NEW SCOTLAND – John Egan is looking forward to helping out "the little guy and gal." He used to be one.

Egan has just been appointed by Governor Eliot Spitzer to act as commissioner of the Office of General Services, which rents hundreds of millions of dollars of space annually. Egan also held the post from 1960 to 1989.

Egan, now in his 70s, grew up in Dannemora, in Clinton County, with his parents, six sisters, and his brother. His father worked at the Clinton Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison – the town industry, said Egan. His mother was a homemaker.

Egan, himself, went to work in the boiler room at the prison when he was 18. He worked there for 10 years, and served in the United States Army during that time, he said.

It has been more than 40 years since Egan left the small town in the North Country where he grew up, but, he says, it is still home to him.
His upbringing makes it easy for Egan to relate to the people "that maybe sit in the back row, and seldom get recognized," he said.
"It all comes down to the human condition – that’s what government is all about," Egan told The Enterprise.
"I came into public service to make things better for people," he said.

He moved to the Albany area in 1960, and has lived in New Scotland for 25 years. He has since worked under five governors. In addition to his commissioner post, Egan also served as the executive director of the New York State Dormitory Authority, and as commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation.

He is also the president of the Renaissance Corporation of Albany, a charitable organization that is dedicated to establishing education and medical facilities. Egan will oversee the completion of a 21-acre University Heights project, which will combine the resources of Albany College of Pharmacy, Albany Law School, Albany Medical College, and the Sage Colleges.

Egan serves as the chairman of the Harriman Research and Technology Development Corporation, which is re-developing the campus he originally helped build for modern technology. He also serves as executive director of the New York State Task Force on High Speed Rail, and has overseen developments for improvements to the state rail system.
Egan was the chief executive officer of the Albany airport from 1995 to 2003. When he started, "The airport was a dismal place," Egan told The Enterprise. He rebuilt it, constructing a new terminal, parking garage, air traffic-control tower, cargo facility, and New York State Police Executive Hangar. The total cost for the project was $262 million; Egan was able to finish the project ahead of schedule, and under budget.
Airports can often be unpleasant, with lengthy layovers, delayed flights, and crowded terminals. Egan helped to create "a pleasant environment" at the Albany airport, he said, installing an art gallery on the third level.
"Artists need to be shown to survive," Egan said. There are great artists around the Capital Region, and the art gallery provides a venue for their work to be displayed, he said.

The job
The Office of General Services, Egan said, "is the most diversified agency in state government." OGS manages 19.5 million square feet of building space throughout the state, and leases 16.5 million square feet of space, he said.
A primary function of the department is to make government run more efficiently, Egan said. His appointment to head the OGS is "an opportunity to do the things we came in to do" to help the little guy and gal," Egan told The Enterprise.

OGS was created nearly a half-century ago, in 1960, with Egan at the helm and modeled after the Federal General Services Administration. The mission of the agency is to ensure that the state functions optimally. It employs about 2,000 people.

In 2006, OGS sold properties that generated $25 million in revenue for the state, and it brought in $224 million in rent from leased space.

During his first run as commissioner of OGS, Egan built part of the Gore mountain ski center, along with 26 prisons throughout the state, and was part of a team that built the Empire State Plaza in Albany.
Although prisons provide good jobs and industry for towns such as Dannemora, Egan said, "Prisons represent failure – on the part of the individual, and on the part of society."
In running a large agency, Egan said, "It’s people who make a difference. People who have a good morale will be more productive" If you work hard, you’ll be lucky."
Egan said that Governor Nelson Rockefeller – the first governor Egan worked under – had a notion that "art should complement architecture." "Where we have built buildings, we have carried out that notion," he said.

The Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany is a significant portrayal of art complementing architecture. It holds nearly 100 pieces of artwork at a value of $80 million, Egan said.

Egan’s office sits on the 41st floor of the tallest building in the state outside of New York City – the Erastus Corning II Building on the plaza. From his office window, the Catskills and the Helderbergs provide the backdrop for a stunning view.
But he appreciates more than the view. Egan has always been surrounded by outstanding people, he said. "My staff is the best."
Though Egan stays busy with his involvement in various agencies, he said, "Family is my primary interest. Family is what sustains all of us."
Egan has spent the last "fifty-some-odd" years in a "long-lasting honeymoon" with his wife, Ginny, whom he met on a blind date after he came out of the Army. They have four children.

In his free time, Egan said that he enjoys restoring old farm equipment, mostly tractors and farm trucks.
"It’s therapeutic," he said of his pastime. Egan lives in the rural northeast quadrant of New Scotland. The rural character of town is one of the qualities that Egan likes most, he said.

Egan chaired the New Scotland Residents Planning Advisory Committee that drafted a master plan for the Route 85 and 85 A corridor.
"There’s never enough time with your family," Egan said. "You have to guard that preciously."
"We’re simple, not complicated," Egan said with a friendly smile.