Blair M. Duncan

NEW YORK CITY—Blair M. Duncan, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone's EVP and COO, has been appointed president and CEO, effective July 1. Kenneth J. Knuckles last month announced he would be retiring from these roles after his 15 years of leadership.

Duncan's responsibilities will include leading UMEZ efforts in economic development throughout Upper Manhattan in the neighborhoods of Central, West and East Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood.

Joseph J. Johnson III, UMEZ board chairman and SVP at Goldman Sachs, notes Duncan has been an integral part of the organization for years. “We are confident that under his leadership, we will continue and expand upon the work that we're doing as an organization to help revitalize the communities of Upper Manhattan while continuing to grow the relationships with small businesses, and more,” says Johnson.

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Betsy Kim

Betsy Kim was the bureau chief, East Coast, and New York City reporter for Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. As a lawyer and journalist, Betsy has worked as the director of editorial and content for LexisNexis Lawyers.com, a TV/multi-media journalist for NBC and CBS affiliated TV stations in the Midwest, and an associate producer at Court TV.