Chamber head moving to new post
Hector Batista set to leave for prestigious position at City University of New York
BY COLIN MIXSON
He’s heading back to school!
The leader of Brooklyn’s
biggest small-business
booster has accepted a highranking
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 nonfor
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
COURIER L 12 IFE, MAY 17–23, 2019 PS
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 coming days, according
to a spokesman, who
could not say whether a new
president would be appointed
before Batista steps down.
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
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