Governor Cuomo Nominates Eric Gertler to Serve As President, CEO of Empire State Development
Real Estate In-Depth | August 27, 2019
ALBANY—Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced on Aug. 19 the nomination of Eric Gertler to serve as President and CEO of Empire State Development (ESD), New York State’s chief economic development agency.
Gertler, who is currently the Executive Chairman of U.S. News & World Report and has been on the board of ESD since June 2018, will assume his role effective Sept. 3, 2019. He will replace Howard Zemsky, who will remain Chair of the ESD Board.
“Eric is an innovative leader who spent decades at the intersection of business, media and government—making him uniquely suited to run our chief economic development and tourism agency,” Governor Cuomo said. “I’m grateful to Howard for continuing to serve as chairman of the board after a successful term overseeing this administration’s locally-driven economic development strategy and in particular helping turn around Buffalo’s economy and bringing young people back to Upstate cities. New York is the better for his service and the combination of these two fantastic leaders will be dynamite for future growth across the state.”
Incoming President and CEO of Empire State Development Gertler said, “I thank Governor Cuomo for the confidence he is placing in me and for the privilege to serve New York State and its citizens. I have boundless faith in the economic potential of New York State, and I look forward to supporting Governor Cuomo in further strengthening our dynamic economy for this and future generations. As we continue to attract business investment, stimulate new industry, reinforce our existing infrastructure and invest in workforce development, we will build on New York State’s legacy as one of the nation’s most decisive economic engines.”
In addition to his role as Executive Chairman of U.S. News & World Report, Gertler has also overseen Ulysses Ventures, a multi-strategy investment fund based in New York City. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation and as Managing Director of the Center for Economic Transformation under multiple mayoral administrations, where he was responsible for spurring economic development by overseeing more than 100 initiatives and directing hundreds of millions of dollars of city investments into the local economy. Among these initiatives, Gertler spearheaded the city’s $150-million life science fund and associated programs to accelerate the life sciences industry in New York City, oversaw development of the city’s tech platform digital.nyc and expanded the BigApps civic competition.