Elizabeth Johnson & Risa Hoag Honored For Business Efforts

Legislator Paul Leads Program To Recognize Successful Local

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Entrepreneurs With Deep Community Service Backgrounds

Legislature Also Celebrates Minority and Women Business Enterprise Awareness

 

New City, NY (Dec. 23, 2019) – Two local successful businesswomen with extensive community service backgrounds have been honored for their achievements by the Rockland County Legislature.

Elizabeth A. Johnson, who founded Senior Care Physical Therapy in New City, and Risa B. Hoag, who created GMG Public Relations in Nanuet, were presented with Distinguished Service Awards by Rockland County Legislator Aney Paul.

“These women have achieved tremendous success through hard work, long hours and sheer perseverance,” Legislator Paul said. “Their companies contribute to our local economy and their expertise benefits those who choose their valuable services – be it helping to keep senior citizens well enough to continue living in their own homes or assisting individuals, organizations and other businesses in getting their message out to a targeted audience. We are fortunate that Elizabeth Johnson and Risa Hoag call Rockland County home.”

The Distinguished Service Award is the Legislature’s highest honor. Legislator Paul is chairwoman of the Special Committee on Minority & Women Business Enterprise. She was joined by Rockland County Legislature Chairman Toney L. Earl, and the remaining members of the Committee, Legislators Harriet Cornell, Nancy Low-Hogan and Laurie Santulli.

Elizabeth A. Johnson is a Doctor of Physical Therapy with more than 30 years of experience in geriatric and cardio-pulmonary physical therapy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from Hunter College of the City University of New York, a master’s in cardio-pulmonary physical therapy from New York University, and a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Dr. Johnson began her career as a physical therapist in the acute care hospital setting and later moved to skilled nursing and long-term care. She became chief physical therapist, coordinator, and then director of rehabilitation services in long term care, managing physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and audiology services for more than 25 years.

She has also been a clinical educator for physical therapy students throughout her therapy career and is an advocate for seniors to keep them well in their living environments.

In October 2015, Dr. Johnson created Senior Care Physical Therapy PLLC, an outpatient physical therapy practice in New City, primarily, but not exclusively, for seniors. Her focus is on pain management, fall prevention and safety education, balance and coordination training, strengthening and general conditioning, and restoration of mobility and function. She is a geriatric practitioner and consultant who makes equipment recommendations and home visits when necessary.

Dr. Johnson also serves on the boards of the Martin Luther King Center and the YMCA in Rockland County. She is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Pi Psi Omega Alumni Chapter, the  Associate Chair of the Associates of Jack and Jill of America, Inc., Rockland Orange Chapter, a member of the NAACP in Rockland County, a member of the Silhouettes of the New Rochelle -White Plains Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and an Eastern Star of Poinsettia Chapter No.76, Prince Hall Order of Eastern Stars.

She is married to James F. Johnson, a retired educator from the Yonkers school system. They have one son, Christopher, an honor student at St. George’s University Medical School in Grenada, West Indies.

Risa B. Hoag is President of GMG Public Relations in Nanuet, a marketing and advertising agency she founded in 1991, that is a New York State and a New York City-certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE).

Prior to founding GMG, Hoag was a Director of Public Relations with Ernst & Young, responsible for media placement, writing feature articles and press releases, developing and coordinating special events, market research, and the design and placement of advertising.

Hoag is President of the not-for-profit Rockland Business Women’s Network and received the organization’s Service Woman of the Year Award in 2017. She is co-founder and current Vice President of the Greater Nanuet Chamber of Commerce; board member for Meals on Wheels in Rockland; and a member of the Council for Volunteer NY for Rockland County.

Hoag was selected to be a mentor to female students through the Gerald P. Buccino Center for Leadership Development at Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business. She held numerous board positions with the Westchester Association of Women Business Owners over a 15-year period, including President, and twice received the organization’s President’s Award. She has served on the board of the Orange & Rockland Community Investment Committee, and the Hudson Valley Visiting Pet Program where she performed animal-assisted therapy work with her dog Annie.

Hoag is a seminar leader, presenting numerous public relations, marketing, and social media workshops. She also highlights Rockland’s hardworking entrepreneurs who find time to give back to the community. She is a member of the 2018 Class of Leadership Rockland and was recently honored with the 2019 Lillian Vernon Award for Community Service from the Women’s Enterprise Development Center, a non-profit organization that helps entrepreneurs build their businesses from the ground up.

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