Garry VanGorder was named executive director of the Cortland County Business Development Corporation and President/CEO of the Cortland County Industrial Development Agency in 2009 after serving eight years as executive director of the Cortland County Chamber of Commerce.
Prior to joining the Chamber, Garry was a staff member of the Metropolitan Development Association, Central New York’s premier regional economic development entity now known as Centerstate CEO. He began his career as a general assignment reporter at newspapers in Pennsylvania, Florida, and New York, and later worked as a communications specialist for Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York.
A Cortland County native, he holds an Associate’s Degree in Journalism from the State University of New York Agricultural and Technical College at Morrisville and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from SUNY Oswego.
Mr. VanGorder is Board Chair for Guthrie Cortland Medical Center, president of the Cortland Regional Sports Council board of directors, board member ex officio of the Cortland Downtown Partnership, a member of the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council, co-chair of the $10 million Cortland Downtown Revitalization Initiative, board member for the Cortland Housing Assistance Council, and a participant in a host of other community initiatives.
Garry and his wife, Valarie, live in Cortland.
