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Downstater named to head ESDC's Upstate push
Feb 07, 2011 9:46 am
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Kenneth Adams has been named the new CEO of the Empire State Development Corp."]
[/caption]Countering most predictions, Gov. Andrew Cuomo turned to a Brooklyn business advocate to run the state's fast-restructuring Empire State Development Corp. for the coming term, which he and Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy have been pushing to retool on a regional basis to help revive long-stagnant parts of the Upstate economy and make the entirety of New York appear more "business friendly." But according to a report in HVBiz.com, business leaders across the state are hailing the selection of Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State Inc., as showing that the state "is open for business." Adams will now face state Senate approval, for which no problem is seen, and serve alongside a separate chairperson for the ESDC, which insiders are predicting will be an Upstater.Adams joined the state Business Council as president and CEO in 2006 after previously serving as president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, where he spent 11 years, and director of the MetroTech Business Improvement District in downtown Brooklyn. He was the founding executive director of New York Cares, New York City’s leading volunteer organization, from 1988 to 1994. Noting a “disconnect” between Albany and the private sector’s heavily taxed business owners, Adams said the state Legislature was “getting in the way” of private-sector job growth “just when we need it most for the recovery of New York state.” Previously, many in the business community were expressing doubts about Cuomo's commitment to Upstate development because of the time it took him to name a new ESDC CEO. Let's see where the complaints come from next...
[/caption]Countering most predictions, Gov. Andrew Cuomo turned to a Brooklyn business advocate to run the state's fast-restructuring Empire State Development Corp. for the coming term, which he and Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy have been pushing to retool on a regional basis to help revive long-stagnant parts of the Upstate economy and make the entirety of New York appear more "business friendly." But according to a report in HVBiz.com, business leaders across the state are hailing the selection of Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State Inc., as showing that the state "is open for business." Adams will now face state Senate approval, for which no problem is seen, and serve alongside a separate chairperson for the ESDC, which insiders are predicting will be an Upstater.Adams joined the state Business Council as president and CEO in 2006 after previously serving as president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, where he spent 11 years, and director of the MetroTech Business Improvement District in downtown Brooklyn. He was the founding executive director of New York Cares, New York City’s leading volunteer organization, from 1988 to 1994. Noting a “disconnect” between Albany and the private sector’s heavily taxed business owners, Adams said the state Legislature was “getting in the way” of private-sector job growth “just when we need it most for the recovery of New York state.” Previously, many in the business community were expressing doubts about Cuomo's commitment to Upstate development because of the time it took him to name a new ESDC CEO. Let's see where the complaints come from next...