Exchange Student from Honduras Works up the BCArc Ladder to Exec Position
Pittsfield, Mass., July 10, 2019 – The Berkshire County Arc announced today that Blanca Durant has been promoted to the Vice President of Finance. She will oversee the accounting and finance functions of BCArc’s $36 million-plus annual budget. She will also manage a complex information technology system that involves numerous state contracts, confidential client data, and a network that extends beyond 40 properties across Berkshire and Hampden Counties.
“At BCArc we work hard to create opportunity for all our employees to develop,” said Kenneth W. Singer, president & CEO. “Blanca started with us as a petty cash manager 21 years ago, learned everything she could, took advantage of every opportunity for growth, and has proven herself a brilliant manager and leader. Her understanding of our business has ensured BCArc’s success.”
Blanca’s duties will continue to include the development of the annual operating budget, preparation of all financial management reports, and tax and regulatory filings.
She joined the Berkshire County Arc in 1998 as an accounting associate, became the Accounting Supervisor in 1999 and was appointed Director of Finance in 2011.
Other duties Blanca will perform as vice president of finance include:
- Serve as point-person with the state’s public and private auditors
- Responsible for all reports required by government regulatory agencies
- Oversee all contracts with the state agencies
- Hire and manage some 15 employees that comprise accounting and front-office staff
A Journey from Honduras
Blanca earned a scholarship to Berkshire Community College after high school in Honduras, where she was valedictorian. She lived with a young Dalton family during school, met her future husband – they recently celebrated their 28th anniversary—learned the English language and earned her A.S. in Electrical Engineering. She returned to Honduras before resettling in the Berkshires to work as a bank teller before landing a job at BCArc with the help of her host family—the host mother managed the finances for BCArc at the time.
About Berkshire County Arc
Founded in 1954, Berkshire County Arc provides a broad range of community-based services to 1,000-plus individuals with developmental disabilities, brain injuries, and autism throughout Berkshire and Hampden Counties in Massachusetts. With nearly 800 employees, the agency offers four day-programs, 40 residential programs, employment services, citizen- and self-advocacy programs, respite services, family support services, community-based day services, transitional services, an adult family care program, and a mail business called Zip-n-Sort Mail Services, partly staffed by individuals with disabilities.
www.bcarc.org
