Martin Babinec

Martin Babinec founded Silicon Valley based TriNet in 1988, serving as CEO for the company’s first twenty years and Chairman until 2010. TriNet’s cloud-based HR services help 14,000+ small to midsize companies, and the company has grown to annual sales of $4 billion and is listed on the NYSE. In 1999, Babinec relocated his family from Silicon Valley to his hometown of Little Falls, New York, where he founded Upstate Venture Connect (nonprofit dedicated to accelerating growth of startups across Upstate New York), StartFast Ventures (seed fund with actively engaged network of entrepreneur mentors and investors), 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 New York State as a vehicle to influence political discourse in reversing regional population decline.