Our Staff
Linda O’Malley, of Vermillion, OH, Director of Marketing, joined Avalon in 2025. She spent a career in banking, retiring as Chief Lending Officer of Buckeye Community Bank, Elyria, OH.
Our Reviewers
William D. Buseck, of Erie, PA, President of Avalon Financial Services, Ltd. ("Avalon") and of W.D. Buseck & Associates, LLC ("WDBA"), has 23 years of loan review experience, He was formerly V.P. and Group Manager Corporate Banking and V.P. Special Assets at PNC Bank, Erie, PA. He is a graduate of Gannon University and of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Delaware.
J. Allan Strange, of Okatie, SC, senior associate, has worked as a turnaround consultant for WDBA since 2010 and as a loan reviewer with WDBA and then with Avalon following a career in commercial banking, last as Vice President Commercial Banking at Huntington Bank, Erie, PA. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and received an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.
Marilyn D. Landis, of Pittsburgh, PA, President of Basic Business Concepts, Pittsburgh, PA, a provider of interim and fractional CFO services, and senior associate at Avalon, has worked as a turnaround consultant for WDBA since 2013 and as a loan review specialist with WDBA and then with Avalon following a career in commercial banking, last as Vice President, First International Bank. She attended Wittenberg University.
Richard L. Sherbondy, Jr., of Erie, PA, senior associate, has worked as a municipal finance consultant at WDBA and as a senior associate at Avalon since retiring in 2019 from a 40-year career at PNC Bank as a Government Banker and Commercial Banking Relationship Manager. He is a graduate of Thiel College.
Max R. Pickard, of Jamestown, NY, senior associate, joined Avalon in 2020 after retiring as Executive Vice President/Chief Lending Officer at Cattaraugus County Bank, Little Valley, NY. He is a graduate of the State University of New York (SUNY Fredonia), and of the Bankers School of Agriculture at Cornell University, and of the Advanced Commercial Lending & Credit Analysis Program at SUNY Buffalo (University of Buffalo).
M. James Merski, CPA, CFE, of Pittsburgh, PA, senior associate, joined Avalon in 2024 after retiring as CFO of Barkan Management Company, Inc., Boston, MA, a real estate management, construction, and development company, and had prior CFO experience in the health care, trucking, and asset management/syndication industries. He had additional experience as a major accounts officer, subsidiary accounts officer, and was a member of the Bank Asset Valuation Review Team at the FDIC. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and received an MBA from the University of South California. He started his career as a staff accountant for PriceWaterhouse and had prior special project experience with Avalon.
Neil R. Hoffman, of Ridgway, PA, joined Avalon in 2025 after retiring in 2024 as Executive Vice President/Chief Credit Officer at Cattaraugus County Bank, Little Valley, NY, where he serves on the Board of Directors. Prior to that, he had a 24-year career with Northwest Bank as a senior manager in commercial lending. He is a graduate of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (now PennWest) and the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Delaware.
Katharine R. Merriam, of Erie, PA, consumer loan review specialist, joined WDBA in 1993 and continued with Avalon in a joint role of office administrator. She obtained a B.A. in Business Management from Michigan State University, and worked many years as a legal secretary and service coordinator.
William G. Salter, of Lakewood, NY, joined Avalon in 2025 as senior associate. He spent 14 years at Chase Lincoln First Bank doing loan review, loan workout, private banking, commercial & retail loan portfolio management, and ended there as Regional President. His next 15 years were spent at Integra Bank and GE Capital doing specialized SBA and USDA lending, equipment leasing, and business acquisition financing. Subsequently, he did turnaround consulting, provided exit strategies for business owners (acquiring a real estate license to facilitate related commercial real estate transactions) and consulting for business acquisitions. He is a graduate of St. John Fisher College and received an MBA from the Rochester Institute of Technology.