Tonight we recognize Mr. Stephen Obermayer for his incredible work ethic and professional achievements in his business career. He graduated from Columbia High School in 1979. He made a decision to attend college locally so that he could work as a janitor at Columbia in order to pay for his education. He received his Associates Degree from Hudson Valley Community College in 1981, and went on to receive a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Siena College in 1983.
Upon graduation, he began his career with Stulmaker, Roach, Dorfman and Company as a Certified Public Accountant. In 1988, he advanced his career with a position with the Norstar/Fleet Banks. It was during this four-year tenure that Stephen became a Certified Bank Auditor and a Certified Fraud Examiner. His work ethic was demonstrated by the fact that Stephen earned the highest score in the entire country on this Auditor examination. In 1992, Stephen moved on to begin a career with Barry, Bette and LedDuke. This company became BBL Construction Services. It was at this time that Stephen was promoted to Chief Financial Officer and assumed oversight of all financial operations for the company. BBL was known for renovating and/or building new hotels. Stephen’s vision then moved the company forward from merely a facility provider to a hospitality owner/manager. Stephen carved BBL’s path into the restaurant business with the creation of the Recovery Sports Grill Restaurants. The first Recovery Room was built at the Hilton Garden Inn at Albany Medical Center to provide a place for families and staff to eat. Under Stephen’s guidance, there are now 12 Recovery Rooms and or Monarch Grills. In addition to serving as the Chief Financial Officer for BBL, he is also the President of BBL Hospitality. This required him to become certified by various hotels such as the Marriott and the Hilton.

The Albany Business Review recently nominated Stephen for the Financial Officer of the Year Award. Although nominated by peers, he humbly and modestly declined the award. Last year, Stephen was the recipient of The Professor Joseph A. Buff Award at Siena College. This award is presented to alumni with outstanding accomplishments or achievements in their careers.

Stephen has brought his financial talents and expertise to numerous community groups and civic organizations. He has served on the Boards of Directors for many of these groups. He is currently the Vice President for the Capital District YMCA and he is on the Board of Directors for the Center for Economic Growth. He previously served on the Rensselaer County Chamber of Commerce to promote business within the county. His business savvy is evident through the words of one of his nominators, John Jay Bove. “Steve is well known in the business world for his work with BBL Construction Services. He is respected and admired by all of his peers in the construction community as well as those in the world of philanthropy. He is creative, hard working, intelligent, extremely witty and has a great ability to solve problems. Without his help, many of the most important construction projects in the Albany area would not have happened.”

His other nominator, Michael O’Toole, stated, “Steve is never done learning and seeks new opportunities. Columbia should be proud of instilling in him a desire for life long learning.”

The East Greenbush Education Foundation is honored to induct Mr. Stephen Obermayer into the Columbia High School Hall Of Fame, for his incredible work ethic and numerous professional accomplishments.