Dozens of Business and Community Leaders Join in Demanding Immediate Changes to the IDA
KINGSTON, N.Y. – County Executive Pat Ryan along with Ulster County Legislative Chair Dave Donaldson and Chairman of the Ulster County Economic Development Committee, Legislator Brian Cahill, share the concerns of the dozens of businesses and community leaders who are worried about the current direction and leadership of the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency (IDA). County Executive Ryan and Chairman Donaldson jointly called for immediate reforms to the board.
Nearly two dozen letters were delivered to both the County Executive and the Legislature days after County Executive Ryan unveiled his Ulster County Resilience Economic initiative. The primary goal of the initiative is to accelerate and coordinate Ulster County’s economic development efforts in the wake of the pandemic. The plan aims to – Recover, Reopen, and Realign – Ulster County’s economy.
“I have received dozens of letters from business owners and community leaders that have made it clear they do not have confidence in the current leadership of our IDA. This is extremely concerning to me,” County Executive Pat Ryan said. “As I said earlier this week when I outlined my plan to recover, reopen, and realign our local economy: government must move at the speed of business. At this critical moment, we need an IDA that is responsive to the needs of our community and is ready to work collaboratively to get our economy going again. I understand the concerns of the business leaders of Ulster County and agree with them in calling for reforming our IDA to more closely align with its mandate to, ‘advance the job opportunities, general prosperity and long-term economic vitality of Ulster County residents.’”
“In order to have the economic recovery that we need and deserve in Ulster County, we must reform our IDA,” Ulster County Legislative Chairman Dave Donaldson said. “The Ulster County Legislature will work with urgency in order to ensure that we have an IDA that will do the work needed to help our local businesses and grow our economy. In light of the current situation brought on by the pandemic, we must ensure that we have leadership that can meet this critical mandate.”
“It is imperative that those of us charged with Economic Development in Ulster County are working together at all times,” Chairman of the Ulster County Economic Development Committee, Legislator Brian Cahill said. “We must use all available resources during this very difficult time to help our local business community first survive, then prosper. Working as a single purpose entity to support our business community should be our one and only goal.
The mission of the Ulster County IDA is to advance the job opportunities, general prosperity and long-term economic vitality of Ulster County residents by targeting tax incentives, bonding, and other assistance to foster creation and attraction of new business and the retention and expansion of existing business. The Ulster County IDA last met on March 11th.
There are currently 1,338 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 35 fatalities in Ulster County.
For additional information about COVID-19 visit: https://ulstercountyny.gov/coronavirus
Ulster County COVID-19 Hotline: 845-443-8888
845-443-8888 NYS Coronavirus Information Hotline: 888-364-3065
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Photo: County Executive Ryan holds letters from business and community leaders on the IDA.