Howard Zemsky

President & CEO Empire State Development Corp.

In January 2015, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo nominated Howard Zemsky to serve as president and chief executive of Empire State Development and commissioner of the New York State Department of Economic Development. Empire State Development (ESD) is the chief economic development agency of New York State. Zemsky and his colleagues — more than 450 people working in regional offices around the state — manage a broad range of programs, incentives and services designed to increase private sector investment and job creation in New York. Zemsky works closely with Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul and with the regional co-chairs to successfully implement the plans of the ten regional economic development councils. Previously Zemsky co-chaired the Western New York Regional Economic Development Council and worked on initiatives aimed at revitalizing the upstate economy. A longtime Buffalo business leader, Zemsky’s company, Larkin Development Group, has redeveloped approximately 1 million square feet of historic building space in Buffalo since 2002, with a particular focus on reclaiming Buffalo’s earliest industrial neighborhood, the Larkin Historic District. In recent years, Zemsky has also chaired the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority and the State University of New York’s Buffalo State College Council. He has also served as president of the Richardson Center Corporation, a nonprofit board charged with rehabilitating the 140-year-old Richardson Olmsted Complex. Zemsky has a Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a Master’s degree from the University of Rochester. A Brooklyn native raised on Long Island, he and his wife Leslie are longtime residents of Buffalo, where they’ve raised their three children.