Career Connections for Professionals

Katrina Gobins is the chairperson for Career Connections for Professions (CCP) and Director of Placement at Ridley-Lowell Business & Technical Institute in Poughkeepsie. Katrina provides graduates with job placement assistance by coaching them on resume building, interviewing skills, the job seeking process, and networking. Katrina is also a Business Instructor in which she teaches career development courses to students at Ridley-Lowell.

Katrina began her career in the employment field by starting off as a job coach for a local non-profit agency providing individual and group coaching for individuals with disabilities. Within a year Katrina was promoted and led multiple roles as an Employment Specialist, Job Developer, and Job Readiness Instructor. Knowing that her passion was helping others lead sufficient lives Katrina went back to school to complete her Masters in Social Welfare from SUNY Albany.

Along with fulfilling her role as Director of Placement Katrina, also develops and facilitates workshops for Job Fairs and conducts seminars on career achievement. Katrina is a 2012 Leadership Dutchess graduate. Katrina can be reached at (845) 471-0330 or pcplacement@ridley.edu

Tom is a business coach with The Entrepreneur's Source. His job is to help people accomplish that which they would never have thought of doing on their own. He coaches franchises and start-ups.

Tom believes that we already know how franchises will behave and what we need for marketing and operations. Each has been done several times, often more than that. Some are unusual, but we know what will happen. He specializes in impossible situations, finding a way to succeed. He implements new, market-driven ideas from conception through to profitable operations.

Reach Tom at by clicking here.

Robin Rabideau is a Branch Manager for Manpower in the staffing division. She began her career with Manpower in 1991 as a Contract Manager and has also held the title of District Manager during her Manpower career. Currently, Robin is active in the Chamber of Commerce, Women's Leadership Alliance, Mid Hudson Human Resource Association, and the AAUW. She serves on the Career Connections for Professionals committee and in the past on the Women in Business committee. She has been a Campaign Manager for the United Way and the American Heart Association for several years. This year she will be involved in the United Way Loaned Executive program. A graduate of Potsdam College, Robin has a bachelor of science degree in Computer Science.

Eddy A. Sloshower is an accomplished professional with more than 20 years of progressive experience in Sales, Sales Operations Management, Mortgage Banking, Commercial Lending and Insurance. Over the years, he has demonstrated his ability to train and manage staff working towards operationally efficient solutions in compliance with strategic goals and objectives. Currently Eddy is a general business consultant and an Independent Insurance Agent (Life Accident and Health) representing several major companies selling Life Insurance, Voluntary Benefits and Health Plans in the workplace. He conducts employer and employee presentations and enrollments and works with Business Owners, HR Directors and Benefit Brokers on company health plans.

In addition, he conducts presentations for consumers looking to purchase life insurance and health benefits. Previously, he worked for such companies as AIG and Bank of America. He is an active member of the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce serving on the Member Ambassador Committee and the Career Connections for Professionals and is Chairman of the Membership Retention Committee. He has established relationships with community based organizations, local politicians and local government. He has lived and worked in the Hudson Valley, in both Westchester and Dutchess counties, for the past seventeen years. Eddy can be reached at the following number 914-772-3853 or eddy.a.sloshower@gmail.com

Keith Weiner, LPC is the owner of PRI Investigations & Process Services. This is a Hudson Valley company that has been in business since 1996. Keith is a licensed private investigator and has over 34 years of security, loss prevention & investigative experience. He was a police officer for the Co-op City Police Department in Bronx, NY and has held positions as a regional & director of investigations/loss prevention/asset protection for numerous national & local companies.

He has managed staffs of over 100 people and has mentored many students in his field. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Mercy College. He is also certified in Human Behavior. Keith also is certified by Wicklander Zulawski and John E. Reid & Associates in Interviewing & Interrogation. Keith is also credentialed by the Loss Prevention Foundation as Loss Prevention Certified. He has written many magazine articles on the topic of security, fraud & loss prevention and has been a guest lecturer as well. Keith is currently an Ambassador with the Chamber as well as being on the CCP committee. Keith can be reached via his website: www.prevention-resources.com or by phone at 845-464-4855.

Rob Zanfardino, former Chairman of Career Connections for Professionals (CCP) and current Steering Committee Member, has a very extensive background developing social networking organizations and events for the professional job seekers. In 2012, Rob was appointed to his fourth term as Chairman of CCP. Rob has provided his corporate and volunteer consulting experiences to this program and has guided it through all stages of development. From 2011-2012, CCP under Rob's guidance has supported five career seminars helping thousands of professionals in transition. In addition, Rob was one of the Founding Members and for over six years was a Steering Committee Member for the Westchester Networking Organization (WNO).

The WNOis a virtual based networking organization consisting of over 1,000 members in three states. The WNO provides career guidance and networking opportunities for professionals managing their career. Rob has a very extensive background in the corporate world as a consultant, program manager and director. Rob has worked for such companies as McKesson Health Services, CompuCom, Gentiva HealthCare and IBM as well as small-to-medium-sized companies. In the last seven years, Rob has published over 30 articles pertaining to leadership and career transitions and has presented many of his leadership concepts at presentations throughout the Northeast. Rob is also an accredited Advance Communicator Bronze Toastmaster. Rob can be reached at845-226-6074orzanfardino4@earthlink.net