Kelly Borrello

Editor’s note: With March being designated as Women’s History Month, the OBSERVER is featuring a series of articles on business leaders in the north county region.

SUNSET BAY — In 2018 Sunset Bay Beach Club, Cabana Sam’s and the Sunset Bay Deli were purchased by Kelly Borrello who had managed the locations for 14 years.

But the road to running these businesses started on a much different path, she says. “I went to St. Lawrence for college for math and economics and right out of school I was hired by Chase Lincoln Bank at the time which eventually became Chase Manhattan Bank into their management training program,” Borrello said. “I then moved through a couple different departments and then when they sold their Buffalo branches I moved to M&T Bank and moved up to (vice president) managing people and working all with businesses.”

Borrello said she always worked on the commercial side and that most of her banking career was interacting on the ground with businesses, selling them commercial credit cards, merchant services and such.

Soon leadership changes at Sunset Bay Beach Club piqued her interest and with M&T going through a number of different mergers, Borrello felt it was time for a change. “I became the general manager for all of the entities at Sunset Bay,” Borrello noted. “I was the general manager there for about 14 years before the owner was ready to retire and then we bought them from him.”

In 2019, Borrello and her husband, state Sen. George Borrello, opened Villagio Italiano in Silver Creek adding to their resume of businesses. “I love the freedom. I love my customers, I love my staff,” Borrello said. “My staff ranges in age from 16 to 65, so I love the diversity. I like training the new staff, I like motivating the young staff. In the hospitality industry the freedom to plan events and have customers say, ‘Thanks Kelly, that was a great night,’ that’s just really rewarding to me.”

When asked about what she enjoys most for herself Borrello shared that she’s “more of an operations implementation management person than an entrepreneur.”

“I’m not creative,” Borrello shared. “The combination of being able to do what I love at these businesses along with my husband being an entrepreneur is a big thing for me. We really looked toward the future and seeing this as a way for him to quit his job and go into politics and I can still work really hard for six months of the year and then not as hard for the rest was really appealing.”

Borrello also remains active in the community citing that giving back is a priority. She serves on the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau, the Hanover Chamber of Commerce and is vice president of the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Chautauqua County. She also has a seat on the Local Economic Development group board through the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation while doing a number of benefits and fundraisers at both Cabana Sam’s and the Beach Club.

“I think giving back to the community is very, very important and I think promoting this area is very important which is why the organizations that I tend to align myself with have to do with tourism and children,” she said.