Our Management Team
The following bios are provided relative to key positions in the company:
Mr. Harder is an accomplished executive who, due to his commitment to innovation, ability to formulate effective management teams, and keen insight into business processes and industry trends, has revolutionized several manufacturing ventures.
In addition to his work with legacy companies, over the course of the last decade he has lent his management expertise to developing new and emerging businesses through private equity investment funds he has helped administer. He has also contributed his time generously with efforts to reestablish the Western New York community as an economic force, serving, for example, as co-founder of an organization that is developing a world-class center in bioinformatics.
Mr. Harder began his career at Niagara Trading Company, an importer of food products from Asia. Working primarily out of Taiwan, the company afforded him the first of many opportunities to travel internationally.
The next success in his achievement-rich career was as President of Bufkor, Inc., a manufacturer of packaging and displays for jewelry and other luxury goods, owned by investors from El Salvador. During his six-year tenure (1980-86), he developed and implemented a successful turnaround plan that involved restructuring the core business product, constructing a new Florida production facility, and simplifying the manufacturing process to reduce costs.
His decision to acquire Auto Radiator Sales, Inc. (ARS) in 1987 began a 12-year odyssey that transformed not only the company's operations, but the entire product line through innovative engineering, the development of strong supply chain partners worldwide, and a complete alignment of the supply base. Headquartered in Buffalo, New York, ARS went from being a regional distributor of automotive aftermarket heat transfer products to the third largest brand in North America. In 1999, he sold ARS to Ford Motor Company, who now uses the product as a platform for its OEM climate control business in the global automotive aftermarket.
Following ARS's divestiture, Mr. Harder turned his attention to venture capital investments, serving in 2001, as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Western New York Technology Development Corporation (TDC). Since 2000, he has participated in 11 angel investments. His work with the TDC sparked his interest in assisting the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB) in securing state funding for the new Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. He currently chairs the UB Foundation's Capital Campaign Committee.
Most recently, Mr. Harder was President of Cliffstar Corp., a major Dunkirk, New York manufacturer that was number one in the nation among private-label juice providers. Privately-held since its inception, Mr. Harder worked to position the company for acquisition which occurred in mid-2010 when it was purchased by store-brand carbonated beverage producer Cott.
Presently, he serves as Managing Partner in CHEPII, LLC, a private equity investment firm, and CEO of Clinical Support Services.
Dr. Notaro, in his role as founder and president of CSS, has developed several innovative and proprietary systems that offer various sectors of the healthcare industry the opportunity to improve patient care, while obtaining a demonstrated savings in time and costs.
His background is diverse, having had experience throughout the healthcare continuum, from clinical operations to managed care administration to academia to entrepreneurial endeavors.
A 1984 graduate of Albany College of Pharmacy (B.S., 1984), he continued on to Union University for his Master's Degree (M.S., 1984) and received his Ph.D. in Operations Research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1989). He has been a co-author of several academic papers, and involved in the development of numerous research projects that he has integrated with CSS, including the design of collaborative therapy models; medication therapy management services; clinical office practice operations; pharmaceutical formulary decision models; and hypertension monitoring protocols in the ambulatory pharmacy setting. Through his efforts, CSS has secured several grants from pharmaceutical companies, community-based health care organizations, and governmental health entities.
Dr. Notaro has extensive experience in the managed care industry having served as Director of Ancillary Clinical Service and Manager of Pharmacy Services for Univera Health Care; and Director of Managed Care Programs/Research & Development for Centrus, an Albany-based prescription benefit management company.
A licensed pharmacist in both New York and North Carolina, he currently is an owner/partner of Buffalo Pharmacy Group, Inc., which operates five independent, ambulatory-care pharmacies in the southern suburbs of Buffalo, New York.
He is presently an assistant professor in the Department of Health Services Administration at D'Youville College, teaching graduate-level courses and serving as thesis director.
His current research interests include the application of statistical quality control procedures to clinical practice; the implementation of pharmacist consulting services; and the application of operations research and statistical methods to better understand health systems operations.
