FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
IRISH CHAMBER ELECTS THREE NEW BOARD MEMBERS
PHILADELPHIA, October 5, 2017 – The Irish American Business Chamber and Network (IABCN) is proud to announce the election of their new members to their Board of Directors this summer and early fall: Eugene McWilliams, Vice President for Finance and Administration at Neumann University; Michael P. Gallagher, Partner at Duane Morris LLP; and Mark Weir, US Group Financial Controller for The Almac Group. “As the Chamber continues to serve the interests of its members and promote the development of economic and educational relationships between the United States and the Island of Ireland, we welcome the addition of these extraordinary new board members. We are thrilled to expand our team and we know the skills and assets of each new board member will strengthen the Chamber,” said Kevin D. Kent, Chairman of the Irish American Business Chamber and Network.
Eugune McWilliams, CPA
Eugene E. (Gene) McWilliams earned his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia before starting his career with Laventhol & Horwath in Philadelphia. He was a partner with the firm of Baker Tilly (formerly ParenteBeard, LLC/Parente Randolph) in Media and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
After fifteen years as a CPA in public accounting, McWilliams became the CFO of Crothall Services, which provided managed services for hospitals and higher education institutions. Crothall was sold to Compass in 2000. He was a co-founder, CFO, and COO of Mind Drivers, LLC, which is an entrepreneurial venture development firm in Thornton, Pennsylvania, with investments in internet startup companies. Most recently he was the CFO of Source4Teachers, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, which provides substitute teachers and paraprofessionals in the K-12 market under managed service contracts. McWilliams, as part of the senior management team, assisted with the sale of the company in 2015 to Nautic Partners, a private equity firm in Providence, Rhode Island. In September 2016, McWilliams assumed his role at long-time member organization, Neumann University, as Vice President for Finance and Administration.
McWilliams is a member of several professional organizations including; American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA), Greater Philadelphia Senior Executives Group (GPSEG), Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry (CCCBI), Knights of Columbus, St Cornelius Council, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, The Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, North Wildwood, New Jersey, and Judge of Elections, Thornbury Township, Pennsylvania.
Michael P. Gallagher
Michael P. Gallagher, a partner at Duane Morris, LLP, concentrates his practice in the areas of corporate finance, private equity, family businesses, securities, mergers and acquisitions, workouts, exit planning and general corporate matters. He represents issuers and underwriters in private and public offerings of debt and equity securities, as well as financial and strategic buyers and sellers in stock and asset acquisitions. Mr. Gallagher has significant experience advising clients in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, technology, healthcare and life sciences, focusing on contract research organizations (CROs). Mr. Gallagher has extensive experience representing a variety of Irish businesses and investors in the US.
Mr. Gallagher is a 1984 cum laude graduate of Villanova University Law School, where he was editor of the Villanova Law Review, and a 1980 cum laude graduate of Boston College.
Michael also serves on the national Board of Directors of The Ireland Funds – America
Mark Weir
Mark is Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and holds a Master’s degree from Dublin City University in IT & Accounting and a Bachelor’s Degree from Queens University, Belfast, in Economics. Originally from Northern Ireland Mark moved to the USA in 2012 to take up his current position with The Almac Group. Prior to joining The Almac Group Mark trained as a Chartered Accountant with PWC and worked in a number of international organizations, during his time with one he led the international expansion of a family owned firm from Northern Ireland in establishing their first foreign facility in Kansas.
The Almac Group, Ambassador Club members of the Irish Chamber, is an established contract development and manufacturing organisation that provides an extensive range of integrated services to the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors globally. The services range from R&D, biomarker discovery development and commercialisation, API manufacture, formulation development, clinical trial supply, IXRS® technology (IVRS/IWRS) through to commercial-scale manufacture.
The international company is a privately owned organisation that has organically grown over almost 50 years and now employs in excess of 5,000 highly skilled personnel. Almac is headquartered in Craigavon, Northern Ireland with operations in the UK, Ireland, across the US (Pennsylvania, North Carolina and California) and in Asia (Singapore and Tokyo).
About the Irish American Business Chamber & Network, Inc
The Irish American Business Chamber & Network is a nonpartisan business organization dedicated to promoting the interests of its members and the development of economic and educational relationships between the United States, Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Chamber provides growth opportunities to its members through a series of monthly networking forums, programs and a broad range of services. Its members span the Philadelphia, Delaware and New Jersey tri-state area and include Irish based companies with strong interests in this region.
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