Bill Daly
JAMESTOWN – The man in charge of economic development in Chautauqua County is retiring later this spring.
Chautauqua County Planning and Economic Development Director Bill Daly – who also serves as the executive director of the county industrial development agency – will be retiring on May 31.
The announcement was made by County Executive Vince Horrigan in a media release that was sent out Monday afternoon. In the release, Horrigan said that Daly notified him of the decision over the weekend. Daly, who is 65 years old, became director on Jan. 1, 2006, after being appointed by then-County Executive Greg Edwards.
As IDA director over the past 8 years, Daly has overseen 54 Business Loans in excess of $14 million, closed on 20 PILOTS with annual tax payments of $11 million and issued $103 million in tax exempt bonds supporting 5 projects valued at over $235 million. According to Horrigan’s media release, the impact of the economic benefits has retained thousands of jobs, brought in hundreds of new jobs, and leveraged over $500 million in private investment in Chautauqua County.
Daly and his department was also criticized in the 2013 county executive race, when democratic candidate Ron Johnson claimed that more than 7,000 jobs were lost in Chautauqua County during his time as executive director of the IDA. As Director of the Chautauqua County Department of Planning and Economic Development, Daly successfully guided the development of award-winning New York State plans such as the County’s Comprehensive plan —Chautauqua 20/20, and the Chautauqua County Greenways Plan, plus the Chautauqua Lake Watershed Management Plan and the Macrophyte Management Strategy.
However, Daly was also involved with keeping several businesses in the area, including the SKF Aeroengine plant, the Weber-Knapp plant and most recently, working on a PILOT agreement with the NRG power plant in Dunkirk.
Horrigan said that he will be looking region-wide for the next director of the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency and that the county will most likely need to hire an interim director until the position is filled.
[…] It was announced in March that current economic development director Bill Daly would be retiring from the position he’s held for the past eight years. His final day on the job is scheduled for May 31. […]