The Center for Economic Growth in Albany announced Tuesday that Martin Babinec will be its keynote speaker at its annual Technology Innovation Awards Luncheon later this month.

While Babinec may be virtually unknown to the average person in Albany, he is a familiar face among local technology start-ups here and across upstate New York.

He’s kind of like the Bill Gates of upstate New York.

Babinec, who calls himself a “venture catalyst,” is the rare example of an upstate New Yorker making it big in Silicon Valley and then returning home to invest his wealth and knowledge.

Babinec grew up in Little Falls in Herkimer County, and made his way to Silicon Valley, where he founded a company called TriNet in 1988 that handles human resource workflow for small- and medium-sized companies.

Babinec was CEO of TriNet until 2008 and served as chairman until 2009. In 2010, he started a Syracuse-based group called Upstate Venture Connect that helps start-up companies across upstate.

It’s unclear how much Babinec, who remains on the TriNet board of directors, made during his career, although he’s certainly worth a lot now on paper.

Back in March, TriNet held its first public offering of stock, raising $240 million on the sale of 15 million shares.

The stock (NYSE: TNET) was sold at $16, but is now trading at more than $26.

Babinec owns roughly 5.4 million TriNet shares, making his stock holdings worth more than $140 million.

It appears that Babinec has been investing his own money into upstate start-up companies, including The Paper Battery Co., the North Greenbush start-up that makes paper-thin ultracapacitors for mobile electronic devices. He also sits on the board of Chequed.com, a Saratoga Springs company that makes human resources software.

Recently Babinec also started a new company called IntroNet that is being run out of the Philadelphia area that helps people make introductions in the corporate and fundraising worlds.

Babinec will speak June 25 at the Century House in Latham for the CEG technology luncheon. The event begins at noon.