Meet The Upstate Jobs Party Leadership Team

Martin Babinec
Martin BabinecFounder

Martin Babinec founded Silicon Valley based TriNet in 1988, serving as CEO for the company’s first 20 years and Chairman until 2010. TriNet’s cloud based HR services help 14,000+ small to mid sized companies and the company has grown to annual sales of $3 billion and listing on the NYSE.

In 1999, Babinec relocated his family from Silicon Valley to his hometown of Little Falls, NY, where he founded Upstate Venture Connect (non profit dedicated to accelerating growth of startups across Upstate NY), StartFast Venture Accelerator (which invests in and helps grow a cohort of 5-8 startup companies each summer in Central New York), and UpVentures Capital (where he makes direct investments in startup companies and serves as limited partner and advisor to a dozen venture capital and seed funds).

In 2016 Babinec founded the Upstate Jobs Party (UJP) and ran as an independent candidate in New York’s 22nd Congressional District. Advocating policies and private sector engagement to spur job growth, the race earned national recognition as the only congressional race in which an independent candidate was competitive. He continues to lead UJP on a path to earn constituted party status in NY State as a vehicle to influence political discourse in reversing regional population decline.

John Bullis
John BullisChairman
John Bullis, Dean Emeritus, served in leadership positions on two State University of New York community college campuses (Herkimer College and Mohawk Valley Community College) over a career that spanned four decades. His work in community relations, change management, government relations, fundraising, institutional research, and organizational development has had a significant impact on thousands of students. He has been recognized regionally, nationally, and internationally, having received the Genesis Award for Healthcare Leadership, the prestigious SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Professional Service, and the North American Council for Staff, Program, and Organizational Development (NCSPOD) Exemplar Award.

Bullis has earned degrees at Oneonta State College (M.S.); Cortland College (B.A.); and Herkimer College (A.A.), and has completed the program of study in Management Development at Harvard University. In addition to chairing the UJP, he currently serves on the governing boards of Bassett Healthcare Network; The Human Technologies Corporation in Utica; and the Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown.

A proud veteran of the U.S. Navy, Dean Bullis resides with his wife Janet in their solar home on the West Canada Creek in the Town of Fairfield.

Tim Dunn
Tim DunnCommunications Director
For more than 15 years, Timothy Dunn has advised political, business, entrepreneurial, academic and nonprofit leaders on strategic decision-making, branding, and communications. He currently serves as an advisor and consultant on communications, marketing and business strategy to clients in the technology, healthcare, hospitality, real estate, and non profit sectors through his firm Dunn Strategy Group, LLC.

In 2018, Tim launched Dunhill Technology Partners, LLC, a technology commercialization consulting firm developing new projects in New York, and around the country.

Before launching his own firm, Tim led the healthcare and energy practices and advised the technology portfolio for the only marketing firm with offices in Silicon Valley and Tech Valley. Prior to this role, Tim served in leadership roles with the largest industrial business in GE. During this time, Tim advised the Power Generation Products CEO on internal communications strategy for the 8,000 employee business, drove marketing communications for two of the longest-legacy product lines in the company, shepherded the largest product launch in company history and developed the first customer-centric digital strategy development in the business’ history.

Prior to joining GE, Mr. Dunn held roles in high tech economic development, most notably with Mohawk Valley EDGE. Tim led the launch of the Marcy Nanocenter brand, then developed and executed a global business development strategy. While at EDGE, Tim became recognized as a leading voice in the development of the global semiconductor industry, Chaired the 2010 Excelsior Award Committee and was frequently sought out as a speaker on STEM workforce development initiatives.

From 2000 through 2006, Tim served in a variety of roles in New York State government and politics culminating as Director of State Human Services Programs on the leadership staff of Governor George E. Pataki. In that role, he advised the Governor, as well as legislative and agency staff, on a variety of public health and human services policy initiatives.

Tim earned a bachelor degree in Political Science from the University at Albany (SUNY), where he later focused his studies on international marketing in earning an MBA. He has been recognized by the Albany Business Review as a top “40 Under 40” business leader for his business success and commitment to community improvement.

He lives in Malta, NY with his wife, their two young daughters, and a crazy dog that constantly stands guard against any potential threats posed by harmless neighborhood cats.

Paul Allen
Paul AllenLeadership Team
Paul Allen is a life-long resident of Cortland County. He and his wife, Betsy, live in the Town of Cortlandville and have two children – Abby, a Nazareth College graduate, and Blake, who will be a Freshman at SUNY Brockport this fall. Paul has been employed by Eastern, a division of Xerox Corporation, for 24 years. He is a Production Print Specialist who sells digital printing equipment and solutions in the Central New York area. Paul and his wife co-own Cortland Press and Carbon Copies, an offset and digital printing company, and recently, Paul has opened Finger Lakes Plants & Trees, specializing in houseplants and hard-wood trees. Paul has an active background in politics. He has been a Cortland County Republican committee-person for 25 years and has worked on countless campaigns, including currently chairing the Committee to Elect David Alexander as Cortland County Judge. Paul was a member of the NYS Delegation (Alternate Delegate) representing the 22nd Congressional District for the 2016 GOP Convention in Cleveland. He served two terms in the Cortland County Legislature, where he ran on and instituted fundamental changes. He was a key leader who chaired 3 critical committees. Paul is a member of the NYS Open Space Commission, and has been very active on matters of land stewardship and land preservation. He served on the Board of Directors for the Lime Hollow Nature Center for 10 years, including 5 years as chairman. Other past community involvement includes service on the boards of JM Murray Center, Cortland County Community Action Program, Tioughnioga River Trail Commission, Salvation Army and Cortland County YMCA.
Dan O'Sullivan
Dan O'SullivanLeadership Team
Daniel O’Sullivan has over 30 years of general business experience with an entrepreneurial focus on strategic planning, sales, making and business development, executed both inside and outside early and growth-stage technologies companies. As an executive, manager, management consultant and investor, he has been actively involved in founding, funding, and building startup companies. Dan’s expertise is in analyzing markets, identifying opportunities, discovering and defining product-market fit, cultivating early adopters, crafting marketing strategies and positioning, and establishing revenue and sales channels. His entrepreneurial activities have been predominately in software, but have also included both B2B and B2C products and services in other industries as well. Results have included multiple non-starts, failures and successes. He is a mentor steering committee member at the Thought Into Action Entrepreneurship Institute at Colgate University, and is actively involved in working with several software startups in Upstate NY. Dan has been active with the Upstate Jobs Party since its inception.

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