Wilmers In As State Economic Development Head
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- June
- 5
M&T Bank Corp. Chairman Robert G. Wilmers is expected to be named today as the new chairman of the state’s Empire State Development Corp., according to several sources.
Gov. David Paterson plans to make the announcement 2 p.m. today in Rochester.
Wilmers is expected to be named as an unpaid chairperson and will then name a CEO. Dan Gundersen, commissioner of the D
epartment of Economic Development and as the Chairman of Upstate ESDC, resigned this afternoon amid the expected announcement.
The prospect of Wilmers heading the state’s economic development arm delighted upstate business leaders, who feared Paterson’s plans to change the agency’s structure would hurt the struggling region.
“It’s a very savvy move,†said Andrew Rudnick, president of Buffalo-Niagara Partnership. He’s a “passionate upstate guy, whose businesses are throughout upstate and other states who also has a New York City perspective. And the governor is following through on his expressed committment of maintaining an upstate ecoonomic development priority.â€
Wilmers, 74, has been an upstate success story, building M&T from a bank with $2 million in assets to one with more than $50 billion in his more than 22 years at the helm. He stepped down as president and chief executive officer of M&T Bank in 2005.
Gundersen resigned today, saying in a statement “I want to thank Gov. Paterson for his leadership in working to revitalize the upstate economy by providing $700 million in this year’s budget for new programs.â€
This entry was posted
on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 1:23 pm by Joseph Spector.
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