Shelby Schneider is the Deputy Director of the New York State Economic Development Council. Schneider has over twenty-years of experience working in economic development in Saratoga County. In her most recent role, she served as the President and CEO of the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership leading critical economic and workforce development initiatives across the public and private sectors, driving economic success for residents, businesses and government in Saratoga County, New York.
Over her career she has had the opportunity to work on transformational economic development projects such as the development of the Luther Forest Technology Campus, and the attraction of AMD, which later became GLOBALFOUNDRIES Fab 8. She also served as Empire Zone Coordinator, administering incentive programs on behalf of Saratoga County.
She has also worked extensively with Saratoga County employers and start-ups to assist with business expansion strategies. She also spent over two and a half years managing national marketing for a craft brewery. In that role, she worked with the New York State Brewers Association and National Brewers Association where she advocated on behalf of the industry in Washington and Albany. During that time, she led the creation of a Brewers Training Certificate Program in collaboration with regional breweries, regional workforce investment boards, and Schenectady County Community College to meet the growing need for trained workforce in the craft beverage industry.
Schneider has extensive experience promoting Saratoga County and business assets to the global semiconductor and clean-tech industries. She traveled throughout the US and abroad to industry trade shows and developed an extensive knowledge of the industry and relationships with key industry decision makers and site selectors. She also spearheaded public relations campaigns, which helped garner international and national media exposure for the Saratoga County from The Economist, The Christian Science Monitor, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, the Huffington Post, and others. Schneider’s has been recognized as one of Saratoga Today’s 2020 Women of Influence, the Capital Region Business Review’s 40 under Forty, and 40 Under 40 Rising Stars in Economic Development by Development Counsellors International in 2013.
Schneider currently serves as the Chair of WMHT Public Service Media for Eastern, New York and board member of the Saratoga Arts Council. Her most recent volunteer activities include serving as an appointed member of the Saratoga, Warren, and Washington County Workforce Development Board and an appointment member of the New York State Workforce Investment Board. She has previously served as a director at the Saratoga Springs City Center, the advisory council at Capital Region YMCA’s Camp Chingachgook, and the Children’s Museum of Saratoga.
She earned her BS in Management and Business Administration from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York and is a Leadership Saratoga Alumni. She lives in Wilton with her husband Evan and their four children.
