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Staff
Linda Dickerson Hartsock
Linda Dickerson Hartsock, Vice President, Innovation and Technology, CenterState CEO
Linda is Vice President, Innovation and Technology Initiatives, for CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity (CEO), a 12-county regional development organization. CenterState CEO leads a regional economic development agenda that includes business expansion, retention and attraction; innovation and entrepreneurship; infrastructure and urban initiatives; workforce and talent initiatives; and regional marketing. She also serves a dual role as Executive Director of The Clean Tech Center, a NYSERDA-funded clean energy incubator, and as director of industry collaborations for the SyracuseCoE, a New York State Center of Excellence in Energy and Environmental Systems.
Linda manages CenterState CEO’s venture development programs such as:
• The Tech Garden, an award-winning incubation and acceleration program
• The Clean Tech Center, a NYSERDA-funded clean energy incubator
• The Student Sandbox, an EDA University Center designed to launch student ventures
Linda was previously a senior member of the state’s economic development team, serving as Central New York Regional Director for Empire State Development Corporation, and also previously as President and CEO of a county Business Development Corporation and Industrial Development Agency. A native of the Hudson Valley, she was President and CEO of Pattern for Progress, the region’s leading policy and development organization, spanning a nine county geography between Manhattan and Albany. She was also a long-time faculty member at Marist College, Poughkeepsie,NY.
She has helped organize regional development efforts across New York State, and structure complex economic and community development projects. She is the recipient of numerous federal and state achievement awards, including the Inaugural Governor’s Quality Communities Award for Excellence, Empire State Development’s Nonprofit Organization of the Year Award, and the U.S. SBA’s Small Business Advocate of the Year Award. She is the winner of the North America Sustainable Enterprise Award from the Institute for Sustainable Development. She has served on numerous state task forces and advisory committees to many governors over the years.
Linda is actively involved with a number of state and regional organizations. She is an executive board member of the New York Business Development Corporation, board member of the Central New York Technology Development Organization and was a long-time board member of the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board. She serves on the business advisory board of the Cornell Center for Life Science Enterprise, Binghamton University’s Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging, (S3IP), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Center for Automation Technologies and Systems (CATS), and the SUNY Oswego Graduate Business School. She is a vice chair of the Community Foundation of Central New York.
Linda can be reached at 315-579-0028 or by email at: Lhartsock@centerstateceo.com
Lynn Hughes, Director of Operations
Lynn Hughes, Director of Operations, joined the Syracuse Technology Garden (STG) as Associate Manager in October 2004. She is responsible for facility and operations management. She is also responsible for organizing all events at STG and represents STG at promotional events and in community outreach.
Lynn is an experienced manager having served as Vice President of Administration with United Way of Central New York. In that role she was responsible for facility management, human resources, and information technology.
Lynn's professional associations include membership with Woman Business Owners Connection (WBOC), South Side Entrepreneurs Association (SSEA), and the Downtown Business Connections networking group. She also represents STG with the Th3 program in downtown Syracuse.
When not managing STG Lynn provides a foster home for dogs waiting for adoption, serves as coordinator of her high school reunion campaign, and assists her entrepreneur brother with his flourishing business Alyn's Emporium in Madison, New York.
Lynn can be reached at 315-474-0910 or email at: lynn@thetechgarden.com
Seth M. Mulligan
Seth M. Mulligan, Director of Venture Development
Seth Mulligan serves as the Director of Venture Development for CenterState CEO. The new position was created to provide high level venture development assistance for early stage entrepreneurs, emerging businesses, and innovation industry leaders.
As Director of Venture Development, Seth assists mentorship efforts to connect emerging businesses and entrepreneurs with resources, subject matter experts and investors. He offers direct support for companies that are part of The Tech Garden,Clean Tech Center, Student Sandbox and CenterState CEO portfolios, and provide technical assistance in developing business plans, marketing plans and funding strategies. He will also actively seek equity investors and develop equity-based programs for funding early stage ventures.
