Joyce M. Bates
CEO

Joyce was a founding member and first president of the Central Florida Employee Benefits Council and past president of the Florida Association of Pension Consultants. She is a member of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accounts (FICPA) and has 30 years experience in the design, implementation and administration of Retirement Plans.

Joyce has been active on many community boards including, the Central Florida YMCA, the Central Florida Women’s Resource Center, Florida Executive Women and Women Playing for T.I.M.E. She is currently active with the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, The Center for Women’s Philanthropy, and is a member of the Winter Park Breakfast Rotary.

Joyce and her husband Dick share their home with their dog Muffy and cat Tuxedo. She enjoys playing golf and is a member of the Orlando Women’s Golf Association.

John D. Laskowitz
President

John has more than 20 years of experience working on strategic, operational and financial issues, with a focus on strategy, accounting, process improvement, and mergers & acquisitions. His prior experience includes public accounting, finance, and management consulting. John worked for more than 3 years in Europe while overseeing Pan-European activities in finance and accounting for more than 20 offices for a global management consulting firm. Based in Germany, he was responsible for coordinating corporate initiatives into all European locations, while working to balance external accounting and finance regulations with internal corporate requirements.

Since moving to Florida in 1999, John has worked with a start-up telecommunications company helping them to attract more than $35M in venture capital funding. He also has consulted with various organizations at the ownership level, helping with corporate strategies and operations in order enhance growth opportunities and help organizations meet the operational challenges of effectively servicing larger volume of clients. In this role, he became involved with various profit sharing and 401K plans, working with clients to structure plans in order to meet their specific requirements.

John holds an MBA degree from Northeastern University and a BS in Business Administration – Accounting from Merrimack College.

John is married and enjoys spending time with his wife, and children. He enjoys golf and fishing. 

Stephen H. Havel
Senior Consultant

Steve joined Bates & Company, P.A. in September 2003 with over twenty five years experience in the employee benefits field. His previous experience has included pension consulting and actuarial firms in Chicago, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. During his years in the pension field, he has provided administration and consultation for all sizes and types of qualified retirement plans, including 401k, 412i and Defined Benefit Pension Plans.

Steve's educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, with a minor in Statistics from Western Illinois University. In addition, he has spoken at seminars on technical topics for professionals in the pension field, and has also developed and directed in-house employee education programs for pension consulting firms.

John Nielsen
Account Executive

John joined the Bates & Company team in April 2004 bringing over six years of experience in the pension administration field. He previously held the position of Pension Administrator and new employee trainer for a large pension firm in northern California. John has attended numerous educational seminars and workshops, has obtained his PA-1A, PA-1B and Daily Valuation certificates, and is currently working towards his QPA designation through ASPPA.

As an Account Executive with Bates & Company, John’s responsibilities will include handling the annual administration for a block of clients, with an emphasis on financial reconciliation, compliance testing, and preparation of annual reports. John’s attention to detail keeps him current with all new laws and regulations and he is dedicated to providing a professional product and service to every client.

John is married and enjoys spending time with his family, which includes his wife, his two daughters and their black Labrador. He is an avid golfer, enjoys the outdoors, and is a dedicated Oakland Raiders football fan.

Tony Blasini
Consultant

Tony joined Bates and Company in December of 2007 with nearly 20 years of experience in the retirement planning field.

His previous experience includes working as a consultant for a major consulting firm where he specialized in designing and administering qualified and non-qualified retirement plans. Prior to consulting, Tony was the Managing Director of the Trust Department for a major Bank in Puerto Rico, specializing in the design and administration of qualified retirement plans. He has conducted numerous educational seminars and workshops for professionals (CPA’s and Attorneys) as well as conducted thousands of enrollment presentations for plan participants.

Tony’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with a minor in Statistics from Iowa State University. In addition he holds the Qualified Pension Administrator (QPA) and Certified Pension Consultant (CPC) designations from ASPPA as well as his NASD Series 7 Investment License. Currently he is working toward the Charter Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designations.

Tony is married with 2 children and enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf, weight lifting and flying airplanes.

Pat Bauman
Office Manager

Pat joined the Bates & Company team in August 2001. With an AAS degree from SUNY, she has more than 30 years experience in the office administration field, with emphasis on client contact and service. Before moving to Florida in 1994, Pat took part in numerous customer service and time management courses, and has also completed her PA1 A & B courses. In addition to the normal responsibilities as Office Manager, Pat is also responsible for all distribution and loan preparation, final valuation preparation, and client payables and receivables.

Married, with 2 children, Pat enjoys travel and rollerblading, and is an avid PSU, UCF and Steelers football fan.

Holly Harber
Account Executive

Holly joined the Bates & Company, Inc. team in February of 2004. She has over 15 years of combined experience in Financial Analysis, Retirement Plan Administration, and New Business Implementation Management. She graduated from UCF with a Bachelor of Science Business Administration degree in Finance.   

Holly’s experience includes management and administration of daily processing for 401(k), profit sharing and money purchase pension plans. She performed all aspects of New Business Implementation to include the full spectrum of the conversion process for new business retirement plans from “sold” to “live” date. In her current position of Account Executive, Holly is responsible for the financial reconciliation, allocations, compliance testing review, and tax form 5500 filings for a number of clients.  She also helps whenever needed with special projects that arise.   In her past position, she received her NASD Series 6 Investment license and has obtained her PA-1 Pension Administrators Certification, and next would like to work towards her certification as a QPA through ASPPA.

