Woo Hoo! Brent, Christine, Danielle, Joel and Richard!

Five local people have plenty of good reasons for prideful smiles these days.

Richard Avery, Christine Coccimiglio, Danielle Foltz, Brent Lamming and Joel Rowswell have all earned Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designations, as awarded by CMA Ontario.

They were among 1,142 successful candidates recognized during 2011 graduation exercises in Toronto on October 22.

The photo shows Danielle, Brent and Christine at graduation (Richard is not shown and Joel was unable to attend).

Brent and Joel are employed by Essar Steel Algoma Inc.

Christine works with the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation and Danielle is with Great Lakes Power.

Richard is employed by Flakeboard locally.

"As a group and as individuals they represented Sault Ste. Marie with their dedication, knowledge, perseverance, teamwork and professionalism," a reader in the know tells SooToday.com News.

The new CMAs fulfilled certification requirements as mature students who achieved success while working full-time and maintaining family responsibilities.

The CMA Ontario website notes that Certified Management Accountants "are strategic and financial management professionals who combine accounting expertise with professional management skills to provide leadership, innovation, and an integrating perspective to organizational decision-making."