Board of Directors

Mr. Robert J. DeValentino, Director since 1998, and has been Chairman of the Board since 2009. Previously he was President of Orange Regional Medical Center Foundation from 1998 to 2007 (retired); Eastern Region Communications Manager, Citizens Telecom from 1995 to 1998; District Manager, Middletown, New York for Contel NY, GTE & Citizens Telecom from 1989 to 1995; Director of Network Services, Contel, Central Region, St. Louis, Missouri from 1985 to1989; past director and initial investor in the Community Bank of Orange (Greater Hudson Bank). Mr. DeValentino has also served on the boards of several community organizations and participated in various philanthropic endeavors and economic development initiatives in the Greater Hudson Valley. In addition to his professional experience, Mr. DeValentino has participated in company-sponsored financial and management seminars throughout his career.

Mr. Jeffrey D. Alario, Director since 2006, has been the Managing Member of Alario & Associates, CPAs, an auditing, financial reporting, tax compliance, and planning firm since 2000. Prior to that, and from 1996 through 2009, he was Chief Financial Officer of Person-to-Person Marketing LLC, a telemarketing firm. Mr. Alario also serves on the boards of several not-for-profit organizations. Mr. Alario holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Alario has been a licensed certified public accountant in practice in New York and New Jersey since 1986 and is qualified to review and analyze audited financial statements. As such, he is specifically qualified to serve on our audit committee as its chairman and he possesses the qualifications to  be designated as the committee's financial expert. Mr. Alario also provides accounting services to small and mid-sized businesses and his skill set meets our board's requirement for financial experience and expertise in the small to mid-sized business segment in which we operate.

David Cuthbert, Director since 2011, is President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Cuthbert joined us in August 2011 in connection with our acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Alteva, LLC, a cloud-based Unified Communications solutions provider and enterprise hosted Voice over Internet Protocol provider. Mr. Cuthbert also serves as President of our subsidiaries, USA Datanet Inc. and Alteva Inc. Mr. Cuthbert has 14 years of broad operational management and leadership experience. He joined Alteva, LLC in 2006 as the Director of Operations and in August 2010 became President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Cuthbert is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a former Naval Special Operations Officer. In this capacity, he led underwater and land bomb disposal teams domestically and abroad. In 2003, Mr. Cuthbert was assigned leadership responsibility for the Navy's leading nuclear weapon casualty response detachment. His process innovation and mission accomplishment record earned him several high level unit and individual awards for leadership. Mr. Cuthbert is active in groups advocating cloud-based unified communications solutions and is a founding member of “The Captains”– a Naval Academy networking group focused on professional development, peer mentorship, and social responsibility. Mr. Cuthbert also serves on the Board of Trustees for the United States Naval Academy Foundation.

 Mr. Cuthbert is well recognized as a leader in the Unified Communications marketplace. He also possesses unique operational skills given his considerable experience in the United States Navy. This skill set has allowed him to drive Alteva from a start-up to mid-sized company and continues to serve us well as Alteva emerges as our primary growth engine.

Mr. Douglas B. Benedict, Director since 2007, is a Managing Director of OEM Capital, an investment banking firm specializing in technology and communications and focusing primarily on small and middle-market public and private companies. Mr. Benedict joined OEM Capital in May 2011. Previously, he was a Managing Director at MTN Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on small and middle-market opportunities. Prior to that, from 2001 to 2008, Mr. Benedict served as Senior Vice President of Business and Strategic Development for Cendant Corporation and Lockton Companies. Prior to 2001, he spent 15 years as an investment banker in New York and London, primarily with Citigroup, Bank of America and Legg Mason, specifically focusing on telecommunications, technology and financial institution companies. Mr. Benedict also serves as Managing Principal of Regent Advisors LLC, a private strategic and business consulting firm. Mr. Benedict holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

Mr. Benedict’s investment banking advisory and industry-specific skill set provides our board with the knowledge necessary to confront emerging issues in the rapidly-changing capital markets as well as the rapidly-changing telecommunications and technology industries.

Kelly Bloss, Director since 2006, is the President of Knowledge Transfer Group, Inc., a strategy and technology management consulting firm she founded in 2000.  

She is a seasoned entrepreneur and proven business executive. Her work remains at the leading edge of the changes permeating the highly complex industries of healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, telecommunications, media and entertainment. Creating an exceptional record of accomplishment, she is an expert in delivering strategic business solutions that drive revenue growth and cost management.

Her work includes strategic consulting in healthcare – providing strategy development and implementation services to healthcare delivery systems. She also provides governance leadership and guidance to financial institutions and leads a team that provides innovative billing data management and data analytics solutions to the cable industry.

Ms. Bloss served as Vice President for NYNEX/Bell Atlantic/Verizon responsible for their Long Distance business. Ms. Bloss holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Union College and a Master of Science degree from Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University)

Ms. Bloss was recruited as a director because of her industry-based knowledge as well as her varied skill set as a consultant within the telecommunications industry. Ms. Bloss brings a unique understanding of the technology and emerging and converging technologies within the industry, marketing and sales-enhancement skills, as well as corporate governance experience in her capacity as a consultant to our board.