GREATER ROCHESTER, NY

Claudia Burcke currently serves as Managing Director of Business Development for Greater Rochester Enterprise. Ms. Burcke is responsible for managing relationships with C-Level corporate executives, site selectors, local developers and regional economic development officials in order to attract and retain businesses to the nine-county Greater Rochester Region. In addition, Claudia collaborates with local partners to support innovation, entrepreneurship, job creation and economic growth.

Claudia is a native Rochesterian and is very active in the local community. She is Vice President of Community Relations for the Junior League of Rochester, serves as Secretary for the NextGen Rochester Advisory Board, and is a current board member for the Monroe County Industrial Development Corporation. She is also a member of the RocCity Coalition Advisory Committee and the Monroe County Superintendent's Public Education Advocacy Committee.

Along with these activities, Ms. Burcke volunteers her time to other groups such as the Flower City Habitat for Humanity, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and various volunteer and philanthropic activities through many local organizations such as Rochester Young Professionals, the Salvation Army, Foodlink, Junior Achievement, Lollypop Farm and the Seneca Park Zoo Society. In March 2012, Claudia followed a life-long dream and volunteered at an elephant sanctuary in South Africa through an organization called Edge of Africa.

Ms. Burcke is a member of the United Way Young Leaders Society and the Women's Leadership Council. She was a 2008 Recipient of the Rochester Women's Network "Up and Coming Businesswoman" Award, and a 2011 Recipient of Rochester Business Journals "Forty Under 40" Award. Claudia earned her Bachelors Degree in Political Science and Economics from Western New England College in Springfield, MA.

Winona holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Management and a Masters Degree in Management and Information Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology, and is a graduate of the United Way's African American Leadership Development Program.

Leah George, International Trade Associate

Leah George joined the GRE team in 2012 as an International Trade Associate. A Finger Lakes native, with a passion for the region, Leah spent a decade reporting on the issues, trends and change agents that make the nine-county Rochester Region one of the best places to live, work, get a degree, and raise a family.

Leah was awarded several prestigious honors for her work in television news, including an Edward R. Murrow Award and several National Press Photographers Association Awards (NPPA) for coverage of breaking, news, hard news, in-depth and feature stories.

Leah graduated from SUNY Geneseo with a B.A. in communications, public relations and business. She is an M.B.A. candidate at St. John Fisher College with a concentration in global context.

Leah served as Diversity and Inclusion Lead while at Time Warner Cable's YNN Rochester news division.

She is a volunteer board member at The YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County.

Prior to joining GRE in November 2004, Staci served as Corporate Advertising and Branding Manager for The PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh, PA. During her tenure at PNC, Staci managed marketing programs to reposition PNC's brand as well as promote the company's personal banking, corporate banking and investment services.

Before entering the world of financial services, Staci worked as a Marketing Manager and Advertising Manager at MCI WorldCom in Arlington, VA. She managed numerous broadcast advertising campaigns for MCI Friends & Family as well as other MCI branded services.

Staci's marketing campaigns have garnered industry awards for creativity as well as generating business results.

A Rochester native, Staci holds a Bachelors Degree in Advertising from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Matt Hurlbutt, Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

Matt Hurlbutt serves as Vice President & Chief Operating Officer at Greater Rochester Enterprise with responsibility for attracting new business to Rochester. Matt works directly with corporate executives and national site selectors as they consider locations for investment and job creation. In addition, Matt collaborates with local partners to leverage the region's assets in order to support innovation and economic growth.

Prior to joining GRE in 2008, Matt served as Managing Director of Finger Lakes Wired. Finger Lakes Wired, with RochesterWorks, Inc. as the lead agency, was awarded $15 million through the US Department of Labor's WIRED Initiative in 2006. The partnership represented 21 organizations in the nine county region dedicated to transforming the regional economy.

Matt also served as Executive Director of RochesterWorks, Inc. from 2000 to 2008, where he guided the creation of the non-profit corporation and the workforce development system from concept to implementation, designing its products and services.  

In 2001, Matt was named to the "40 under 40" list by the Rochester Business Journal. He is also a member of Pi Alpha Alpha, the National Honor Society of Public Affairs and Administration. He holds a Master of Public Administration degree from State University of New York College at Brockport and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, State University of New York College at Geneseo.