Kirk Gregg – Class of 1977
To those that know him, it was clear early on that Kirk Gregg was destined for future success. His path to success began in high school where he was an excellent athlete and student. After graduating from New Ulm High School in 1977 he attended Bemidji State University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in experimental psychology with a minor in business administration in 1981. Moving on to the University of Minnesota he earned his master’s degree in industrial relations and is a Sloan Fellow from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Kirk took his knowledge and experience from his years in school and began his career in corporate business as a Corporate Director at General Dynamics Corporation. For 11 years he was responsible for executive compensation and benefits as well as executive development and recruiting.
Kirk joined Corning in 1993 as Director of Executive Compensation and has risen steadily up their corporate ladder. In 2002 he became Corning’s Chief Administrative Officer and Chairman of the Three Rivers Development Corporation. In addition, he became Chairman of the New York State Business Council and is Director of PersonalPath Systems Inc. Currently third in command of an eight-billion dollar company, Kirk travels extensively, especially to the Far East where his duties take him. In 2012 Kirk received the Corning Award for Excellence which is the most prestigious award presented by The Business Council of New York State, Inc. Most recently, Kirk has been selected as 2014 Alumni of the Year at Bemidji State University
Kirk understands that to be successful in business and life, one needs to give back to the community. Kirk is Corning’s community arm for assisting in education, workforce development, and economic retention for the Corning area. For 20 years he has been the Corning executive that assists in providing money to and sustaining over 5,000 local Boy Scouts. Since 1994 he has raised over $6,000,000 for the local scouting programs and in 2010 he received the Boy Scouts Distinguished Citizens Award. Kirk also worked for many years on the LPGA Corning Classic charities board which raised millions of dollars for hospitals in New York’s Southern Tier.
Kirk has been called “one of the finest business and civic leaders in New York”. New Ulm is happy to have given him his start.
