MAX
COURIER L M BR B G IFE, MAY 17–23, 2019 31
Chamber head
to leave post
BY COLIN MIXSON
He’s heading back to
school!
The leader of Brooklyn’s
biggest small-business
booster has accepted
a high-ranking post at
City University of New
York, and will be bidding
bon voyage to Kings
County commerce come
June 28.
Hector Batista, who
became the Brooklyn
Chamber of Commerce’s
fi rst Hispanic president
and chief executive offi
cer when he started in
October, will have served
only seven months as the
head of the borough’s
chief business advocacy
group upon his departure.
But there’s no hard
feelings over the CEO’s
lightening-fast exit, according
to Chamber
Chairwoman Ana Oliveira,
who applauded
Batista’s brief, but effective
leadership, and said
members can look forward
to the announcement
of new programs in
the coming weeks.
“While brief, Hector’s
tenure leaves us even
stronger as an organization
than we were when
he arrived just a few
months ago,” Oliveira
said.
The business honcho
will be leaving to serve as
chief operating offi cer at
one of the country’s largest
public university systems,
which has 24 campuses
across the
city, including
Downtown and
Crown Heights,
and last year
boasted an enrollment
of
more than
274,000 students across
all schools.
As president, Batista
headed each of the Brooklyn
Chamber of Commerce’s
three arms, including
its non-for-profi t
economic development
wing, the Brooklyn Alliance,
and Brooklyn Alliance
Capital, which funneled
federal grants to
Brooklyn mom and pops
in the form of small-business
loans, among other
things.
Batista signed up to
lead Brooklyn Chamber
following an eight-year
stint as the CEO of Big
Brothers Big Sisters, a
non-for-profi t mentorship
program serving
kids in all fi ve boroughs,
where he could also boast
as serving as the fi rst
Hispanic man to hold the
title.
Prior to that, Batista
served Brooklyn at the
Borough President’s offi
ce as director of real
estate for the Brooklyn
Economic Development
Corporation, director of
economic development
and director of development
and fi nance for
nine years, before leaving
Kings County for
city-wide appointment by
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani
as deputy commissioner
and chief operating offi
cer of the Department
of Housing Preservation
and Development.
He replaced Andrew
Hoan as president, who
served in the post
since 2016.
The Chamber
plans on appointing
an interim
president in the
c o m i n g
days.
GRADUATING: Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President
and CEO Hector Batista will quit after seven months in June
to take a top post at CUNY. File photo by Steve Solomonson