CNY TDO announces upcoming Trachtenberg retirement, leadership changes

SALINA, N.Y. — The Central New York Technology Development Organization (TDO) has announced president and CEO Robert Trachtenberg plans to retire Jan. 15.

Trachtenberg has served in the top position for almost 20 years, leading TDO as it supported manufacturers and high-tech entrepreneurs.

TDO made the announcement in a news release issued Friday.

In addition, Bob Wrona, who leads the TWI Institute, plans to retire Dec. 31.

The TWI Institute, a TDO business unit, provides training-within-industry services globally and employs four people and several contractors, which help support the TDO, the organization said in the release.

Besides the retirements of Trachtenberg and Wrona, TDO also announced the promotion of Scott Curtis to president of TDO’s TWI Institute and CEO of the overall TDO organization.

The nonprofit also promoted Cindy Oehmigen to president of TDO’s NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and NYSTAR regional technology development centers.

NIST is short for National Institute of Standards and Technology, a non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, which works to “promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology,” according to its website.

Curtis joined TDO in 2012 as the executive director of the TWI Institute and focused on expanding its global presence and revenue.

Previously, Curtis served as plant manager for the Homer location of Rochester–based Albany International. He also held operations-management positions with Mobil Chemical (now part of Lake Forest, Ill.–based Pactiv, LLC). Pactiv operates New York locations in Canandaigua and Plattsburgh, according to the firm’s website.

Curtis also held an operations-management position with Huhtamaki Consumer Packaging, which operates a facility in Fulton.

Oehmigen has been with TDO since 2005, most recently serving as director of the MEP Center and leading TDO’s team supporting growth of manufacturers and technology businesses in Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties, according to the news release.

Previously, Oehmigen held management positions with Cooper Crouse-Hinds (now part of Dublin–based Eaton Corp.), Carrier Corporation, and Loretto, a Syracuse–based network of agencies providing long-term care services for older adults in Central New York.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

Eric Reinhardt: