banker, Orange Bank & Trust; Damiane Doyle, first vice president commercial team leader, Orange Bank & Trust; Kelly Lynch-Moloney, CFP ®, vice president portfolio manager, Hudson Valley Investment Advisors,Inc.; Maryann McQuillan, NYS licensed acupuncturist and co-owner, Complementary Wellness Center; Paula Fidanza, owner, C’est La Vie Spa & Salon and partner, Fidanza Family Properties, 2024 WGW Inspiring Leader Award.
The Barn at Villa Venezia in Middletown, New York, was the gathering place on June 4 for the business community to honor Paula Fidanza, owner, C’est La Vie Spa & Salon, and partner Fidanza Family Properties, with the 2024 WGW Inspiring Leader Award.Presented by Orange Bank & Trust Company and Hudson Valley Investment Advisors as part of their ‘Women Guiding Women’ (WGW) initiative, the award is aimed at empowering and elevating women in the business world.
Fidanza comes from a family of self-employed Italian immigrants. She grew up in Orange County, New York, and followed her family’s entrepreneurial footsteps, earning a degree in cosmetology and starting her own spa and salon. She and her husband, Franco, own Fidanza Family Properties, as developers and property managers of housing, commercial and hospitality ventures that span the breadth of the Hudson Valley and also along Ocean City, Maryland.
“Paula is a cornerstone of our local business community, and we were thrilled to honor her this evening,” said Michael Gilfeather, president and CEO of Orange Bank & Trust Company. “Her entrepreneurial journey can serve as an inspiration to so many people, especially women, and she has given so much to our region through her business efforts.”
“I am truly honored to receive this recognition from Orange Bank and Hudson Valley Investment Advisors and to celebrate this exciting evening with so many friends and partners,” said Fidanza. “The women in the room tonight are an inspiration and those I feel grateful to work alongside. It is our duty to support one another to ensure more of our peers secure seats at the table. The Women Guiding Women initiative exemplifies inclusivity and progress in our community.”
Orange Bank & Trust Company is one of the Hudson Valley’s premier financial institutions focusing on commercial lending, business banking and wealth management services. For more than 132 years, it has been an economic engine of the community, with approximately $2.5 billion in assets and playing a vital role in increasing opportunities for local businesses, facilitating region-defining developments, and maximizing investments to neighborhood-serving nonprofits.
