Ex-Clinton aide to fill short-term LIA role

Resi Cooper, who served as an aide to former Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, will temporarily be running the Long Island Association's Accelerate Long Island program aimed at developing new companies out of the research done at local laboratories and universities.

Cooper, 41, ran Clinton's Long Island office for five years, ending in 2006, when she became a business consultant. Cooper said she will not be a candidate for the post of executive director at Accelerate Long Island. The association is conducting a nationwide search to fill that job.

The LIA board is expected to approve Cooper's appointment Wednesday, said organization president Kevin Law.

"We didn't want to miss out on any opportunities" while the search for a permanent executive director continues, said Law. "To keep the momentum going we needed someone on board."

It could be months before the executive director's job is filled, said Law. The post is key, since the director will be charged with helping pick technologies from the research institutions that could become companies to help Long Island's recovering economy.

Law had said the LIA received "hundreds" of resumes from around the country. The window for submitting resumes has closed, he said. Now the resumes must be screened to see who best to bring in for an interview.

"We have powerful research institutions, and we need to turn them into profitable companies and jobs," Cooper said.