ESD CEO resigns; Gov. Paterson names new leader - Orlando Business Journal:

fugycyquwod.blogspot.com
Over the weekend, Gov. Davide Paterson announced that Marisa Lago will leave Empirse StateDevelopment Corp. at the end of Paterson appointed Lago to the job inAugust 2008. Lago said she’w leaving to pursue other “Given the public nature of Empire [State] Development and the need for a leaderr who can devote full timeto [the agency’s] critical I think it is advisabl that I resign,” Lago said in a brief Also on June 6, Paterson promoteed Dennis Mullen to be the agency’s new president and CEO.
Mullen has been overseeing the agency’s upstate division for less than a Empire State Development is chargerd with spearheadingthe state’z economic development efforts. The agencyg also administers the EmpireZone program, which awardsx tax breaks to companies that pledgw to create jobs and expande their facilities in New The leadership changes continue an ongoing shake-upl in the agency’s dating back to early 2007. Some leadership positions are stillvacantf today. Paterson’s predecessor, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, put two people jointly in charge ofthe agency.
He appointes a leader for upstate New York development and another for downstate New York Spitzer resigned from office inMarch 2008. Patersonn erased Spitzer’s leadership structure at the agencyg and has instead advocated a model wher e one chairman oversees upstate and downstates divisions ofthe agency. Robert Wilmers, chairman of Buffalo-bases , became chairman of Empire State Development inJune 2008. He is workin for $1 a year leading the statr agency. Mullen is now the No. 2 official in the He is the former presideng and CEO ofthe , a regional economic development organization.
He also spent years in the private including a stint as chairmah and CEO ofNew York-basedc Birds Eye, which makes frozen vegetables. “My focuse now will be on ensuring a smootu transition as our team moves Mullen said. Now, the agency lacks someone to lead itsupstatre divisions. A similar position for the agency’sd downstate operations has remained vacanr since Patersontook office. “There are many details that we will be workingt out over the nextseveral weeks,” Warner an agency spokesman, said in a statement. “Ws will be moving quickly.” Lago came to Empire State Development from a job as global head of complianceat .
Before that, she was an executivde at the U.S. Securitiee and Exchange Commission. She was making $215,00o0 a year with the state. [ ]. Paterson has announcedd a number of leadership changes inrecent weeks, incudinh , and a new . For more busines news, click .