Holly is married and is the mother of two very active boys.  She enjoys spending outdoor time with her family and their 2 dogs, as well as arts and crafts and creating bead jewelry as a hobby.

Susan Norton
Defined Benefit Administrator

Susan joined the Bates & Company team in March of 2005, with over 8 years of experience in defined contribution and defined benefit plans. She received her AA degree from Broward Community College with an emphasis in mathematics and accounting, and is currently working towards her QPA certification through ASPPA. 

Susan works closely with Steve Havel as the Defined Benefit Administrator. She is responsible for client setup, closing package review, and funding verification, as well as plan documents and preparing 5500’s.

A fourth generation Floridian, Susan is a die-hard Miami Dolphins fan. She enjoys playing softball, camping, fishing and spending time with her family, including her dog, Cirrus, and 3 cats, Mama, Broo, and Harrison.

Teressa S. Brunson

Account Executive / Section 125 Plan Specialist

Teressa joined the Bates & Company team in May 2005, bringing over 7 years of experience in the Employee Benefits field, including Cafeteria Plans (Section 125) as well as Retirement Plan administration. She has attended many seminars and workshops in the Employee Benefits field; and is working towards her QPA through ASPPA.

Teressa’s experience includes administration, daily processing and plan design of Retirement Plans and Cafeteria Plans. She also has experience with Plan Document interpretation, restatement and amendments.

Teressa will be responsible for plan set up, and administration for all Cafeteria Plans joining Bates & Company. She will also provide her case load of Retirement Plan clients with the most up to date information and professional service.

Teressa enjoys golf, jogging, home improvements, scuba diving, boating and her dogs Spike and Sasha.

Mark Vukelic
Account Executive

Mark joined Bates & Company, P.A. in July 2007 with over twenty five years experience in Retirement Plan Administration. His previous experience has included Relationship management, consulting and administration for both small and large retirement plans with an emphasis on 401k plans.

Mark obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, with a minor in Mathematics from California State University Northridge.

As an Account Executive with Bates & Company, Mark will be responsible for the financial reconciliation, allocation, compliance testing and 5500 filings for a caseload of clients.

Mark is married with two children and two dogs, and enjoys spending time with his family. He is an avid sports enthusiast and enjoys viewing and participating in basketball, golf and football.

Scott Pennel
Account Executive

Scott joined Bates & Company Inc. in November of 2007 as an Account Executive.  He has over 8 years of experience in the defined contribution field as a 401(k) Plan Administrator at M F S and as a Compliance Analyst at Putnam Investments. 

Scott received his Bachelor of Science in Management from Northeastern University.  He is presently taking classes for the QKA designation from ASPPA.

As an Account Executive, Scott is responsible for the annual administration, compliance testing and preparation of annual reports for his own book of clients.

Scott enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf and is a huge Celtics fan.

Deb Vukelic
Document Coordinator

Born and raised in Hamilton, Scotland, Deb spent 12 years doing Pension administration, Trust accounting and Document implementation before becoming a full-time mother for 18 years. 

With the children grown-up Deb is back in the Pension industry and is responsible for the implementation and upkeep of the Plan Documents.

Married with 2 children, 1 son-in-law, 2 dogs and most recently a new grandson, Logan, born on June 2, 2008.

Deb enjoys playing trivia and golf when not spending time with the ever growing family.

Diana DelVacchio
Receptionist/
Administrative Assistant

Diana joined Bates & Company in May, 2008, bringing over 30 years of experience in Group Insurance, Office and Account Administration. Most recently Diana was a Purchasing Supervisor and Claims Administrator for a distributor of building materials. Her responsibilities at Bates & Company include answering phones and front desk reception, and assisting with numerous projects. Diana looks forward to learning additional aspects of the company’s operations and assisting with them as well. With her eye for detail and organizational skills, Diana hopes to enhance Bates & Company’s efficiency and emphasis on client satisfaction.

Diana also has a background in the fitness industry, as a long-time Aerobics Instructor and Personal Trainer. She still enjoys fitness walking, weight training and swimming.

Diana attended Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, having grown up in the suburbs of that city. She moved to Central Florida 15 years ago to "follow the sun" and met her husband here. Together they enjoy traveling, movies, plays and art exhibits, especially Folk Art. They have begun a small art collection and add to it each time they travel to a new city.

Nikki Moses
Administrative Assistant

Nikki joined the Bates & Company team in May 2008.

Nikki’s experience includes office administration, Customer Service, billing, accounts receivable and accounts payable. She is currently pursuing a degree in Business Administration.

Nikki will be responsible for assisting in the day to day administration for all Defined Contribution Plans. She will provide assistance to the Account Executives to include trust accounting, filing, and data entry. Nikki is looking forward to learning the inner workings of 401k, profit sharing and other pension plans. Her attention to detail and eagerness to learn makes Nikki the ideal individual for the job.

Nikki enjoys spending time with her family, her numerous pets, adding to her extensive collection of shoes and writing fictional stories.