Board of Commissioners

Currently, Henry Sloma is serving as Acting Chairman of the Board of the NFTA. Mr. Sloma was appointed to the Board of Commissioners in 1998. Prior to his election as Vice Chairman, he has served as the Secretary and Treasurer of the Authority.

In his business life, he is the President and CEO of the Heritage Health Care Group, LLC and Executive Vice President of Apollo Healthcare, LLC. By profession, he is a licensed Nursing Home Administrator and was one of the first licensed Administrators in the State of New York. He has also served nine years on the New York State Hospital Review and Planning Council (SHRPC) and served as Chairman of its Project Review Committee. With 40 years of experience in healthcare administration, he has served in a variety of healthcare administration roles.

In addition, he currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency and a Commissioner of Police for the Town of Lewiston.

As Chair of the Surface Transportation Committee, Commissioner Lewin has implemented the Going Green Campaign for the transportation system introducing hybrid buses; had oversight on the completion of the new transportation center in Niagara Falls; the implementation of the surface study in Niagara County that resulted in increased ridership and a more efficient system; and the implementation of the new service restructuring and fare study in Erie County that will result in enhanced public mobility and a more customer friendly network.

In her professional life, Commissioner Lewin is a 30-year member of the Buffalo Board of Education and its Committee on Special Education.

Since 1979, Commissioner Lewin has been employed as a bilingual Social Worker for the Committee on Special Education at the Buffalo Board of Education. Previously, she volunteered at Buffalo Catholic Charities in 1976, before being employed there for three years as a Social Worker and later obtaining a position with the Erie County Department of Social Services in the Division of Child Protection.

Commissioner Lewin enjoys giving back to the community through her service past and present: Trustee, the State University of New York Board of Trustees; founding member of Roswell Park Alliance; Founding member Issues Committee and Speaking Bureau; Trustee, Western NY Public Broadcasting Association; Trustee The Buffalo Seminary; the Commission on the Status of Women; Commissioner, American Red Cross; Greater Buffalo Chapter; Chair, Hispanic Outreach Committee; Chair, Vestry, St. Philip’s Episcopal church; Chair, Endowment Committee; member of Buffalo Urban League, Hispanic United of Buffalo and Canisius College Board of Regents. She is also a member of the Erie County Chapter of Links, Hispanic Women’s League and Buffalo Niagara Guitar Festival Originators.

She was honored with the Ebony and Ivory Civic Award in 1994; inducted into The Western New York Women's Hall of Fame on March 14, 2002; and received the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education in 2002; the National Conference for Community and Justice of Western New York 50th Annual Citation Award in 2003; and the Marcus Garvey Community Service Award in 2004.

Commissioner Lewin was born in Guantanamo, Cuba. Her family migrated to the United States in 1967. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City before moving to Buffalo in 1976. She obtained a Master's Degree in American and Puerto Rican Studies in 1978, and a Master's Degree in Educational Administration in 1989, both from the University at Buffalo.

Peter G. Demakos currently serves as Secretary of the Niagara Frontier Transit Authority (NFTA) Board of Commissioners. He also acts as Chair of the Property & Risk Management Committee. The committee is responsible for non-public transportation properties that includes 1.3 +/- million square feet of industrial warehouse distribution and associated office space; 600 +/- acres of developed and undeveloped real estate.

He previously was Chair of Surface Transportation, where his duties included management of the light rail and metro bus. Mr. Demakos has dedicated his time to the NFTA since 2000.

In addition to his work at the NFTA, Mr. Demakos is the President of Niagara Blower Company (Buffalo, NY). Niagara provides engineered solutions to heat transfer applications at refinery, process, power, and food & beverage facilities worldwide. Before joining Niagara, Mr. Demakos was President of Triton Mechanical, a design-build Mechanical Contracting firm in Buffalo.

Mr. Demakos, a registered Professional Engineer, received a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lafayette College, an MBA from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A Buffalo native, Mr. Demakos demonstrates his commitment to the community. He currently serves on a variety of other boards such as Buffalo Renaissance Foundation, Amherst Police Foundation, Regional Traffic Alliance, and Kissing Bridge Corp.

Vincent G. Crehan began his career at NFT Metro as a bus operator in 1984. He was elected President/Business Agent of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1342 in 1996. He currently holds this same position as well as Chairman of the Niagara Frontier Transit Metro – Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1342 Pension Fund.

Mr. Crehan is the lead representative for approximately 1000 Metro employees as well as employees of Coach USA - Erie Division and Grand Island Transit.

