Michael Bailkin serves as Chairman of SB-EDGe as well as being a senior practitioner. Prior to founding SB-EDGe, Mr. Bailkin was the Managing Partner of Stadtmauer Bailkin LLP and the co-founding Chairman of Stadtmauer Bailkin Biggins, both predecessor or affiliated firms.  Mr. Bailkin has also served in high level public sector economic and community development roles for New York City and New York State.

Mr. Bailkin is recognized as one of the leading practitioners in the U.S. for complex Economic Development Incentives Packages.  Major projects include MetroTech, a multi-phase back office center in Brooklyn; multiple projects for a range of financial services clients such as Citicorp, Chase, Merrill Lynch, Lazard Freres, Cantor Fitzgerald and others; as well as major projects for Hearst, Reuters, NBC, ABC, Conde Nast and similar companies.  Mr. Bailkin also specializes in major rezonings and large scale Urban Redevelopment projects, such as MetroTech, Pfizer's Brooklyn Redevelopment area, Long Island City and Harlem Park.

Mr. Bailkin has been Chairman of the Corporate Outreach Program at The Wharton School's Real Estate Center, a member of the Legislative Committee of the Real Estate Board of New York, and a a member of the National Policy Committee of The Urban Land Institute. He has written and lectured extensively on real estate and economic development and was a contributing editor to the Journal of Real Estate Finance.

Mr. Bailkin graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. in Philosophy from Temple University and received his J.D. and M.A. in Urban Studies from The University of Chicago. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1971. He served in the U.S. Army in Panama and in the Peace Corps in India, where he started the first Urban Community Development Program in Asia.

David Stadtmauer

Mr. Stadtmauer served as Chairman of the Public-Private Sector Development Law Committee of the New York County Lawyers Association and was Founding Director of the U.S.- Russian Economic Development Initiative, Inc. He has frequently taught and lectured at universities and graduate schools on the subject of economic development. Mr. Stadtmauer was awarded a B.A. degree from Yeshiva University. He graduated from New York Law School and was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1961.

Steven P. Polivy, Esq. is the Director of SB-EDGe's specialized legal services as well as Partner of SB-EDGe's law firm affiliate, Akerman Senterfitt Stadtmauer Bailkin.  His practice focuses on economic development, real estate finance and transactional practice. He represents for profit and not-for-profit companies seeking to purchase, expand or redevelop their properties and financial institutions that act as underwriters and lenders both with respect to tax-exempt and mortgage debt for industrial and economic development projects and municipal financing generally. He serves as special counsel to various developers of industrial and municipal projects and has represented the New York City Industrial Development Agency in numerous matters.

Prior to joining the SB-EDGe team, Mr. Polivy served as an Assistant District Attorney for Kings County, New York.  Subsequently, Mr. Polivy joined Baskin & Sears (a predecessor to Berger & Steingut), where he specialized in real estate and public finance. He received a B.A. from Vassar College and a J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University. Mr. Polivy was admitted to the New York State Bar and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York in 1981.

Alan Rubin serves as President of SB-EDGe as well as being a senior practitioner.  Prior to his involvement with SB-EDGe, he was and is a governmental consultant for Akerman Senterfitt.  Mr. Rubin has also served in high level public sector economic and development roles in Florida and Washington, D.C.  Mr. Rubin serves as Vice President for Special Projects at the Beacon Council (the Miami-Dade Economic Development Agency.)  While there, he led major reconstruction efforts after the destructiion of Hurricane Andrew.  He facilitated the economic recovery of small businesses devastated by the storm.  Upon leaving the Beacon Council, he established Defcon Corporation, a premier defense conversion consulting company in partnership with Price Waterhouse and Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette.  Defcon provided econmic studies and financing for cities and counties throughout the United States suffering from disasters, either natural or manmade.

Mr. Rubin has been an advisor for the Clinton Administration on economic development, has spoken at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Disaster Recovery and is featured spokesperson at the National Institute of Installation Developers.  He is also currently on the Board of the U.S. Economic Development Agencies Association.  He is particularly recognized for the redevelopment of South Dade, and the cities of Hartford, Perrine and Florida City, where large scale rezonings and urban redevelopment has occurred.  Mr. Rubin received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Miami.

As Director of SB-EDGe's Industrial Division, Ms. Harte is responsible for structuring, negotiating and implementing economic development strategies and benefits for complex multi-jurisdictional projects. She specializes in a wide range of industrial and distribution projects throughout the U.S.  She has also represented corporations, private real estate developers and public agencies in a wide range of transactions, both in domestic and international markets. Ms. Harte has nationally represented clients such as Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Wis-pak, Dow Chemical, Royal Indemnity, Georgeson Shareholders, Topps, Nikko Securities, Global Consulting, First Industrial, Insignia/ESG, the Witkoff Group and Maytag.

Ms. Harte rejoined SB-EDGe from Grant Thornton LLP where she was the Director of the National Incentives Practice. Prior to that, Ms. Harte served as Director of Industry Development for New York State's Empire State Development Corp., Ms. Harte structured State incentive packages for large-scale development and retention projects, such as the Reuters HQ Times Square development and Governor Pataki's strategic economic development agenda. 

