ESDC Upstate Gets a New (Acting) Leader

Lots of shuffling at the state’s major development agency: Ken Schoetz, currently the upstate COO of the Empire State Development Corporation, has today been named acting upstate CEO, according to one person with knowledge of the situation.

Mr. Schoetz’s elevation comes a day after Governor Paterson tapped Robert Wilmers to be the new chairman for the statewide agency (the agency had had a chairman each for upstate and downstate); and upstate chairman Daniel Gundersen resigned.

In a change from the previous structure, Mr. Wilmers will assume more of an ambassadorial role for the agency than the hands-on chairmen of the past, as a statewide CEO will likely take over the day-to-day operations, according to people familiar with discussions. That CEO, for whom a search is under way, will likely be based in New York City, with someone else to be based upstate to handle the day-to-day operations there.