George Oros Named Director of Economic Development
John Jordan | April 18, 2017
WHITE PLAINS—Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino announced recently the appointment of George Oros as the new Director of Economic Development. Phil Oliva, the Deputy Director of Communications, succeeded Oros as Chief of Staff. Both appointments were effective March 13.
Oros replaced William Mooney III, who had been with the Astorino administration since 2010 and served since June 2014 as director of economic development and acting executive director of the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency. He left county government to become senior vice president group director at the White Plains office of Signature Bank. Mooney served as chief advisor governmental operations/senior assistant to County Executive Astorino from January 2010 to June 2014. Mooney’s previous civic experience included nearly six years as corporation counsel for the City of Yonkers. The graduate of Villanova University and the Pace University School of Law had also been a partner at the law firms Plunkett & Jaffe PC and McKenna Long and Aldridge, LLP.
“While we are sorry to see Billy leave our county team, I want to take this opportunity to thank him for his commitment and dedicated service and wish him success and happiness in his future endeavors,” Astorino said.
As Director of Economic Development and Special Adviser to the County Executive, Oros will oversee all of the traditional management responsibilities for the Office of Economic Development, the Industrial Development Agency, and the Local Development Corporation. He will also continue to be part of the senior level staff that advises the County Executive and will work on select initiatives and policy matters, such as the public-private partnership proposed for Westchester County Airport, the federal Affordable Housing Settlement, the closing of Indian Point and other projects.
As Chief of Staff, Oliva will oversee the legislative agenda for Westchester at the federal, state and county levels. He will also coordinate intergovernmental relations with municipalities and supervise constituent services.
Prior to joining the administration as Chief of Staff when Astorino took office in January 2010, Oros served 14 years as a county legislator, including being elected Board Chairman and Minority Leader. A lawyer by training, Oros had a private law practice for more than 25 years. He is a graduate of Pace University School of Law and Pace University, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, majoring in marketing.
Mooney told Real Estate In-Depth that during his time leading both the Office of Economic Development and the IDA, the IDA undertook 28 projects that supported more than $1 billion in private sector investment, accounting for more than 6,000 permanent, retained or construction jobs.
Among some of the key projects the county provided assistance to during his tenure included Ginsburg Development’s Harbor Square in Ossining, Lennar Multifamily’s pending redevelopment of the Westchester Pavilion in White Plains, the construction of LCOR’s 55 Bank Street residential development in White Plains, along with Regeneron Pharmaceutical’s expansion projects at the Landmark at Eastview and Dannon’s pending relocation to the Source at White Plains.
“I was particularly privileged and happy to be a part of two transformative public private partnerships in Westchester under County Executive Astorino’s leadership,” Mooney said. “I served as the point person in the development and issuance of the Playland RFP and continued to be a part of the negotiations moving forward. I also served as the point person for the administration on the issuance of the North 60 development and RFP and the negotiations for the development of the lease we hope will be acted upon shortly.”
Editor, Real Estate In-Depth