Seth is no stranger to The Tech Garden. He is the President and Founder of GoVo Biofuels, LLC, a start-up biofuels company that has been part of the Clean TechCenter's portfolio. He was previously Executive Director of New York AgriDevelopment Corporation, working on agribusiness development projects in conjunction with ag and food industry partners across New York State. He previously worked for the Metropolitan Development Association, coordinating projects such as Grants for Growth and the Emerging Business Plan competition, and was part of the team that developed and launched "The Creative Core" brand campaign.
Seth holds an MPA degree from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, as well as MPS and undergraduate degrees from Alfred University. He is a member of the steering committee of the "We Live NY Summit" and is actively involved in community engagement projects. He is a dynamic addition to CenterState CEO's Innovation and Entrepreneurship team.
Seth can be reached at 315-579-0024 or by email at: smulligan@centerstateceo.com
John Liddy
John Liddy, Director of Student Venture Development and the Student Sandbox
John serves as director of the Student Sandbox at The Tech Garden and is an instructor at Syracuse University and LeMoyne College. He was also recently selected by the U.S. Small Business Administration as the local instructor for the SBA’s e200 executive education program in Syracuse, NY. The SBA e200 program is a prestigious national program that accepts only C-suite executives from companies that have been in business three years, generating annual revenue between $400,000 and $10 million. Only a handful of communities are selected each year to offer the program, and 18 candidates were accepted in the 2011 program being held in Syracuse this summer.
John’s background is as an operations executive with 20 years of management experience, in a progressive trajectory culminating in a position of general manager with total P&L responsibility for a $300+ million business. His skill sets include entrepreneurship, coaching, strategic planning, operational efficiency, P & L management, financial analysis, organizational development, workflow analysis, multi-site location management, and employee communication.
His career has consisted of both entrepreneurial and managerial work. After earning a B.A. in political science at the University of Vermont, Liddy became a successful entrepreneur, helping develop and launch multiple start-up companies, transforming these projects into revenue-producing businesses. After working on a research and development technology start-up called TextWise, Liddy earned an executive M.B.A. at Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management and advanced his craft by learning the principles of management he used as an entrepreneur. He then joined the corporate world, working as distribution manager and then general manager with Suburban Propane, a public company in the oil and energy industry, before coming back to entrepreneurship in 2009.
John can be reached at 315-560-6622 or by email at: john@thetechgarden.com
Mitchell Paterson
Mitchell Patterson, Managing Director, Emerging Business Portfolio
Mitchell Patterson is the Managing Director for the Emerging Business Portfolio at CenterState CEO. In this role Mitchell manages an IP commercialization fund that has invested more than two million dollars, as well as the investment portfolio of the NY's Creative Core Emerging Business Competition. On top of these efforts Mitchell leads an initiative to attract and develop a network of capital partners from outside of the region to support emerging and existing business growth and attraction.
As CenterState CEO Director of Business Retention and Expansion, Mitchell provides services focused on business expansion and retention; advancing emerging industry sectors; and maximizing the region’s innovation and technology assets. Mitchell provides support for a multi-county regional growth strategy with a network of business leaders, public officials, economic development organizations, and higher educational institutions. He is aggressively seeking to bridge the gap between downstate capital groups and the upstate business community. He is a member of the OnondagaCounty business retention team.
Mitchell is the founder of Syracuse Startup Weekend and a Startup Weekend Facilitator throughout New York State.
Mitchell can be reached at (315) 579-2865 or by e-mail at mpatterson@centerstateceo.com
Tracy Driscoll
Tracy Driscoll, Administrative Specialist
Tracy Driscoll joined The Tech Garden team in 2010 as the Administrative Specialist. She is responsible for the reservation of conference rooms, main office reception and has been dubbed “The Social Media Princess."
After graduating from Le Moyne College in 2008, Tracy spent time working with the NYS Assembly followed by her position with the United Way of Central New York. In her free time, Tracy is the sole proprietor of Tidy Tracy’s Cleaning, her own house sitting/cleaning business.
Tracy can be reached at (315) 474-0910 or by email at tracy@thetechgarden.com
