Gozza named new head of economic development partnership

Promises new strategy for attracting new businesses

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — A man who spent his career in economic development is now going to try his hand at injecting new life into the economic community of Sullivan County.

Peter Gozza, who in November 2007 lost in his race against lawmaker Jodi Goodman for the seat that represents the Liberty area, has been selected to serve as the new executive director of the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development.

At a news conference at the partnership’s offices on January 31, Suzanne Loughlin, chair of the organization, said that after a national search that lasted several months, “it became clear that the best candidate for the job was living right here in Liberty.”

Gozza told the assembled guests and reporters that his career involved “helping to rebuild cities up and down the East Coast.” He has held economic development positions in various cities, including Toledo, OH, Clearwater, FL and Monroe, MI. Gozza, who grew up in Sullivan County, said his first priority in his new position would be to develop a new strategy to bring new business development to the county.

He said, “I will work with the county, chamber and everyone else to put together a redevelopment strategy. So many times, you put together strategies and plans and everybody wants a Macy’s on Broadway, or everyone wants a Starbucks or whatever, but the reality is you really have to determine what you’re capable of attracting. What is your work force, what is the infrastructure, what’s the excess capacity?”

He recognized that some in the community may be frustrated with the development of a new plan because some would say that with Sullivan County’s 20/20 comprehensive plan, and various other studies and plans generated in the county, it seems there has been an excess of planning. But, he said, “This it totally different. This takes all of those documents, this takes all of the good work that was done in the past and then adds to it, because it’s not just about what we would like to be, it’s about what we can’t expect to be.”

He said if he can secure the necessary resources, it will take nine months to a year to generate the new strategy.

On creating economic development, he said there are essentially two ways to do it: create incentives for it or create an environment that attracts it. After more than 20 years experience, he said he prefers the approach that would create an inviting environment.

He said, “If we’re expecting people to come here and invest in their businesses in Sullivan County, we’ve got to remember these people have families. They’re going to go to school. They’ll want to live in a nice place where there’s entertainment, shopping and everything else. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we can do it.”

Asked specifically about green technology and casinos, Gozza answered, “I think green development is a real opportunity for us; the casino is an opportunity for us to provide a venue that we used to provide. We grew up as tourism and entertainment, and the casino is just another form of it. But what I’d like to do is make sure we don’t think that there are any silver bullets out there.”

Near the end of the half-hour session, Jonathan Rouis, the new county legislative chairman, told the 30 or so community leaders on hand, “Economic development is critical to Sullivan County’s growth … and the county looks forward to working with Mr. Gozza and the partnership to improve the economy.