Bridget Gibbons serves as Westchester County Executive George Latimer's Director of Economic Development. In this role, she is focused on attracting and retaining businesses and talent in Westchester. Since the pandemic started, she has focused on providing critical funding, information and crisis advisory programs to help our businesses recover and become more resilient.
Deborah Novick is the Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation within the Westchester County Office of Economic Development, where she identifies opportunities to improve and expand the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem in Westchester. Programs within her portfolio include Launch1000, Westchester RISES, the Element 46 incubator program, the Westchester County Life Sciences Initiative, and the Life Sciences Accelerator program. Prior to joining the County, she was the Director of BioInc@NYMC, the biotechnology incubator at New York Medical College, where she oversaw a doubling of the space, which houses more than 10 startups. Since February 2020, she has been a member of the Board of the Westchester County Association.
Dudley Boden is President and CEO of Magnetic Analysis Corporation which is a manufacturing company supplying primary metals manufacturers around the world with nondestructive testing equipment. Prior to becoming CEO in 2016, Mr. Boden was Vice President of Sales and Marketing, a position he held since joining the company in 2001. Magnetic Analysis has its headquarters in Elmsford, NY with additional manufacturing in Boardman, Ohio and Ostersund, Sweden.
As leader of Westchester County’s largest and most influential business organization, Dr. Gordon brings more than 25 years of community, commerce and leadership experience. Under her leadership, BCW has tripled its membership, developed programs to meet the needs of the County’s diverse business community and become a lead advocate for business and economic development in the region and New York State.
Harold King is the Executive Vice President of the Council of Industry of Southeastern New York, an association of 145 Hudson Valley manufacturing firms which employ more than 16,000 people.
Founded in 1910 it is the mission of the Council of Industry to promote the success of its members firms and their employees. The Council accomplishes this mission through a variety of programs and services that include public policy advocacy, management & employee training and education, professional networking, workforce development and group purchase discounts on essential products and services. Mr. King has served as Executive Vice President of the Council since 1991.
Thom Kleiner has been the Executive Director of the Westchester-Putnam Workforce development Board since 2018. He is responsible for directing all aspects of the workforce development and career center system including program development, staffing, operations, budgeting and fiscal management. He partners with economic development agencies, academic institutions, not for projects and business partners to identify hiring needs and skills gaps and optimizes opportunities for job seekers in Westchester and Putnam counties. Previously he was Hudson Valley Regional Representative for the Commissioner of the NYS Department of Labor and Deputy Director of the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council. Prior to that, he was a seven term Town Supervisor in the Town of Orangetown in Rockland County.
Currently General Manager for Bantam Tools, manufacturer of affordable, precision CNC machines. Ron has a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Manhattan College and an MBA from the Kenan Flagler School of Business. Ron has 25+ years of experience in manufacturing. Ron has led advanced manufacturing initiatives including the building and start-up of state-of-the art manufacturing facilities, applied robotics, automated vision systems, and visual management systems utilizing IoT technology. Ron has also been a Lean-Six Sigma Black Belt.
Justin's experience with Micromold started as a teenager in the 1980's doing odd jobs in production on weekends and in the summers after his father Art and a partner purchased the company from the estate of the founder. After graduating from Bates College he went on to work in book publishing and for a number of interactive marketing and web development agencies. In 2010 he returned to work with and learn from his father and in 2011 he took over as President. Thanks to a talented and dedicated team Justin focuses primarily on developing the company's culture, operating systems, strategy and finances. He enjoys spending his free time with his wife and two children, biking, skiing and sailing.
Michael is an experienced business leader with an extensive background in economic policy and the law. He currently serves as the President and CEO of the Westchester County Association, the region’s leading professional organization dedicated to advancing smart growth and a robust economic environment. Michael formally worked as an energy industry executive, partner at a national public policy firm, and environmental litigator at the U.S. Department of Justice. He has served on the boards of numerous charitable and civic organizations and recently co-chaired the County Executive’s Transition Committee on Economic Development.
Deborah Smook is the co-owner of TurboFil Packaging Machines. Deborah and her husband, Eli Uriel currently co-manage TurboFil. While Eli is the technical visionary with responsibility for both engineering design and production, Debbie takes the lead in sales, marketing, business development, finance and general administration. Deborah has more than a quarter of a century of prior business experience in Business Development, Marketing, Product Management, and Strategic Planning. Her career has been divided about evenly between consulting and industry roles. Prior to joining Eli to form TurboFil, Debbie spent 5 years as the Vice President of True North Partners, a boutique management consulting and advisory company serving the Life Sciences industry. Before joining True North, Debbie was a Director of Strategic Planning for Pfizer in their Medical Devices Division, and a Senior Management Consultant with The Wilkerson Group. She has also held positions in Marketing with Datascope Corp. and Mennen Medical. Debbie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Tufts University and an MBA from The Wharton School.
Oliver Stauffer received his Bachelors of Science degree from the University of Michigan and completed his MBA at Georgetown University. He began his career in analytical and R & D laboratories, with a focus on sensory technologies, physio-chemical measurement and test method development specific to package testing. Stauffer joined PTI in 2005 as a member of the research and development team working on non-destructive testing of high-risk pharmaceutical packaging. In 2006, he joined the sales team as applications engineer for PTI Inspection Systems. He held the position of International Business Development Manager for PTI through 2010, followed by COO through 2015, focusing on global quality solutions for package inspection that provide the highest level of measurement accuracy and reliability. During his time with PTI he has developed several technology platforms, measurement methodologies, and technology patents. In 2016, he was appointed as CEO.
Teresita Wisell has over 30 years of experience in higher education administration. She currently serves as Vice President of Workforce Development and Community Education at Westchester Community College (SUNY). The Division delivers public workforce training, employee training and training-related services to employers, ESL instruction, leisure and enrichment courses and programs supporting community and business engagement.
• Promote awareness of the robustness of the industry
• Promote awareness of the accomplishments of the participants in the industry
• Promote collaboration among participants in the industry
• Highlight the cutting edge research being done here, and assist with connections/partnerships to advance research toward the clinic
• Attract new entrants into the industry, particularly those that can readily collaborate with or support the operations of the existing establishments
• Promotion of local ‘centers of excellence’; areas of specific expertise in which the county has real depth
• Stay up to date on trends in the industry, and needs of the ecosystem/industry participants, so that strategic action can be taken in response to needs that are identified, and WC can capitalize on trends
• Keep the ecosystem map up to date
• Serve as a “brain trust” to the Advanced Manufacturing Industry Desk/concierge service