SYRACUSE, N.Y. — MedTech, a Syracuse–based trade association for New York state’s bioscience and medical-technology (bio/med) industry, will soon have a change in leadership.
Jessica Crawford, current president of the nonprofit, told MedTech members in an April 28 email message that she plans on leaving the organization on May 26 and “returning to industry.”
Crawford tells CNYBJ she has accepted a position with Boehringer Ingelheim, a German firm that describes itself on its website as a “research-driven pharmaceutical company.” She’ll relocate to New York City for the position.
The company’s largest U.S. subsidiary, which focuses on pharmaceuticals, is located in Richfield, Connecticut, according to Crawford.
She’ll work in patient advocacy and professional relations in the New York City metro area. Her new job begins shortly after she leaves her MedTech position, Crawford says. She spoke with CNYBJ on May 3.
Crawford came aboard MedTech in October 2012, replacing Heather Erickson, who was president from MedTech’s founding in 2004 until mid-2012.
Crawford previously worked as manager of government affairs for Cicero–based SRC, Inc., a nonprofit research and development company, and its for-profit manufacturing subsidiary SRCTec. She also previously served as external relations manager for the engineering firm O’Brien & Gere of Syracuse and associate director of the Office of Government and Community Relations at Syracuse University.
MedTech’s growth
MedTech is headquartered at the Tech Garden in downtown Syracuse and currently has 100 members. Member companies include Bristol-Myers Squibb, ConMed, Corning, Fisher Scientific, Regeneron, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Welch Allyn, according to the association’s website.
Crawford anticipates that MedTech’s membership will exceed 100 by the end of the organization’s fiscal year, which ends June 30.
The association says that its membership has grown 30 percent in the last five years and it introduced “new and improved” statewide programming, a new industry publication, and an industry cost-savings purchasing consortium.
In the April 28 email message, Crawford attributed MedTech’s “success” to a “collective commitment,” including contributions from membership and staff.
MedTech’s “greater focus on advocacy has also culminated this year” in the state’s $620 million investment to grow a new, life-sciences research cluster in New York, Crawford contended in the email.
“I wouldn’t say it’s just MedTech … It certainly is a collective effort from a number of groups in New York state,” Crawford says in the interview.
“I’m elated and I know a lot of our companies are elated,” she adds. “It’s really nice to see that the state is placing a focus on this high impact industry.”
Crawford called her decision to leave MedTech “bittersweet.”
“I’m so invested in the work that I do and the companies that we represent and the members that I work with … I’m so happy to stay in this industry … that was really a priority for me,” she says.
Crawford is also happy that her new position keeps her in New York state, figuring she’ll continue to have a relationship with “a lot” of the firms that MedTech represents. “Just in a different capacity,” she adds.
MedTech has started a search for Crawford’s successor. In the meantime, the association will continue to operate under the direction of its board of directors and staff.
“We’ll have a comprehensive and very detailed transition plan,” says Crawford.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
PHOTO CAPTION: Jessica Crawford, president of MedTech, who told members in an April 28 email message that she plans to leave the organization on May 26. MedTech is a nonprofit trade association representing New York’s bioscience and medical technology industry. It is headquartered at the Tech Garden in Syracuse. (Photo credit: MedTech website)