Robert Simpson ’97 has been chosen by N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo to help lead a new organization tasked with better coordinating economic development opportunities in central New York.
Simpson, president of the Syracuse-based CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity, was named a co-chair of the Central New York Regional Development Council.
The council includes representatives from industry, academia, labor, agriculture and economic development groups from Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties. Ӱ is in Madison County.
Cuomo has created 10 councils to represent different areas of the state. The councils will act as a point of contact for businesses seeking state financial assistance for a jobs-producing project, according to a in The (Syracuse) Post-Standard.
“With the regional councils, we will empower individual areas like central New York to chart their own course for job creation and growth and we will send a clear message that New York is open for business,” Cuomo said Wednesday.
Simpson will co-chair the regional council with Syracuse University chancellor Nancy Cantor.
In his role as president of , Simpson leads a twelve-county business leadership and economic development organization. The organization serves as the region’s primary economic, community and business development catalyst.
Simpson earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at Ӱ and went on to earn a master’s degree in public administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.