Our Staff

Meet our team of experienced professionals....

Margaret Adams, Program Manager for the Women's Business Center at Cornerstone Alliance
Margaret Adams brings 20 years of past experience working for the City of Benton Harbor, the last 15 years as the Municipal Clerk. She is also the co-owner and operator of Adams' Rib, an event planning and catering business. Margaret has worked for Cornerstone Alliance since 1999 and received the Program Manager position for the WBC in 2004. In 2006, she was certified as a small business counselor from the Academy of Professional Small Business Consultants at Grand Valley State University.

Jamie Balkin, Executive Director of Communications & Marketing, Cornerstone Alliance
A 1995 graduate of Saint Mary's College located in Notre, Dame, Indiana, Jamie Balkin has served as the executive director of communications and marketing for Cornerstone Alliance since 2000. In her role with the organization, she is responsible for working with the organization and its affiliates on a variety of tasks including communications efforts, organizational marketing efforts, promotion of the community to outside audiences, public relations efforts, special event planning as well as other projects as assigned. Additionally, she serves as the liaison between staff and the media. Throughout her history with the organization, Jamie has provided communications and marketing support to special projects including the Harbor Shores development project.

Jamie is responsible for coordination of events including: ribbon cutting ceremonies, special announcements, and press conferences. Additionally, she is the lead for the organization's Annual Meeting and Salute to Business Awards ceremony which highlights the accomplishments of the organization as well as recognizes area businesses for their achievements. She also plays a lead role in visits from prospective companies, the Stewards group, Chairman's Advisory Council, Coming Home Coming Together concert as well as providing staff support to all other events held.

In 2005, she was recognized as Business Leader Under 40 by Business Review Western Michigan. Some of her volunteer activities include the HOSTS (Help One Student To Succeed) program with Benton Harbor Area Schools.

Wendy Dant Chesser, CEcD, President, Cornerstone Alliance
In January, 2005, Wendy Dant Chesser joined Cornerstone Alliance and she was named President in December, 2007. The organization partners with local units of government and other organizations to facilitate business startup, location and expansion projects for the purpose of creating and retaining jobs, increasing the tax base of the local communities, and boosting consumer spending in the region. Cornerstone Alliance serves as a single point of contact for entrepreneurs, companies, site selection consultants and corporate real estate executives. Wendy's role in leading the organization includes serving as a Trustee of the 530-acre Harbor Shores development and directing the 700-member Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce.

Wendy worked in various aspects of economic and rural development for over seven years with the State of Indiana, and spent the last year of her government career as Deputy Executive Director for Program Operations of the Indiana Department of Commerce.

Wendy is a present or past member of several professional organizations, including the International Economic Development Council and the Michigan Economic Developers Association. She has been active in several Big Brother Big Sisters organizations as a volunteer mentor and board member, and has She has volunteered in United Way activities and has coached youth volleyball and basketball teams. Wendy is a native of Jeffersonville, Indiana, and she received her Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Indiana University Southeast in 1991.

Susan Cox, Director of First Choice, Cornerstone Alliance
Susan Cox is responsible for the First Choice Program, an affiliate of Cornerstone Alliance. First Choice assists local companies with their recruiting efforts through providing customized tours for candidates and their families who may be potentially relocating to Michigan's Great Southwest. Susan is a native to Michigan's Great Southwest, spent 15 years in Chicago as a paralegal and then moved into legal sales where she represented various on-line legal research options to law firms, in-house legal counsel and law schools. She received her Bachelors of Arts in Journalism from Valparaiso University and her paralegal certificate from Roosevelt University.

Regina A. Ciaravino, Director, Chamber Development, Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce
As Director of Chamber Development since September 2000, Regina is responsible for membership attraction and retention, event planning, scheduling networking opportunities, business-education seminars, member benefits, affinity non-dues revenue programs and advertising opportunities for the Cornerstone Chamber membership.

She has served on numerous boards and committees, citing work with United Way, the 2005 Jimmy Carter Work Project, the local Human Resource Council of Southwestern Michigan, YWCA Board, Lake Michigan College Alumni Board of Directors, Women's Business Center Advisory Council and Governor Granholm's Benton Harbor Youth Works Committee. She also is the Vice-Chair of the 100 Women Strong Board of Directors and serves on the Resource Development Committee. Regina also represented the Chamber as a founding member of the Regional Leadership Alliance. Additionally she serves in an Ex-Officio capacity on the Board of Directors for the Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce as well as the Bridgman Area Chamber of Commerce.

