The Innovation Trail is taking a look at the members of the governor's regional economic development councils. Here's what we found.
Methodology
Our reporters brought back short biographies of the folks behind the councils, including campaign contributions in the 2010 gubernatorial election (courtesy of public filings at the State Board of Elections).
The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), at our request, retrieved data about the state lobbying expenditures of council members' employers from a database that they created using Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) information. The also retrieved the party enrollment of council members, where available, from a database that they compiled based on FOIL'ed information (that's accurate as of October of 2010). Bill Mahoney of NYPIRG was instrumental in pulling this information together.
See an error, or want to add more? Let us know.
And without further ado, here's who's who in Central New York.
Regional Co-Chairs
Nancy Cantor is chancellor of Syracuse University. She became the first female chancellor and president of Syracuse University in 2004. SU, one of Syracuse’s anchor institutions, is the metro-area’s second-largest employer with a $900 million dollar budget. Cantor, a native New Yorker has earned a reputation in Syracuse for getting involved off-campus. She’s credited for her involvement in the cradle-to-grave education initiative, Say Yes to Education – she sits on Say Yes’ board - and redevelopment projects on the city’s impoverished West Side. She’s a past chair of the American Association for Higher Education and American Council on Education. She also writes extensively on higher education including, occasionally, for the Huffington Post. Cantor’s also among the top-paid university presidents in the nation, with total compensation totaling $1.4 million in 2008. She serves on the board of Centerstate CEO.
- 2010 gubernatorial campaign contributions: $0
- Total lobbying dollars spent in New York State by SU in 2010: $183,472
- Registered Democrat
Rob M. Simpson is president of CenterState CEO, a native son made-good in Washington D.C. who better yet, returned home eight years ago. Simpson helped create CenterState - the former Metropolitan Development Authority business advocacy group and plain-old-chamber-of-commerce rolled into one. The merger took place shortly after he took the helm and Simpson says today that he considers the organization a “convener” of partnerships between Central New York groups. Simpson has also become an advocate for Syracuse’s downtown and the area’s tech industries. Syracuse’s Post-Standard aptly described him as “professionally optimistic.”
- 2010 gubernatorial campaign contributions: $0
- Unable to determine voter registration
