February 22, 2009 By David Raths
When Mike Manikowski, the economic development director of Ontario County, N.Y., goes on business retention or recruitment calls, there's one person he rarely leaves behind: the county's CIO.
Manikowski and CIO Ed Hemminger work as a team to promote a technology-driven development strategy for the county, which is located in western New York's Finger Lakes region.
"He's a very collaborative guy, very enthusiastic, and he's a shaper of public opinion," Manikowski said about Hemminger. "He'll go speak to any community group, whether its four people or 400."
To boost broadband infrastructure in underserved parts of the county, Hemminger and Manikowski led county efforts to create a fiber ring. The county established and helped fund the nonprofit Finger Lakes Regional Telecommunications Development Corp. -- with Hemminger as CEO -- to build the fiber ring by 2010 and lease extra capacity to other entities.
Ontario County's story is still a rarity. A CIO seldom becomes the region's chief technology officer -- a de facto role Hemminger took -- who plans how infrastructure investments can boost economic development. But some experts believe there's a leadership vacuum waiting to be filled by confident and ambitious public-sector CIOs.
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