Ms. Harte began her legal career with LeBoeuf Lamb's Washington D.C. office. She received a Juris Doctorate degree from the George Mason University School of Law & Economics program in 1990, and graduated from the University of Richmond in 1987. She recently obtained a Masters Degree in Corporate Real Estate. Ms. Harte is a Member of the Virginia State Bar, and is a past President of the Foreign Lawyers' Bar Association in Tokyo.

The SB-EDGe Collaborative brings together a "Critical Mass' of the leading professionals in the Economic Development Incentives, Zoning/Land Use and related fields to enable SB-EDGe to deliver the most integrated and value creation packages in any jurisdiction in the U.S. The very best practitioners in these fields are those who are principals in small, specialized firms. While these types of professionals generally practice on their own, a selected group of leading experts have committed to participate on a national and global basis as Strategic Partners in the SB-EDGe Collaborative. This approach makes available to our clients and co-service providers the most extensive and intensive talent base found anywhere in the U.S. or globally.

Howard A. Zipser is both SB-EDGe's Co-Director of Zoning/Land Use Division and a Partner of SB-EDGe's law firm affiliate Akerman Senterfitt Stadtmauer Bailkin LLP.  He concentrates his practice in the area of land use, zoning and landmarks regulation and has worked on many of the largest and most  complicated zoning approvals in New York City.  He has represented many prominent not-for-profit educational institutions and hospitals in the land use and real estate development process.  Prior to joining the SB-EDGe team, he was a partner at Rosenman and Colin.

Mr. Zipser is a member of the Board of Directors of Citizens Housing and Planning Council, and former Chairman of the Zoning Committee of the Real Property Law Section of the New York County Lawyers Association.  He is also on the National Advisory Board for the National Institute for Citizen Education and the Law.  He was a lecturer in Real Estate Property Law at the New York University Real Estate Institute and has lectured at Pratt Institute, Yale University and Columbia School of Architecture.

Mr. Zipser received his B.A. from the Johns Hopkins University in 1962, and his J.D. and LL.M. in Urban Affairs, Planning and Zoning from Washington University School of Law, in 1966 and 1968, respectively.

Jason Kaye is Vice President of SB-EDGe, where he works on a variety of projects ranging from analyzing and packaging economic incentives to managing zoning/land use matters as well as providing real estate advisory services to companies and developers.  Prior to joining SB-EDGe, Mr. Kaye worked in the Real Estate Development Department of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where he focused on pre-development feasibility of city-owned land as well as strategies to encourage retail development in underserved areas.

Mr. Kaye graduated, Magna Cum Laude, from Binghamton University with a B.A. with Honors in Political Science.  He also received a Master of Regional Planning from Cornell University, with concentrations in Economic Development and Real Estate.  Mr. Kaye is a member of the Urban Land Institute and serves on the Economic Development Committee of the American Planning Association’s NY Metro Chapter.

• Crowe Deegan LLP, the leading Economic Development Incentives and Zoning/Land Use firm on Long Island.
• Ed Arace (President, Arace & Company Consultants LLP and formerly Regional Director of the Hudson Valley for the Empire State Development Corporation), with particular focus on Hudson Valley.
• Lawrence E. Dwyer (President, Leader Associates and formely President of the Westchester County Assocation) with particular focus on Westchester County.
• Robert S. Powell (President, Nassau Capital Advisors LLC and formerly Executive Director of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and President of DKM Properties) with particular focus on New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
• Paul Travis (President, Washington Square Partners and formerly Executive Vice President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation and Executive Vice-President of Forest City Ratner).

• Akerman Senterfitt Stadtmauer Bailkin, the leading Economic Development Incentives firm in New York City and one of the city's most creative Zoning/LandUse operations.  A national law firm with over 500 lawyers and consultants. Akerman provides specialized services in real estate, public policy and lobbying at national and state and local levels, and zoning/land use. This firm includes all of the professionals that were part of Stadtmauer Bailkin LLP, which recently merged into Akerman.   Akerman's participation in SB-EDGe is coordinated by Alan Rubin, the Governmental Consultant of Akerman's Public Policy Group.
• Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP is recognized as one of the largest and most comprehensive specialized accounting firms in the nation.  Anchin's participation is  coordinated by Richard V. Imprescia, Executive Director of Anchin Business Economic Development Services.  In addition to traditional audit and tax services, Anchin combines the economic development expertise of former government officials along with the financial expertise of its transactional real estate accountants and tax consultants who provide clients with a comprehensive strategic policy and tax perspective that allows them to maximize business incentives and tax benefits.
• Keith Coe (President, Valley Forge Investment Corporation and Managing Director of the Plasencia Group) who provides a full range of hotel services as well as zoning/land use and development services throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region and Louis Plasencia (Founder & Chairman of the Plasencia Group).
• Donald P. Cogsville (CEO, The Cogsville Group LLC and formerly CEO of Renaissance Capital Holdings LLC), with focus on development projects in urban areas.
• Louis Fortunoff (President of Louis Fortunoff Development LLC and formerly Executive Vice President of Fortunoff), with particular focus on retail operations and retail development in Long Island, Westchester County and New Jersey.
• Luke Rich (Chairman, Asian Development Group Corporation and formerly Regional Director for the Empire State Development Corporation for Upstate New York).
• Robert Wolf (President, Germania Corporation and formerly Chairman of the California Transportation Commission), who is the West Coast's leading practitioner of Economic Development Incentives and Zoning/Land Use.