voices International and the President’s Advisory Council for Messiah College and has previously served as Vice Chair of Paxton Ministries, Chair of the Messiah College Alumni Council and an Elder of West Shore Evangelical Free Church. Carl has been honored as a “Forty under 40” Award Recipient by the Central Penn Business Journal and a Super Lawyers Pennsylvania “Rising Star” by Law & Politics Magazine.

Carl earned a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) from Messiah College and a Juris Doctor from Wayne State University Law School. He lives in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania with his wife, Julie, and three sons, Samuel, Philip and Andrew.

Andrew Samuel is President and Chief Revenue Officer for Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc. and President and Chief Executive Officer, Susquehanna Bank. His responsibilities include the overall leadership and strategic direction of the bank’s network of more than 260 branch offices; marketing; Susquehanna Wealth Management; and specialized business lines including mortgage lending, small business and agricultural lending, commercial finance and insurance.

Andrew joined Susquehanna Bancshares’ executive management team when the company acquired Tower Bancorp in February 2012. Tower evolved from Graystone Financial Corp and Graystone Bank of which Andrew was the organizer and founder. Andrew has been in banking for 30 years.

Andrew graduated from Messiah College with a degree in Accounting and Marketing and also graduated from the Central PA Banking School, Bucknell University; the National Commercial Lending School, Oklahoma University; and attended the Stoner Graduate School of Banking, University of Delaware.

His past and present activities include Board of Trustees at Messiah College; Board Member with the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts; Board Member with Harrisburg Regional Chamber; Board Member of the Harrisburg YMCA; Chairman of Envision of South Central PA; Board Member of Central PA Marketplace; Chairman of the Intercity Task Force of Envision, Capital Region; Division Chairman of United Way’s Capital Region.

Andrew’s personal interests include being a frequent speaker on leadership and organizational development—regionally and nationally; actively involved in the Central Pennsylvania community; happily married for 29 years with five daughters and one granddaughter; avid soccer player / fan.

Brent S. Smith serves as Vice President and Head of Special Projects for Susquehanna Bank. Brent joined Susquehanna in February of 2012 with the acquisition of Tower Bancorp Inc., where he had served as Vice President and Director of Investor Relations. Brent was part of the merger and acquisition team that helped grow Tower Bancorp to 49 branches and more than $2.5 billion in assets at the time of the acquisition by Susquehanna.Brent resides in Dillsburg, PA with his wife Mindy and their two children Kendi (3) and Kiptyn (1).

Prior to joining Tower Bancorp, Brent was an investment advisory professional. He is a graduate from Messiah College with a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with a concentration in finance. Additionally, he received his Master’s in Business Administration from Shippensburg University. Previously, Mr. Smith held his Series 7, 63 and life, accident and health licenses as well as completed the Registered Para-planner course through the College of Financial Planning. He served as the junior varsity and varsity assistant boys’ soccer coach at Northern York High School, as well as volunteered at different levels within the school district and community sports programs. He was the recipient of the National Multiple Sclerosis Leadership Award for 2011. Currently, he is servicing as the Treasurer and member of the Administrative Board at Cumberland Valley Church in Dillsburg, PA.