Board of Directors
Moishe Gubin
Moishe Gubin, age 47, has served as a Director of the Company and OptimumBank since March 2010. Mr. Gubin is Chief Executive Officer of Strawberry Fields REIT, a real estate holding company, which owns properties in multiple states, and owns many other businesses. From 2004 to 2014, Mr. Gubin was the Chief Financial Officer and manager of Infinity Healthcare Management, LLC, a company engaged in managing skilled nursing facilities and other health care facilities. Mr. Gubin graduated from Touro Liberal Arts and Science College, in New York, New York, with a BS in Accounting and Information Systems and a Minor in Jewish Studies. Mr. Gubin is the founder of the Midwest Torah Center Inc., a non-profit spiritual outreach center (www.midwesttorah.org). He also attended Yeshiva Bais Israel where he received a BA in Talmudic Literature. Mr. Gubin has been a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York since 2010. He also serves as a director of LevelBlox, Inc., an enterprise software company that develops applications for the blockchain.
Joel J. Klein
Joel Klein, age 77, became a Director of the Company and OptimumBank in February 2012. Mr. Klein worked in accounting and finance for more than 41 years, including six years as a CPA in public accounting. From 1989 to 1990, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Choice Drug Systems, Inc., a medical supply company primarily to skilled nursing facilities. From 1991 to 1994, he was a Vice-President of Equilease Corporation, an equipment leasing company. He then served as a Vice President of The Stamford Capital Group, Inc., an independent corporate advisory company, from 1994 to 2005, providing high quality advisory services to medium market clients, particularly mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, management buy outs and other strategic financial advisory services. From 2006 to 2010, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Taxi Affiliation Services, LLC, a taxi company located in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Klein has been a private investor since 2010. Mr. Klein received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Brooklyn College in 1969. He has been licensed as a CPA in the State of New York since 1972.
Thomas A. Procelli
Thomas Procelli, age 69, has served as a Director of the Company since July 25, 2017 and OptimumBank since October 2012. Mr. Procelli is Director of Operations for Better Living Solutions, a Tallahassee counseling and wellness outpatient center specializing in eating disorder treatment and offers financial institution and business support services through his firm TAP Independent Consulting. Mr. Procelli served as an Executive Vice President since the founding of OptimumBank in October 2000 through September 2015 in the positions of Chief Technology Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Procelli has been in banking for over 40 years having a diverse background in operations, information systems, compliance and audit. Outside of banking, he has worked in public accounting at the firm of Coopers and Lybrand and in mortgage origination software product development at Fiserv. He received his MBA in Finance in 1979 and his BBA degree in Accounting in 1976 from Hofstra University located in Hempstead, New York.
Martin Z. Schmidt
Martin Z. Schmidt, age 76, became a Director of the Company and OptimumBank in August 2015. Mr. Schmidt has been in the financial and estate planning, securities and insurance industries since 1975. Since 2013, he has been an independent financial consultant with National Holdings Corp/Gilman Ciocia. In 2007, he served in a marketing capacity and liaison to the national senior accounting firms for Twenty-First Securities, Inc., introducing market based solutions for tax and corporate based problems within their institutional client base. From 1993 to 2000, he served as a Vice President and Branch Manager for multiple branches of Advest, Inc., a major regional securities and investment management firm. Mr. Schmidt served with the 423rd Military Police, U.S. Army Reserve, for five years, completed 3 years of coursework towards an MBA in Management Science and Statistics at the Lubin Graduate School of Business Administration in 1973, and graduated Brooklyn College with a B.A. in Economics in 1969.
Avi M. Zwelling
Avi M. Zwelling, age 51, became a Director of the Company and OptimumBank in December 2017. Mr. Zwelling is the managing partner of Stern Zwelling, LLC, which is located in Boca Raton, Florida. The firm handles commercial litigation, banking, real estate, and trusts and estates matters. Mr. Zwelling graduated from Columbia University in New York, New York, with a B.A. in Comparative Religion, and earned a law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, also in New York, New York. Mr. Zwelling has been providing legal services to the Company since 2012.
Michael Blisko
Michael Blisko, age 48, has served as a Director since May 2021. Mr. Blisko is the Chief Executive Officer for Infinity Healthcare Management, LLC, a company engaged in managing skilled nursing facilities and other health care facilities. Mr. Blisko is currently a director of Strawberry Fields REIT, Inc., an owner of a portfolio of healthcare properties. Mr. Blisko is a principal for a myriad of ancillary companies including United Rx, a long-term pharmacy, Xcel Med, Bella Monte Recovery, and Core Centers Recovery. Currently, Mr. Blisko serves on the Board of Directors for the Indiana Healthcare Association and is on the committee for Post-Acute Care for the American Healthcare Association. Previously, Mr. Blisko was the Chairman of the Regulatory Committee with the Illinois Council for Long Term Care from 2014 to 2016, and was also on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Council of Long Term Care. Mr. Blisko is a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator with a master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Hofstra University and a BA in Talmudic Law from Bais Yisroel, Jerusalem. As a significant shareholder of the Company, Mr. Blisko provides a shareholder perspective to the Board. Mr. Blisko’s experience as an executive of several healthcare companies provides the Board’s with the general management expertise.
Steven Newman
Steven Newman, age 47, became a Director of the Company and OptimumBank in August 2022. Mr. Newman has been an active member of the South Florida business landscape since 1998, starting and managing multiple companies. Mr. Newman is a prolific real estate investor and holds a Florida Real Estate Broker License at The Newman Group, LLC where he is the Chief Executive Officer. There, he and his dedicated team have transacted on hundreds of millions of dollars of real estate. Mr. Newman is the Co-Founder and Chairman of The Board of Freight Factoring Specialists, LLC a middle market, full-service factoring company serving the transportation industry. Mr. Newman received his BA in Sociology from Queens College at the City University of New York in 1998. Mr. Newman has been an active community volunteer and Board Member at multiple organizations and lives in Hollywood with his wonderful wife, Martine and their 3 amazing children.