Courtesy of Shelby Schnieder
Shelby Schneider
Shelby Schneider will join the New York State Economic Development Council at a time when she said the local and state governments, along with business partners, are trying to create and implement policy for economic growth, post-pandemic. She is most recently the CEO of the Saratoga County Partnership for Prosperity. She begins the new role mid-July, she said in an interview today.
“I’ve been working with the EDC for many years. I took my basic economic development program with them,” she said in the interview, adding that she is looking forward to working on public policy topics with people she has known in the development community for 20 years.
In her new role, Schneider will help the NYSEDC oversee and implement new initiatives, lead policy development, and identify new strategic partnerships to help the NYSEDC achieve and expand its mission, a statement from the group says. The general mission of the EDC, a private, nonprofit organization, is to be the advocacy arm for its members in the economic development community at the state and federal level .
With all of the federal stimulus money being spent, coupled with the programs that the state and local governments use to disperse and track the money, the group has a lot on its plate, she said.
As CEO of the Prosperity Partnership, she worked on several transformational projects such as the development of the Luther Forest Technology Campus, and the attraction of AMD, which later became GlobalFoundries Fab 8, among others, the press release said.
Although she is leaving her current position after just 17 months, she says the culture at the Partnership is fine.
According to a story in the Albany Business Journal, Saratoga County cut the Partnership’s budget in 2019, which precipitated then-CEO Marty Vanag’s departure. Schneider was named to replace him, and the focus of the Partnership shifted to development in smaller communities, the ABJ story says.
[The partnership helped three communities in northwest Saratoga County develop a marketing strategy, a strategy released last month and reported by FoothillsBusinessDaily.com, read more here.]
“I think the time was definitely right for me to start opening new doors. And this wonderful opportunity was open to me,” she said.
A long-term resident of Saratoga County, she would like to see her children have the opportunity to live and work in the area if they choose, she said. “I wish nothing but the best for the people in our community.”