Personnel File: July 2, 2025

Richards, Layton & Finger announced  the election of Paul Heath as the firm’s new president.   He will succeed Lisa Schmidt, whose three-year term concluded at the end of June.  Joining Paul on the new leadership team are Jeffrey Moyer as executive vice president and Matthew Criscimagna as senior vice president. 

At the law firm, leadership candidates are chosen by a vote of their peers and serve three-year terms.

Paul has practiced with Richards Layton since the start of his legal career, representing clients in bankruptcy and restructuring matters.  A first-generation college and law school graduate, he earned his B.S. from the University of Delaware and his J.D. from Widener University School of Law.

As is customary at the firm, Paul will continue his bankruptcy practice, representing debtors, secured creditors, purchasers, committees, and other parties in chapter 11 cases.  Jeff will maintain his litigation practice, handling complex commercial and intellectual property litigation, and Matt will continue to advise clients in a wide variety of transactional matters involving Delaware alternative entities.

Poppiti named Delaware Farm Bureau Executive Director

Delaware Farm Bureau announced that  Joseph G. Poppiti has been amed Executive Director.

Poppiti has returned to lead the Delaware Farm Bureau as its Executive Director under President William (Bill) Powers and the State Board of Directors. He started his Farm Bureau career at the Delaware Farm Bureau in November of 2018.

During his time away from DEFB, Poppiti worked at the Delaware Center of Horticulture and became a Regional Organization Director for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.

Poppiti grew up in Wilmington,  but spent much of this time on his family’s mushroom farm in Kennett Square, He went on to study horticulture and mushroom science at the Penn State.

 His work  in mushroom farming allowed him to experience and visit mushroom farms throughout the United States and abroad. He also held many board positions at the American Mushroom Institute  and held the position of Chairman of the Board for three terms.

Rossi named to Artesian board

Artesian Resources Corporation   appointed  Salvatore J. “Chip” Rossi to its Board of Directors.  Artesian is a water and wastewater utility based near Newark.

Rossi recently retired from Bank of America, where he was president of Bank of America Delaware and the head of Bank of America’s Prepaid Card Unemployment Programs.

Prior  to his most recent role,  Rossi was  Global Compliance and Operational Risk Operations executive at the bank.  Previously he was the bank’s Consumer and Global Wealth & Investment Management Chief Risk Officer.

Rossi serves on the boards of Delaware State University, ChristianaCare, The Grand Opera House and REACH Riverside. He is also a member of the Delaware State Chamber Board of Governors and the Delaware Business Roundtable.

PJM names corporation communications director 

PJM Interconnection,  a regional grid manager,  has appointed Deena O’Brien as senior director of corporate communications with responsibility for external and internal communications, creative services, PJM’s online presence, and service delivery for external and internal conferences and meetings.

O’Brien recently served as director of corporate communications for Johnson & Johnson. 

Prior to that, she was director of corporate communications at W.L. Gore & Associates in Newark, Delaware. As the leader of Gore’s external communications team, she specialized in communications around regulatory challenges and opportunities and building relationships with consumers and government officials While working at  Exelon, O’Brien worked in corporate communications to support the generation fleet, specifically Conowingo Hydroelectric Generating Station and Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station.  

Eshleman named development director at Spotlight Delaware

Courtney Eshleman has joined Spotlight Delaware as its new director of development.

Eshleman comes to Spotlight Delaware with more than a decade of experience in development roles within the nonprofit news ecosystem, including time at Media Impact Funders and the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

“Courtney’s strategic vision and fundraising expertise will be crucial to ensuring that Spotlight Delaware’s vibrant, independent, and reliable journalism remains strong for our communities,” said Allison Taylor Levine,  CEO.

Eshleman will lead Spotlight Delaware’s efforts to grow philanthropic support.