Linda Dickerson Hartsock
Linda Dickerson Hartsock 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
director of industry collaborations for the SyracuseCenter of Excellence (SyracuseCoE).
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, a Kauffman Enitiative student venture collaboration co-led by Syracuse University with a
coalition of leading upstate colleges and universities
• Startup CenterState programs
• Grants for Growth tech commercialization funding program
• $250,000 Creative Core Emerging Business Competition
• Tech Meetup, a 400-member regional creative tech entrepreneurial network
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 served in the role of President and CEO of the
Cortland 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 2010 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 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 and a board member of the Central New York Technology Development
Organization and the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board. She is a board member of the
Community Foundation of Central New York and Cortland Regional Medical Center.