A new leader has been named for 43North, the state funded startup competition, headquartered in the former Trico Building, on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
43North's incoming Executive Director is Alex Gress - a Western New York native.
"I grew up in East Amherst. And went to elementary school at St. Gregory the Great. And Canisius High School. And then went to school in New York at Fordham University," Gress said.
He gained more than 20 years of experience in international finance, capital markets and early stage investment. And Gress worked in New York, London and Toronto before returning to Buffalo, with his wife and three kids, in 2013.
"We've always stayed very close to the area. Always had a chance to kind of watch it grow and see it develop. And we were excited by that," Gress said.
He has experience helping startup companies grow and most recently served as Chief Market Risk Officer at KeyCorp.
"So, for me, when the opportunity at 43North came up it was really a chance to contribute, a chance to really take what has been a really solid foundation here, and take it to its next stage of strategic development," Gress said.
He says that he's "excited about helping accelerate the growth of Buffalo's sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystem." Gress takes the reigns, at 43North, in mid-March.
