Gregory Mattacola

For Mattacola, roads lead back to Rome
Lawyer involved in many community endeavors


By JENNIFER FUSCO
Observer-Dispatch
jbfusco@utica.gannett.com

ROME - Gregory Mattacola used to go fishing every day on the first day of the season with his father. It’s those memories he wanted to relive in his hometown with his own two children, 6-year-old Massimo and 4-year-old Nico.

Mattacola lived in the Buffalo area for several years after he graduated from the University at Buffalo Law School in 1998, and started working at a firm there. In 2003, Mattacola moved back to Rome with his children and wife, Jaclyn, because he wanted to be closer to his extended family.

After relocating, he opened up his own law firm in Rome and became involved with various community activities, including the Rome Rotary Club and the Rome Chamber of Commerce.

Mattacola’s involvement in the community with both his business and volunteer activities, is why Rome Mayor James Brown recommended Mattacola for the 2006 Accent on Excellence Award.

“He saw an opportunity to come back (to Rome) and he did,” Brown said. “He contributes day in and day out. These are the kind of people we want to come back to the community, and he’s a model for that.”
Coming back to Rome to start his business was something Mattacola did with nothing more than a dream in mind. When he began the firm, he only had three files, and business grew from there, he said.

Working and living in the community was not enough for Mattacola - he wanted to give something back with community service groups, he said.

“There’s a need for community members to join these types of organizations,” he said. “Our parents did it when it was their time - and now it’s our time. They did their part to make sure this community stays vibrant and wholesome. Now it’s my duty.”

Joe Riley is a member of the Rome Rotary Club, and also nominated Mattacola for the award. Riley met Mattacola for the first time two years ago, but said he feels like it was yesterday.

Riley had been diagnosed with cancer, and Mattacola was at his house within minutes of finding out.

“When he came over, he wasn’t looking at me like Joe Riley, a client, he was looking at me like Joe Riley, a friend,” Riley said.
When he’s not working as a lawyer, or spending time working for community programs, Mattacola spends a lot of his free time running. In April, he ran in his first 26.2-mile marathon in Nashville.

“It was something I’ve been wanting to do for several years,” he said. “It’s alone time. A time to wipe your mind clear.”

Both Brown and Riley agree that Mattacola’s personality and qualities are what makes him an asset to the community.
“He’s open and honest and he cares about the community,” Brown said. “There are a lot of people that just sit on the sidelines and then there’s the ones that step in and make a difference. That’s what this man has done.”