Senator Gipson Announces Lea Bishop as the NYS Senate’s Woman of Distinction Representing the 41st District

For Immediate Release: May 8, 2013
Media Contact: Jonathan Heppner | 845.463.0840 | heppner@nysenate.gov

SENATOR GIPSON ANNOUNCES LEA BISHOP AS THE NYS SENATE’S WOMAN OF DISTINCTION REPRESENTING THE 41ST DISTRICT

ALBANY, NY – Hudson Valley Senator Terry Gipson is pleased to announce that the New York State Senate honored Lea Bishop, Director of the Mid-Hudson Satellite Center of Women’s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC) as a “Woman of Distinction” representing the 41st Senate District. Ms. Bishop, a resident of Hopewell Junction, was recognized during a ceremony on May 7, 2013, in Albany.

“I'm so proud to have Lea Bishop representing our district as a 'Woman of Distinction,'” said Senator Gipson. “Her work empowering entrepreneurs and small business owners, especially women and minorities, is an important part of rebuilding an economy built to last in the Hudson Valley.”

The Women of Distinction program was created as part of the Senate’s celebration of Women’s History Month. In addition, each honoree’s photograph and biography will become part of a special exhibit proclaiming the contributions of these exemplary New York women.

“I want to thank Senator Gipson and the New York State Senate for this wonderful honor,” said Lea Bishop. “I look forward to continuing to work with Senator Gipson to promote entrepreneurship and economic growth in the Hudson Valley.”

Ms. Bishop worked diligently for more than three years to bring a WEDC satellite to the Mid-Hudson Valley. WEDC is a non-profit small business development organization that has been successfully promoting entrepreneurship as a viable means of economic livelihood in Westchester County for the past 15 years. The WEDC Satellite opened in January 2013 with funding from an Economic Development Assistance (EDA) grant. Using the same programs successfully developed in Westchester, the Satellite will provide high quality and affordable business training and resources to both men and women across all stages of business development and of all different business types from throughout the seven counties of the Mid-Hudson Valley.

Prior to her work at WEDC, Ms. Bishop was Director of Small Business Membership and Program Development at the Greater Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce where she was responsible for member recruitment and retention, development, and successful execution of small business programs. Ms. Bishop was also the Project Manager for the Institute for Business Innovation in Poughkeepsie, NY and worked at IBM as both a project manager and computer programmer. Lea is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the House of Hope Domestic Violence Shelter and was also a member of the Access Capital Workgroup, NYS Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council. She received the “New York State Assembly award for volunteer service to Not-for-Profit organizations”. Lea received an MS in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from the University of Virginia and a BS in Mathematics from Wilkes University.

-- CLICK HERE FOR A PUBLISHABLE PHOTOGRAPH --

*In the photo, from left to right, are Senator Terry Gipson, Lea and John Bishop.

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