How Employers Have Successfully Adapted to COVID-19 and How They Are Planning for the Future

Join us for this Virtual Program on March 31, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. to hear from business and industry leaders on a broad range of topics related to the current pandemic:

• Remote workforce strategies
• Recruitment including opportunities to enhance diversity
• Office space design and utilization
• Operating effectively within COVID-19 restrictions
• Employment-related legal issues
• Strategies for improving employee morale

Panelists:

Courtney Cotrupe
CEO
Partners + Napier

Pete Giovenco
President & CEO
Bergmann PC

Matt Hurlbutt
President & CEO
Greater Rochester Enterprise

Kevin Mulvehill
Partner and Labor & Employment Team Leader
Phillips Lytle LLP

Moderator:

Linda Prestegaard
Partner
Phillips Lytle LLP

Moderator

Linda Prestegaard, Partner
Phillips Lytle LLP

Linda Prestegaard is a Partner at Phillips Lytle and also a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Team. She advises employers in a wide variety of industry sectors on the full range of employment and workplace issues, including defending employment discrimination claims in federal and state courts and agency proceedings. She handles wage and hour class actions as well as investigations by federal and state Departments of Labor. She represents higher education institutions with her work on faculty tenure and contract disputes, investigations, regulatory compliance, and affirmative action plans.  She counsels employers and executives regarding employment contracts, non-compete agreements and reductions in force.

Linda also represents management in traditional labor law matters, including collective bargaining, labor arbitrations, and NLRB proceedings, as well as conducting training regarding union awareness and campaigns. She also has extensive experience investigating claims of harassment, discrimination and workplace misconduct. In addition, she conducts training on avoiding sexual and other harassment in the workplace, wage and hour compliance, human resources best practices and other workplace issues.

Courtney Cotrupe, CEO
Partners + Napier

As CEO of Partners + Napier, Courtney Cotrupe leads with a perfect mix of sharp strategic thinking, collaborative style and creative soul – her trademark since joining the agency as one of its original “Brave 40” employees in 2004. She oversees all client growth and agency operations, with a progressive vision for the future that continues to evolve the agency’s talent and capabilities.

Under Courtney’s leadership, Partners + Napier has seen year-over-year, double-digit growth, welcoming clients like Smashburger, BMW Financial Services, Highmark Health, Instant Brands, Conduent and others. Courtney also spearheaded the aggressive expansion of Partners + Napier’s capabilities in recent years, first building its in-house media planning and buying discipline – The Media Group – that today supports multiple clients across digital and traditional channels, and in 2020, expanding the agency’s content capabilities with the launch of a state-of-the-art, in-house content studio – Gammut Productions.
Courtney serves as a board member on the national American Advertising Federation, chair of the 4A’s New York State Council and director at large at Causewave Community Partners. She serves as a mentor for executive women in the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce’s CLIMB program and recently co-chaired the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign, raising a record-breaking $150,000 for women’s heart health.

Matt Hurlbutt, President & Chief Executive Officer
Greater Rochester Enterprise

Matt Hurlbutt serves as President and Chief Executive Officer at Greater Rochester Enterprise (GRE), with responsibility for supporting business attraction and expansion in the Greater Rochester, New York region. Matt guides business development strategies, organizational resources and outreach efforts to position Rochester as a destination of choice for business investment. Matt works directly with corporate executives and national site selectors as they consider locations for investment and job creation. Before assuming this leadership role, Matt served as GRE’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for nine years.

Matt was directly involved in bringing Alpina Foods, Catalant Technologies, FedEx Freight, Foundation Financial Group, Intrinsiq Materials, LiveTiles, Love Beets USA, Muller Quaker Dairy, NEST iON, OFD Foods, Omni-ID and Quintel Solutions to the region. He also worked with American Packaging Corporation, Brand Networks, Concentrix, IEC Electronics, Intergrow, LiDestri Food & Drink, Maximus, Optimax and Rochester Precision Optics as the companies expanded in the region.

In addition, Matt directs GRE’s Economic Gardening Program and collaborates with state and local partners to leverage the region’s assets in order to support innovation and economic growth of second-stage companies.

Matt was named to the “40 Under 40” list by the Rochester Business Journal, an award given to recognize individuals with outstanding leadership and accomplishments for service in their profession and the community at large. He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the State University of New York College at Brockport and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the State University of New York College at Geneseo.

Pete Giovenco, President and CEO
Bergmann PC

Pete Giovenco started with Bergmann in 1989 as a civil engineer and project manager. Today, he is the third person in the firm’s history to hold the title of President/CEO. During his tenure, Pete has held several project management and strategic leadership positions. He is currently licensed to perform engineering in several states. As President and CEO, he leads the firm’s strategic direction, as well as ensuring that the organization’s mission, vision and values are reflected in every solution that the Bergmann team develops.

Pete is described by employees as an authentic and highly participative leader, making strong connections through his “Eat with Pete” lunches, monthly Town Hall meetings and quarterly all-employee messages. Through collaboration and teamwork, he seeks ways that the firm can improve its operations and culture to maintain a position as a market leader in architecture, engineering and planning across the Northeast, Midwest and Atlantic regions of the United States.

Kevin Mulvehill, Partner and Labor & Employment Team Leader

Phillips Lytle LLP

Kevin Mulvehill is a partner at Phillips Lytle LLP and serves as the firm’s Rochester Office Leader. He is also the leader of Phillips Lytle’s Labor and Employment Team. He focuses his practice in the areas of labor and employment law; wage and hour law; class and collective actions; commercial litigation; and corporate law. He provides counsel and strongly advocates on behalf of clients, including executives and public- and private-sector business and employers.

Additionally, Kevin regularly represents clients as lead counsel in hearings, trials, appeals and arbitrations in state and federal courts, administrative bodies and arbitration forums throughout the United States.

Kevin is also a frequent lecturer on labor and employment and other business-related topics.