11/12/2002Time Warner Executive Heads Annual Dinner Lineup
Time Warner division president Mary Cotter will be the featured speaker at the Cortland County Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Awards Dinner November 20. Cotter, nationally recognized for her work in cable television, is responsible for the overall operation of Time Warner’s Central New York division. Cortland is included in that territory. “Mary Cotter is one of the region’s foremost young executives and we couldn’t be happier that she’ll be joining us,” said Chamber Executive Director Garry VanGorder. “Time Warner is an important, innovative member of our business community and I think our members will enjoy hearing about where the company is and what it’s planning for the future.”
Slated for the Cortland Holiday Inn, the Chamber dinner will begin with a 5:30 p.m. hors d'oeuvres reception and wine tasting. Dinner is at 7:00 p.m., and the program will include a silent auction and remarks from Cotter as well as annual awards to top local businesses. A new award this year will recognize outstanding employees at each of the county’s five school districts. Call the Chamber at 756-2814 for details.
Under Cotter’s guidance, Time Warner opened its 110,000 square-foot ”Technology and Customer Service Center” in Syracuse two years ago, a facility housing more than 350 employees and supporting the company’s growing businesses of digital cable, internet access via Road Runner, and telephony. The company’s latest initiative is a 24-hour local news channel that will serve more than 325,000 customers in Central and Northern New York State. The Syracuse channel will be the sixth 24-hour local news operation launched by Time Warner Cable in the country. It will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and will be produced by its own dedicated team of locally and regionally based video journalists who will provide unprecedented coverage of local news, weather and sports. From its Erie Boulevard site near downtown Syracuse, the custom-designed 25,000 square-foot facility will house one of the most technologically advanced television news production facilities in the Northeast.
Cotter began her cable television career in 1978 as marketing and programming director for Rogers Cablesystems in Syracuse. She is a former national marketing director for Eastern Microwave, Inc. and held other management posts at Rogers and Newchannels Corp. before taking the Time Warner job in 1995. An active community citizen, Cotter is a member of the board of directors at Crouse Irving Memorial Hospital, the Hiawatha Seaway Council/Boy Scouts of America, the Loretto Foundation, the Metropolitan Development Association, the Everson Museum, LeMoyne College, Syracuse 20/20, the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, and the Syracuse Skychiefs. A native of Flushing, New York, Cotter attended Skaneateles High School and was graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelors Degree in Music Education.