John R. Koelmel is board chairman at

Kaleida Health John R. Oishei Children's Hospital (viewed from Ellicott Street in 2017) Kaleida Health, founded in 1998, is a not-for-profit healthcare network that manages five hospitals in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area. Prior to the merger of ...

and chairman of the

New York Power Authority The New York Power Authority (NYPA), officially the Power Authority of the State of New York, is a New York State public-benefit corporation. It is the largest state public power utility in the United States. NYPA provides some of the lowest-co ...

First Niagara

Koelmel served as the former president and chief executive officer of the Buffalo based

First Niagara Bank First Niagara Bank was a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured regional banking corporation headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Its parent company, First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. was the 44th-largest bank in the United States with a ...

and its parent, First Niagara Financial Group, serving in that capacity from December 2006 to March 2013. A career Certified Public Accountant, Koelmel joined First Niagara in January 2004, initially serving as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining First Niagara, he spent 26 years (1976–2000) with

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

, reaching the position of the Managing Partner of its

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

operations. Koelmel then joined Financial Institutions, Inc, parent of Five Star Bank, serving as its Chief Administrative Officer until 2002, when he left to become an independent consultant. In his career at First Niagara, Koelmel oversaw the massive expansion of the bank, more than doubling its size during his tenure. He received $3.8 million in total compensation in 2012. He was dismissed on March 19, 2013, amid concerns of languishing stock prices.

Business roles

Koelmel has served on a variety of boards in the Buffalo Area, including

, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Great Lakes Health, the New York Bankers Association, and Buffalo Place. In May 2012, he was tapped by New York Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...

to head up the

, replacing the outgoing Michael Townsend.

HarborCenter

Koelmel served as President of

LECOM Harborcenter LECOM Harborcenter is an American mixed-use development in Buffalo, New York developed by Pegula Sports and Entertainment. The building occupies a full 1.7 acre city block formerly known as the Webster Block, directly across from and connected ...

, overseeing the hockey and entertainment complex developed by Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula. The role lasted 21 months, with Koelmel stepping down abruptly.

Personal life

Orchard Park, New York Orchard Park is a town in Erie County, New York. It is an outer ring suburb southeast of Buffalo. As of the 2010 census, the population was 29,054, representing an increase of 5.13% from the 2000 census figure. The town contains a village a ...

native and a graduate of

Orchard Park High School Orchard Park High School is a secondary school in Orchard Park, New York. The school has approximately 1725 children in grades 9–12. The students are divided among three houses with a principal for each house and a principal who oversees the en ...

, Koelmel graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in 1974 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Accounting. He currently resides in

East Amherst, New York East Amherst is a suburban hamlet northeast of downtown Buffalo, Erie County, New York, United States. It straddles the towns of Amherst and Clarence, and comprises the majority of ZIP code 14051. History East Amherst is centered in an are ...

with his wife, Marsha and her three children, Jensen, Lauren and Caroline. He also has two adult children.

References

External links

Koelmel's Buffalo Niagara Partnership biography

Koelmel's Forbes biography

Koelmel's MarketWatch biography
Living people People from Orchard Park, New York People from East Amherst, New York American chief executives of financial services companies College of the Holy Cross alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-CEO-stub