In 2008, she was also acknowledged by the YWCA's Tribute to Women which recognizes outstanding achievements in business, professional and volunteer sectors of Berrien County. In 2010, Regina was invited to become a member of the Berrien Community Foundation. She was also recognized in The Herald-Palladium HP Spotlight on Southwest Michigan in July 2010. Regina has been selected as the "Championship Office" chairperson which is one of the committees that will plan and implement the 2012 Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid.

Regina is a graduate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organizational Management where she earned an I.O.M. designation in June 2005 from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Additionally, she is a 2006 graduate from the local Lake Michigan College Community Leadership Academy.

Marshall Downs, Project and Facilities Manager, Cornerstone Alliance
Marshall Downs comes to Cornerstone Alliance with a background in general contracting, workforce development and property management. At Cornerstone, he serves as a project manager in physical development as well as being responsible for the management of the organization's real estate assets. Since joining Cornerstone in 2009, Marshall has worked as an advocate for the local construction industry with the Local Business Consortium. He also was part of the predevelopment team for the Whirlpool Downtown Benton Harbor Office Campus Project. Marshall is a Michigan licensed residential builder, is certified as a National Center for Construction Education and Research trainer and also holds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers CQC designation. Originally from Chicago, he was a project manager on the then largest SBA 8(A) contract in Illinois history. Marshall has served on the board of Harbor Habitat for Humanity and his church.

Patricia Flourry, Receptionist/Records Administrator, Cornerstone Alliance
Patricia Flourry, originally from Lansing, Michigan joined Cornerstone Alliance as the Receptionist/Records Administrator in March of 2009. Patricia is also responsible for supply management and conference room scheduling that assists all in assuring the office runs smoothly. She received her Associates in Applied Business in 2005 from Lake Michigan College. Patricia has worked with DC Cook Nuclear Plant for 10 years in Nuclear Document Management (NDM) where she worked with the operations records, maintaining the online retention schedule and preparing and scheduling records for storage in offsite facilities. Patricia volunteers in her community with organizations such as HOST, Boys and Girls Club as well as working on various fundraisers with her church. Patricia brings to the organization valuable records management experience as well as customer service with a smile. Patricia lives in Benton Harbor with her children.

Ron Griesinger, CPA, Chief Financial Officer, Cornerstone Alliance
Ron Griesinger graduated from Ferris State University in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in Accounting and is also a CPA. He worked eleven years for the CPA firm Plante & Moran and was an Associate when he left the firm. After leaving Plante & Moran, Ron worked for Hughes Plastics, Inc. in St. Joseph, as their Controller. At Hughes he had full responsibility of all financial aspects of the corporation and was employed there until 1994 when the company was sold. After spending one year as a sole proprietor operating his own CPA office Ron took a job with The Wood Companies as their Controller. Ron joined Cornerstone Alliance in 2003 as their Chief Financial Officer. In addition to the financial responsibilities for Cornerstone Alliance, Renaissance Development and Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce, Ron and the accounting staff, also provides financial assistance to several other local non-profit organizations. Ron is also a past president of the St. Joseph Lions club and is currently a board member at Honor Credit Union. In addition Ron is a committee Co-chair for the 2012 Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid.

Bob Jones, Program Manager, Small Business Services, Cornerstone Alliance
Bob Jones graduated with honors from Western Illinois University with degrees in Economics and Political Science. He brings a wide range of experience from the corporate world with industrial engineering, production supervision, and management consulting experience, as well as small business ownership in both the restaurant and sales and marketing fields to Small Business Services. Bob provides technical and business planning assistance to developing companies, coordinates the SBA Microloan for the Renaissance Development Fund, and participates in the Local Business Consortium.

Pat Moody, Executive Vice President, Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce
Pat Moody has been Executive Vice President of Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce since mid 1994, when he transitioned from his Regional Account Executive role with the Midwest Family Broadcast Group, where he still hosts the Moody in the Morning radio broadcast every weekday morning from 6-9am. As head of the local Chamber, Pat works closely with the existing business community to promote Economic Gardening and member networking. He tracks every piece of legislation introduced in Lansing and advocates in favor of business friendly issues and against those that would harm the business community. Pat also authors a weekly business column, Moody on the Market, in a publication called MailMax, which is direct-mailed to more than 42,000 homes in the region. Pat serves a broad array of civic organizations from the boards of Lake Michigan College, the Lakeland Health Foundation, and St. Joseph Today, and serves at the national level with the Association of Public Television Stations in Washington, D.C. Moody is a 6-year graduate of the U.S. Chamber's Institute for Organizational Management at the University of Arizona at Tucson, and a Certified Radio Marketing Consultant.