Mark D. Croce is the owner of the Buffalo Development Corporation. His career in real estate began when he first owned a deli in Amherst. However, since then his name, reputation, bars, and restaurants have all grown. His developments and establishments have brought a new appeal to Buffalo in general, but specifically to the Chippewa District.

Commissioner Croce owns The Chophouse, The Buckin’ Buffalo, and Laughlin’s Restaurant, to name a few of his restaurants and clubs, as well as parking lots, and is designing a new upscale hotel and restaurant.

In addition to his entrepreneurship, Commissioner Croce also serves as a Board Member of Buffalo Place and Vice President of the Buffalo Police Foundation. With his assistance, the foundation helps fun projects to support the safety and security of downtown Buffalo.

James Eagan joined Midwood Financial Services, Inc. as a partner and Executive Vice President to Founder and President, Alan Blank, in the year 2000. Today the company is the largest privately held provider and distributor of financial products and services to over 300 banks, regional brokerage firms and independent brokerage dealers throughout the country. Mr. Eagan has contributed substantially to the growth of the company owing to his reputation and extensive network of contacts in the industry.

Mr. Eagan's background in the financial services industry is deep and diverse. In 1983 he accepted a position as Senior Vice President with Empire of America, a Western New York based thrift, which expanded across five states before its assets were acquired by KeyCorp and M&T in 1989. He was instrumental in developing the distribution of insurance and investment products and services throughout Empire's retail branch network.

In 1988 Mr. Eagan became Senior Vice President of National Business Development with Investor Life Services. At that time, ILS was a distribution subsidiary of USF&G Insurance Corporation, which was reorganized as Old Mutual Financial Network. There he initiated and developed the company's Financial Institution Division which contributed greatly to the corporate earnings.

Mr. Eagan joined BankMark in 1991, a leading financial institution third-party marketing organization, as Executive Vice President of New Business Development. In that capacity he managed to expand the organization from a regional to a national player until its acquisition by Conseco in 1997. From 1997 until joining Midwood in 2000, Mr. Eagan was retained as a consultant to Liberty Mutual Insurance Company where he subsequently developed and expanded Liberty's product distribution through a national network of financial institutions.

The latest phase of his career began when he joined Midwood Financial Services, Inc. He has skillfully negotiated with leading insurers and other providers to offer the best and most consumer friendly financial products and services to Midwood's partners for retail distribution. In tandem with Alan Blank, he is the co-architect of Midwood's philosophy of harmonizing with its business partners' business goals, objectives, culture and ethics.

Mr. Eagan has been appointed by the Governor of New York to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority's Board of Commissioners to oversee, among other things, the cost control initiatives of the region's transit system and the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Erie County's SPCA.

Carmen A. Granto served forty-two years in the Niagara School District. Commissioner Granto’s career with the District began in 1966 when he was hired as a seventh-grade social studies teacher at North Junior High School. From there, he moved up the ranks from teacher to vice principal and then principal at several schools, including Gaskill Middle School and LaSalle Middle School. Commissioner Granto became a district-wide administrator in 1980. By 1984, he was named deputy superintendent and in 1992, he took over as superintendent until his retirement.

Commissioner Granto has been working with EI Team, a professional architectural and engineering firm, in order to provide for the needs of the Niagara Falls City School District. He has been involved in many major projects such as the design and construction of new schools and the Community Improvement Plan (CIP) for Life Safety, Accessibility, and Security of all 13 schools in the district.

He is active in the community as a Board of Trustee for the Niagara Falls Public Library (Treasurer) and a member of the New York State Small City Schools Association. Commissioner Granto also serves on the Advisory Board and Selection Committee Member for the Niagara Falls City School District.

Commissioner Granto has a bachelor’s degree in both political science and history from LeMoyne College in Syracuse. He received a Masters Degree in Educational Administration and his School District Administrator License from Niagara University.

Commissioner Kevin Helfer is the Executive Director of Buffalo Civic Auto Ramps, where is responsible for the management and operation of seven parking ramps and two surface lots with an annual $9.6 million dollar budget.

Commissioner Helfer is well versed in how government works and its importance to the comunity. In 2004, Commissioner Helfer served as the Commissioner of the Erie County Department of Social Services. From 2000 to 2004, Commissioner Helfer was the Director of the Erie County Department of Contract Compliance, Coordinating Council on Children & Families. He also served as the City of Buffalo University District Councilman from 1994 to 1999.

