Thomas E. Gillson Named to Direct County Economic Development

CORTLAND - The former director and vice president of the state's Central New York office of economic development has been named the new executive director of the Cortland County Business Development Corporation/Industrial Development Agency.

Thomas E. Gillson, 58, will begin work here January 2, 2008. He replaces Linda Dickerson Hartsock, who accepted a Spitzer administration appointment as director of the Empire State Development Corporation's regional office in Syracuse two months ago. Gillson, who served in that capacity for nine years under Governor Pataki, now works as the office's director of business services.

"Landing Tom Gillson is a coup for Cortland County," says BDC/IDA Chairman Paul Slowey. "He brings to the job experience, integrity, a statewide reputation, and an understanding of the challenges we face and the opportunities we have to move our local economy forward. We're very happy he's agreed to join us."

Gillson's hiring follows an extensive search by the BDC/IDA board and local business leaders. "This is a key leadership position in our county and we didn't want to rush it," Slowey said. "We wanted to get a top-flight person and I think we did that."

A DeWitt native, Gillson first joined ESDC in 1999 after four years as district administrator with the New York State Worker's Compensation Board. As director, he supervised economic development specialists serving Onondaga, Cayuga, Madison, Oswego, and Cortland counties. Over that time, he implemented delivery of more than $50 million in annual program funds to Central New York businesses and served as a liaison between the state and other economic development agencies such as the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board, the Metropolitan Development Association, MACNY, the Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Association, and a host of others. He was named an ESDC vice president in 2003.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for me and I can't wait to get started," Gillson said. "Cortland has a lot to offer."

Gillson worked as a loan officer earlier in his career, and for 12 years owned and operated of Gillson Builders, Inc. He holds a bachelor's degree in business management from the State University of New York Empire State College, has studied for his MBA at Columbia College, and holds a management certification from the Syracuse University School of Management.

Gillson and his wife, Mary Anne, plan to relocate to Cortland sometime after the first of the year.