Reyna Price, Resource Development Coordinator, Women's Business Center
at Cornerstone Alliance
Reyna Price is a 2007 graduate from Siena Heights University. She has over 10 years experience in working in customer service, administrative, and human resources branches. As a Resource Development Coordinator for the WBC, for over two years, she provides counseling support in business planning, and technical assistance for individuals seeking to start or expand a small business. Reyna is also bi-lingual and able to assist the Spanish speaking community.

Christine Scharf, Executive Assistant/Special Projects
Christine Scharf joined the Cornerstone Alliance team in May of 2011 where she serves as the Executive Assistant to the President as well as a plays a key role in special projects. She came to the organization with over 20 years of experience. Her professional experience includes administrative support to senior level executives, sales forecast and performance measurement reporting, sales incentive program management, meeting and special event planning, corporate travel administration, training coordination and facilities management.

Prior to coming to Cornerstone Alliance, Christine was a part of the team at IPC Print Services first as a Sales Coordinator and then as Executive Assistant to the President. She provided administrative support to the President of the company as well as the 7 directors that comprised the executive team. She also provided administrative and marketing support to the 13 members of the Business Development team.

Prior to joining IPC, Christine worked as the Executive Assistant to the VP of Operations at All-Phase Electric Supply Co. She holds an Associate Degree in Applied Science from Lake Michigan College. She is a 2007 graduate of the area's Community Leadership Academy.

Thad Rieder, Development Manager, Cornerstone Alliance
Thad Rieder joined Cornerstone Alliance's Physical Development Department in February of 2005 in the position of Development Manager. Throughout his tenure with Cornerstone Alliance he has served in a variety of roles for the organization including serving as Project Manager for the HOPE VI housing project, property manager for Cornerstone Alliance owned properties as well as playing a key role in the organization's business attraction efforts.

He received Bachelor of Science, from GMI Engineering & Management Institute, in Flint Michigan. After spending time in the die-casting industry and community and industry training he graduated with an MBA from Thunderbird, The Garvin School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona. Thad enjoys volunteering for HOSTS (Helping One Student to Succeed), leading the Spectator Services volunteer commitee for the 73rd Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, playing golf and is a member of Sunrise Rotary.

Katie Veine, Director of Investor Relations
Katie Veine serves as the Director of Investor Relations at Cornerstone where she is responsible for providing company news and events to company investors and stakeholders. In this role, Katie serves as one of Cornerstone's primary points of contact for investors. In addition, she manages the organization's fundraising initiatives.

Katie brings 20 years of sales and marketing experience including over seven years experience working at Vail Resorts, Inc. and Vail Resorts Development Company in Avon, Colorado. While at Vail Resorts Development Company, Katie acted as the Director of Marketing where she managed the sales and marketing efforts of several high-end residential and mixed-use real estate development projects including The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Vail. In addition to Katie's marketing career serving as the client, Katie has also worked for three advertising agencies giving her agency experience.

Gregory Vaughn, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Greg Vaughn serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Cornerstone Alliance where he is responsible for overseeing the everyday operations and functions of the organization. Major organizational functions reporting to the COO are Business Development activities (Small Business Services and Business Recruitment), Physical Development activities, Community Messaging and Marketing, and Talent Recruitment services. Vaughn is also the president of the Renaissance Development Fund, Cornerstone's financial affiliate. Greg is an administrator with more than 30 years of progressively responsible experience in business administration, business development, government administration, and economic development. Recognized by the US Small Business Administration in 1996 as Michigan's Minority Small Business Advocate of the Year, Greg continues to progress his passion for entrepreneurial development and his enthusiasm for community growth.

Charles T. Watts, Jr., Controller, Cornerstone Alliance
Charles Watts serves as the Controller of Cornerstone Alliance and has held the position since January 1999. He graduated from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1968 with a BBA degree with a major in Marketing and minors in Accounting, Economics and General Business. He took a job as a Staff Accountant with Herkner, Smits, Miskill & Johnson CPA's in September 1968 and worked five years for them. He then hold positions with several organizations including Great Lakes Coca-Cola Bottling Company in St. Joseph, Michigan, DeGroot, Inc. in Coloma, Michigan, Clark Equipment Company in Benton Harbor, Michigan, AM General Corporation in South Bend, Indiana, Dynac Corporation in St. Joseph, Michigan and IPC Communication Services in St. Joseph, Michigan. Chuck has been working in Accounting and Finance for over 40 years and has a diverse background in various accounting and management systems.