Furlocity names Hislop CEO

PHOTOGRAPHER: John Cropley

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One of Schenectady’s newest companies has a new leader.

Reid Hislop has replaced Denise Pallozzi as president and CEO of Furlocity, a pet travel and lifestyle website. Pallozzi agreed to move the company, founded in 2012, from San Diego to Schenectady last year, shortly after becoming CEO. It now occupies 3,000 square feet on the ground floor of the New York BizLab, an accelerator for startup and young companies, at 251 State St.

Part of the attraction of Schenectady was StartUp NY, a state business tax-incentive program that offers tax breaks to qualified companies that move to the state and partner with a local college — in this case Schenectady County Community College.

Hislop on Wednesday said the company is trying to expand its scope and workforce. He would not say how many employees it has, but Pallozzi told The Gazette in December it had three full-timers.

Hislop said Furlocity is looking to add to the management team and add expertise in business development, web development and social media. The last two will be important as Furlocity tries to expand itself beyond its current role as a booking agent for travelers who want to bring their pets with them.

Its relationship with Priceline gives it access to 42,000 pet-friendly accommodations, and provides users with data such as fees, amenities and traveler ratings for these hotels.

Hislop said the goal is to expand and make Furlocity a community for “pet parents” — with such resources as databases of providers of services like pet insurance, day care, exercise and grooming — as well as a forum for sharing things such as conversations, videos, photos and news.

“We think that’s all possible via the Furlocity engine,” he said.

He said some of the pet care industry has not caught up with the digital era, and this will help involve them.

Hislop is an Edmonton, Alberta, native who relocated with his job to Colorado and then moved to the Capital Region 10 years ago, where he became vice president of marketing at MapInfo and later vice president of marketing and investor relations at Plug Power. He lives in Clifton Park with his wife and two children.

He said the rapid transition at Furlocity — Pallozzi became CEO only in 2015 — was prompted by a desire for “more robust” leadership.

“Startups go through many, many phases,” he said.