Gov. Paterson taps Dennis Mullen for Upstate post

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), Aug 27, 2008 by Eric Walter

While explaining one of the challenges of his new job, Dennis Mullen asks a listener to consider a recent trip to the pump.

With fuel prices where they are, he asked, have you found yourself shopping around more?

"What you experience in terms of purchasing gas is exactly the same process CEOs go through when looking at whether to invest or where to expand their business," said the 54-year-old president and CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise and the soon-to-be president of the Empire State Development Corp. (ESDC) for Upstate New York.

It will be Mullen's job to determine what key factors play into companies' decisionmaking and to provide the appropriate answers.

Mullen said recently that he expects his job performance to be judged by the same standards that appy to his current role: "The stabilization of existing jobs and businesses in the area and the creation of additional jobs and businesses."

To that end, Mullen is planning a top-to-bottom assessment of the strengths of Upstate's various regions as one of his first courses of action, along with a thorough review of how ESDC works to foster economic development.

Mullen's appointment to the development agency, announced late last week by Gov. David A. Paterson, makes him the second person with Upstate ties named to the position. In June, Paterson named Robert Wilmers, chairman of Buffalo-based M&T Bank, as the new chairman of ESDC.

In addition to Mullen and Wilmers, Paterson also nominated New York City-based Marisa Lago, Citi Markets and Banking's global head of compliance, to the post of Empire State Development Corp.'s president and CEO. Lago and Mullen will report to Wilmers, who will not receive pay. Lago will be paid $215,000 and Mullen will be paid $200,000 per year for their work. A president for ESDC's Downstate operations has yet to be named.

Mullen's appointment so far has met with approval from area business and political leaders, some of whom feared Upstate might not receive enough attention under the relatively new gubernatorial administration.

Rochester Mayor Robert J. Duffy described Mullen as "a tremendous advocate for Upstate."

Formerly an executive in the food manufacturing industry, Mullen served as president and CEO of Birds Eye Foods. While there, he doubled the company's size through several acquisitions.

After taking on the role of the head of GRE, Mullen focused the agency's efforts on highlighting and attracting more of what he sees as Rochester's core assets -- biotechnology, food and beverage manufacturing, optics and green energy. Among his successes was helping to persuade Barilla America to build a $96 million pasta plant in Livingston County, which created 121 jobs.

Mullen said he plans a similar approach for ESDC and expects to spend his first 60 to 90 days assessing Upstate's various regions, and determining their common strengths, before formulating an overall plan. He said he expects to visit each of the regions shortly after his Sept 15. start date.

While it is still too early to make it official, Mullen cited biotechnology, an area in which Syracuse and other communities also are active, as just one example of a cross-regional strengths.

Mullen said he also plans to examine ESDC's established methods of boosting businesses through grants, tax breaks and low-interest loans.

"What people fail to recognize is that New York is not doing anything different from what other states are doing in terms of economic development," he said.

New and more innovative programs may be needed, he said, although he cautioned that it is too early to say what, if any changes, he would like to see.