CHAIRMAN’S COUNCIL: John W. Cucarese has been named a member of the 2024 Chairman’s Council of New York Life. Members of the council rank in the top 4 percent of New York Life’s field force of nearly 12,000 licensed agents in sales achievement.

Cucarese has been a New York Life agent since 2005 and is associated with New York Life’s Pittsburgh-Johnstown General Office in Pittsburgh.

A native of Wintersville, Cucarese serves clients in the Ohio Valley and throughout the country, specializing in retirement planning, insurance and investments. He holds FINRA Series 6, 7, 63, and 66 certifications, RICP and LUTCF designations from the American College, and a bachelor of science degree in health information management from Ohio State University. Call (740) 264-0238 or visit SimplifyRetirement.com to learn more.

ON BOARD: Kyle W. Bickford began serving a three-year term on the Ohio State Bar Association Board of Governors on July 1. Bickford was elected by his peers to represent Ohio Bar member attorneys in District 15, which includes Belmont, Guernsey, Harrison, Jefferson and Monroe counties.

The board of governors is a 24-member volunteer body that manages the association’s business affairs, sets policy and reviews pending legislation on behalf of the members of the Ohio Bar. Twenty-one members are elected by attorneys in their districts and three members serve as at-large appointees.

Bickford is shareholder and secretary at the firm of Hanlon, McCormick, Schramm, Bickford & Schramm Co. LPA where he has a general civil practice with a focus on litigation. Bickford previously served in the Ohio Bar’s policy-making body, the council of delegates. In his community, Bickford is a past chair of the Belmont County Certified Grievance Committee and has served on the appeals board of the Belmont County Sewage Treatment System. He also serves as a coach for the Pike Baseball and Softball Association.

Bickford earned his undergraduate degree from Ohio University and his law degree from the Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law.