Carlos Carballada
Commissioner of Neighborhood & Business Development
City of Rochester
When Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy named Carlos Carballada Economic Development Commissioner for the City of Rochester in 2006, he said that he was “an icon in the business community.” He has brought business savvy, success and credibility to the post.
Carballada made his mark in the banking industry where he held key post at M&T Bank, Rochester’s Central Trust Company and First National Bank of Rochester.
Carballada’s name is synonymous not only with success in business but also with educational reform and community service. In 1978, he was elected to the New York State Board of Regents and the first Western New Yorker to serve in an at-large position on the board. By unanimous vote, he was named chancellor and served in that capacity from 1991 to 1994.
His many current and past community service includes: director of the United Negro College Fund, Memorial Art Gallery, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, National Center on Education and the Economy and the Association for Retarded Citizens; Chair of New York State Archives Partnership Trust, Annual United Way/ Red Cross Campaign, Lifespan’s Bridge to the Future Campaign and WXXI Public Television Auction.
The 2010 Hispanic Business Person of the Year summarizes his life philosophy as follows: “It is a philosophy of responsibility, not only to yourself but also to others. It is a responsibility to live the philosophy of right and wrong, not only on Sundays but also in business and in life. And it creates a responsibility to manifest this philosophy in your professional life and in the larger community in which you live.”
A native of Brooklyn and the son of a Spanish father and a Peruvian mother, Carballada moved to Western New York to pursue an education at Canisius College in Buffalo. He lives in Rochester with his wife Virginia.