A graduate of Canisius College where he majored in Accounting, Commissioner Helfer puts his experience and education to use in the community. Commissioner Helfer is the Co-Founder and Board Member of C.O.M.M.U.N.I.T.Y. Charter School where he is responsible for the administration of a $1.8 million dollar budget. He developed the program and fiscal charter for the institution that is based on the Forty Developmental Assts delineated by the Search Institute.

Mike is the Vice President for Marketing, Public Relations and Government Affairs at Kaleida Health, Western New York’s largest employer and largest provider of health care services.

Recruited to Kaleida Health in 2004, he is responsible for all of the hospital system’s external affairs including marketing, communications, media relations, government affairs, advertising, creative services and grants.

Prior to joining Kaleida Health, Mike served as the Public Affairs and Marketing Manager for Rural/Metro Medical Services, a national ambulance company. Hughes oversaw all media, government and community relations, marketing, and contract compliance in Western New York. He also served as the statewide public information officer for Rural/Metro’s nationally recognized “Disaster Response Team.”

Active in the community, he was appointed in 2008 to the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA), becoming the youngest Commissioner in the history of the authority.

Hughes currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Buffalo Police Athletic League, Waterfront Nursing Home, Bishop Timon/St. Jude High School and the West Seneca Zoning Board of Appeals. He also serves on the Buffalo Niagara Partnership’s Government Affairs Committee, Canisius College Government Relations Advisory Board and the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Government Affairs Council. Mike also coaches ice hockey and soccer in West Seneca and Orchard Park.

In 2010, the Communication Studies Department at Canisius College named Hughes the “Marilyn G.S. Watt Alumni Award” winner, which is presented annually to a notable alumnus in public affairs and communications.

In 2005, Hughes was named a Business First “40 Under 40” award winner. He is also a graduate of Leadership Buffalo and the Buffalo FBI’s 2003 Citizen’s Academy. In addition to this, he has also won awards from International MarCom and the WNY Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

Prior to joining Rural/Metro, Mike served as the Director of Communications for Erie County. In that role, he was the primary spokesman for New York State’s second largest county government and its highest elected official. With Erie County, Mike was elevated through numerous positions: from volunteer assistant in legislative branch, to executive public affairs assistant to his final senior communications role.

He is a graduate of Canisius College (bachelors in Communication) and earned a master’s of business administration certificate (micro-MBA) from the University of Buffalo.

Commissioner Perry is a partner in Hodgson Russ’s Business Litigation and Employment Litigation Practice Groups. His practice focuses on numerous areas in employment-related litigation such as employment discrimination, harassment, breach of contract, and civil rights claims. He also handles other business litigation matters such as real estate, government relations, education law, municipal law, and nonprofit law.

In 2009, Mayor Byron W. Brown appointed Mr. Perry to Chair of the Citizens Planning Council of the City of Buffalo. In this position, he helps to determine the capital expenditures for the City of Buffalo each year.

Mr. Perry is very active in the community. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the New York Council for the Humanities, the Buffalo Urban League, and the Buffalo Police Foundation. In addition, he also serves as general counsel to a number of organizations including the Community Action Organization of Erie County and Sheehan Memorial Hospital. Moreover, Mr. Perry is the President of Mayor Brown’s Fund to Advance Buffalo and is Chair of the City of Buffalo Commissioner of Human Resources Selection Committee.

In 2004, he was the recipient of the Erie Community College Outstanding Alumnus Award. In addition, Mr. Perry has received the Erie Community College Foundation’s Distinguished Alumni Award (1996), and he also was named Business First’s “40 under Forty” Award (2000).

Commissioner Perry is a graduate of Erie Community College (associate of applied science) and the University of Buffalo (bachelors of arts). He earned his juris doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School.

Howard Zemsky is managing partner of Larkin Development Group. The firm has developed 800,000 sq. ft. of commercial office space in Buffalo, NY, since 2000, including rehabilitation of the former Larkin Terminal Warehouse building. Howard is also a principal of Niagara’s Finest Inns, a group of boutique hotels and restaurants in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, and managing partner of Taurus Partners LLC, a private equity firm in Buffalo.

Howard is President of the Richardson Center Corporation and Vice Chair of the Buffalo State College Council. He serves as a Commissioner of the NFTA. Howard also serves on the board of the Michigan Street Preservation Commission, Buffalo Place and the Martin House Restoration Corporation, where he served as President of the Board for five years.

Howard is a Director of Medical Recovery Management LLC and MOD-PAC Inc. and serves on the Advisory Board of First Niagara Financial Group.

Howard holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Michigan State University and a MBA from the University of Rochester.