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April 19, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Michael S. Borgos, Chairman


Economic Development Corp.
793-4900

Mark L. Behan, Chairman


EDC Presidential Search Committee
792-3856

Economic Development Corporation Names New Leader


Victoria Pratt Gerbino led regional job creation efforts in three states

A leading economic development executive with experience growing regional


economies in three states has been selected as the new president of the Economic
Development Corporation of Warren County.

Victoria Pratt Gerbino, CEcD, was chosen by the Board of Directors following a
four-month nationwide search. Ms. Gerbino, a native New Yorker, previously
served as the managing director of business development at the Greater Rochester
Enterprise, an economic development agency serving the Rochester-Finger Lakes
region.

Most recently, she was the president of the Greater Wichita Economic
Development Coalition, where her efforts helped attract significant manufacturing
operations, leading the region to achieve a manufacturing employment rate double
the national average.
The Greater Wichita Economic Development Council oversees economic
development across a nine-county region of south-central Kansas, and Wichita has
led the nation in export share of gross metropolitan product (GMP).

“Among a field of very talented candidates, Vicki stood out as an exceptional


leader and catalyst for progress,” said EDC Board Chairman Michael Borgos. “She
has the perfect combination of broad economic development experience, an
understanding of the unique challenges facing Upstate New York, and a passion to
succeed.”

Prior to leading the Greater Wichita EDC, Pratt Gerbino led the Columbia, MO-
based Regional Economic Development, Inc., and served as executive director of
the Orleans (N.Y.) County IDA, between Buffalo and Rochester.

Queensbury Supervisor Dan Stec, chairman of the Warren County Board of


Supervisors, said, “We are excited by Vicki Pratt Gerbino’s appointment and look
forward to working with her to build upon the work EDC already has
accomplished and to seek new opportunities to grow our economy in a smart,
strategic manner.”

Glens Falls Third Ward Supervisor Harold “Bud” Taylor, chairman of the Board of
Supervisors economic development committee, said he was pleased that a
candidate of Ms. Pratt Gerbino’s experience was hired quickly. “The EDC board
found an outstanding candidate in a relatively short period of time. We look
forward to the energy and experience Ms. Pratt Gerbino will bring to helping our
existing businesses grow and attracting new jobs.”

Ms. Pratt Gerbino, a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), and a member of the
International Economic Development Council, succeeds EDC President Len
Fosbrook who retired in December. She and her husband Mark are relocating to
Warren County. She will begin work in early May.

“The Warren County region is well-positioned to add jobs and expand its
economic base, and I look forward to leading that effort with the great team of
community leaders, elected officials, and economic development organizations
already in place,” Ms. Pratt Gerbino said. “The area has seen impressive
redevelopment and growth. I see this as an opportunity to sell an unbeatable
combination of great assets — an excellent, well-trained work force, supportive
local governments and communities, and spectacular quality of life.”
In the last decade, EDC has assisted companies in creating 1,600 new jobs across
Warren County, and provided support for projects totaling more than $300 million
in capital investments and $1 billion in cumulative wage and benefits.

Established in 1999, EDC is a non-profit entity formed by private-sector businesses


and supported by both private and public funding. EDC assists existing and new
businesses in accessing local, state, and federal business development programs,
and markets commercial and industrial properties across the county to prospective
business owners, developers and tenants.

Ms. Pratt Gerbino and her husband Mark are both New York natives. She
graduated from Albion Central High School in Orleans County, N.Y., and the State
University of New York at Buffalo and attended graduate school at Cornell
University. Mark Gerbino is a graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in
Rochester and Keuka College in Penn Yan. He has 35 years’ experience in law
enforcement, including national and international consulting. He served the
Rochester Police Department for more than 30 years and spent the past 2½ years as
a Major with the Savannah (Ga.) Chatham Metro Police Department.

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