Wilmers to head Empire State Development Corp.
You’ll recall the hubbub last month when new Governor Paterson announced that he wanted to abandon old Governor Spitzer’s notion to split the Empire State Development Corporation into upstate and downstate entities. He reasoned that New York was one state, and it didn’t make sense to split the state’s economic development agency.
People upstate wrung our hands, wondering whether this meant that Paterson would cede to downstate pressure to jettison Mr. Gundersen and pick some Wall Street type (for instance) to head the agency and thus would upstate lose out yet again.
I guess Governor Paterson heard these concerns:
Robert G. Wilmers, chairman and chief executive officer of Buffalo-based M&T Bank Corp., was tapped Thursday to head Empire State Development Corp., the state’s key economic-development agency.
Gov. David A. Paterson said he selected Wilmers because of his business experience, his outspoken opinions on the steps needed to rejuvenate the state’s economy and his history of “civic engagement.”
“We are serious about this,” Paterson said. “And this is the reason I have asked a person of this type of stature. Normally, it would be unusual to ask someone like this, and normally it would be unusual for someone like this to accept.”
Paterson announced the appointment and other economic-development changes during an afternoon news conference in Rochester City Hall.
He said Wilmers, 74, who will keep his M&T position and be based in Buffalo, will serve as the agency’s voluntary chairman.
I think it’s a great sign that Wilmers, who runs one of the largest companies based in Buffalo, and who is quite outspoken about what’s wrong with New York and how to fix it, has been selected. Fingers crossed, wood knocked upon.
Richard Strongbridge Says:June 6th, 2008 at 8:20 am
I think it’s a win for this area when the man poised to lead ESD is an outspoken critic of the main reasons no new business comes here in the first place—namely Albany and their ridiculous taxes and overbearing beaurocracy.
Greg Says:June 6th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
unless he gets dictatorial powers over the state congress not much will change. the budget will still grow every year and so will the tax burden
Ike Says:June 6th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I don’t think M&T is “one of the largest”, I think it’s absolutely THE largest buffalo-based company, running away
I think only Delaware North is the only other company with multiple billions in annual revenue
Starbuck Says:June 6th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Having Wilmers at ESDC will be like when John Bolton was ambassador to the U.N.
While Greg is right not much can change considering the statewide electorate, it will be good to have someone in that job who speaks truth to power even if the impacts are small.
Gunderson sounded competent but too much a pusher of the company line. Spitzer’s speech here just before his downfall promising to make Upstate NY the “best place in the world to run a business” is the kind of b.s. that hopefully the Paterson-Wilmers approach won’t try to feed us. Upstate NY can never be even the best place in the northeast U.S. to run a business, but it can find some ways to improve or at least stop getting worse and worse than adjacent states. That should be the message and focus.