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Our Team

CITEC's team of professionals have decades of experience training thousands of employees at dozens of companies throughout the North Country.

Steve Lockwood

Executive Director

Steve Lockwood brings his leadership experience in manufacturing and sales to connect CITEC's clients with resources to grow their businesses. He has held various positions at Camoplast/Rockland, Multina USA, General Motors and served as Director of Vocational Programs at Citizen Advocates. Steve's roles at CITEC have included business advisor, business development director, and now executive director. Steve works to connect North Country businesses with the broad range of resources and NYS assets available across the region, and develop and strengthen CITEC's programs and services to deliver comprehensive, proven solutions to fuel growth and advance manufacturing and other business in the North Country. 

315-777-0556 (cell)

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Kate Chepeleff

Business Advisor

Kate is a project / process engineer with 30 years in heavy industry and manufacturing. She is a certified Lean Green Belt and Six Sigma Black Belt with strong communication skills, and is recognized for her leadership in continuous improvement. In addition to training program development and delivery, she works with clients on change management, new equipment testing and installation, and corporate standards and auditing.

Mechanical Engineer, Lean Green Belt, Six Sigma Black Belt

315-212-4890 (cell)

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Sharon Van Auken

Business Advisor

Sharon Van Auken is CITEC Business Solutions' human resource specialist, assisting businesses with HR training, documentation and compliance. Her experience spans diverse fields including financial services, energy research, hospitality and tourism, and higher education. She has served as a corporate trainer, instructional designer and technical editor, and has held Human Resource Director positions for 13 years.

518-651-1902 (cell)

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Matt Aubertine

Business Advisor

Matt Aubertine is a process engineer and quality leader with 30 years of demonstrated technical experience in team building, problem solving, and process improvement. He has an MBA and a strong focus on business performance aimed at improving customer satisfaction, reducing waste and increasing market share. During nearly two decades leading quality teams at NY Air Brake in Watertown he led countless projects improving efficiencies, decreasing rework, and improving overall KPIs. Matt is a certified Six Sigma black belt. 

315-742-2336 (cell)

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Mila Peters

Accounting Director

Mila is an innovative accounting professional with more than 15 years of experience in diverse industries including banking, third party card processing, for profit and nonprofit business, and manufacturing. Her expertise is in areas of management reporting, budgeting, forecasting, internal controls, procedures, revenue recognition, variance analysis, p&l, and balance sheets.

315-742-2713 (cell)

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Aviva Gold

Marketing and Communications

Aviva joins CITEC with a background in media production, graphic design, management, and development. She is known for forging comprehensive communication strategies that focus on goals and results.

315-323-1703 (cell)

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