Jon Lemelin is stepping down as director of Union College's U-Start incubator in Schenectady.
Lemelin, 43, will be chief technology officer at the Graduate College of Union University, a part-time position. No replacement has been named at U-Start.
Lemelin said he is making the move to simplify his life. That was why he moved to Niskayuna from Sacramento two years ago. At the time, he worked with Deloitte Consulting and was frequently on the road. He moved to the Albany, N.Y., region to open a Deloitte branch here and cut down on his traveling.
“I decided to stop that kind of rat race,” he said.
Not long after setting up Deloitte's office, Lemelin left the company to start his own consulting firm, JCL Consulting LLC and took the 20-hour position as U-Start's director.
He also took on work for the Graduate College.
“I slowly got busier and busier and doing more and more things,” Lemelin said. “I ended up last month realizing I had three half-time jobs. It started taking a toll on my ability to be with my family and enjoy my time on earth.”
Lemelin and his wife Christina have three children, Christopher, 9, Sydney, 7 and 2 1/2-year-old Grace, whom they adopted from China.
Under Lemelin's tenure, U-Start has grown from having four tenant companies to six. And he created a virtual incubator program where clients can receive some of the same services resident companies receive, such as access to business mentors and supplies. There are five companies participating in that program.
“I love what I was doing at the incubator and I think I was really good at it,” he said.
Simon Balint, executive director of the Watervliet Incubator Center at the Watervliet Arsenal and former interim director at RPI's incubator, said Lemelin played a key roll in linking the area incubators together to form a group called the Tech Valley Incubator Network.
“He helped Union and U-Start to connect to other resources around the region,” Balint said.
Lemelin's not just simplifying his work life. He sold his new home for $750,000 and moved into a $400,000 30-year-old house down the street.
“The mortgage and taxes on my new house are less than the taxes on my old house,” he said.
Lemelin said despite the job shift, he will still be working with entrepreneurs and start-up companies. He is starting an entrepreneurship club for graduate students.