Joe Dolan is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology where he received his bachelor's and master's degree in Information Technology (IT) graduating with Highest Honors.
His IT background is unique and extensive. It encompasses a broad range of skill sets, including networking, systems administration, database development, application and web development, and IT management. His dedication to improving communication between product users and engineers has played an integral role in the company's product growth.
Presently, Joe is the President of Nalod Associates, LLC, a private web development agency in Buffalo, New York. His past experience in the healthcare industry includes having worked in the IT department at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield in Rochester, and having created the initial programming core of the MTMPath™ software product.
Sean Nola has worked in various pharmacy arenas including retail, hospital, home infusion and managed care. He is a 1990 graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo's School of Pharmacy. In 1997, he received his M.S. in Health Services Administration from D'Youville College. While employed at Excellus Inc., Mr. Nola served in various corporate-wide roles including Director of Pharmacy at Univera Health Care and Director of Pharmacy Client Consultation Programs, where he directed the development and implementation of consultation services designed to assist employers and physicians better manage prescription drug costs and utilization.
Prior to joining Clinical Support Services, Inc., he oversaw the Managed Care Division in upstate New York for Novo Nordisk Incorporated as Senior Managed Care Account Executive. In this capacity, he worked directly with health insurance plans, pharmacy benefit management companies and employers focusing primarily on diabetes and quality improvement activities.
Susan Fenster has worked in the professional services industry for nearly 25 years, serving in several capacities including client services director, marketing director, business development manager and technical writer. Her writing career began after graduating from State University of New York College at Buffalo (B.A. Journalism, 1982) when she was named founding editor of a regional publication, and was a freelance writer for several national publications.
From 1989-1994, she handled all of the marketing functions and coordination of client services for the 14-attorney tax department at Hodgson, Russ in Buffalo and New York City. While there, she authored three tax consumer books for national distribution, provided public relations support, ghost-wrote dozens of articles for state and national trade journals and newspapers, and developed an internal processing system to manage case files.
In 1994, she was named client services director for Jaeckle, Fleischmann & Mugel, a 75-attorney firm with two primary offices (Buffalo and Rochester, New York). In that capacity, she was responsible for the development and writing of all collateral material; creation of the annual marketing plan and budgeting; coordination of all public relations activities; media buying; event development and coordination; website development and maintenance; and market research.
She began her own full-service marketing company in 1997, dedicated to assisting businesses and not-for-profit organizations meet their expansion goals. In 2006, she joined Clinical Support Services, Inc. as its Client Services Director. In that year she also ghost-wrote a book published by The Thomson Group (Research Institute of America) on Cost Segregation Studies.
Ms. Notaro, a graduate of the Albany College of Pharmacy (B.S., 1991), is responsible for clinical operations at CSS including program development, workflow development and adherence, and client reporting. As Quality Review Director, she manages CSS's clinical staff with the case management of patients who have a wide variety of chronic illnesses including kidney disease, coronary artery disease, asthma and diabetes. Her work involves coordinating physician appointments and services; interpretation of laboratory results; therapy recommendation and management; and patient communication and education.
From 1998-2003, Ms. Notaro served as Coordinator of Pharmacy Services and a Clinical Pharmacist for Univera Healthcare/FLRx, responsible for all aspects of the pharmacy's prior authorization program. In that role, she took part in clinical program development and communication; assured adherence to organization and regulatory requirements (NQA, DOH); and managed professional and clerical staff. She served as the department's liaison to the company's medical benefits and resource management divisions, and was a clinical advisor to the population-based disease management and patient-specific case management programs.
She is a Board Member/State Leader for the Government Relations and Advocacy Committee of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International. She currently serves as board member and membership committee chair for the Pharmacists Association of Western New York and is a member of the following professional organizations: National Community Pharmacists Association; American Pharmacist Association; American Association of Diabetes Educators; American Diabetes Association; and Pharmacists Society of the State of New York.