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Bill Mooney Steps Down As Westchester's Economic Development Director

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. - After nearly a decade serving as a key member in Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino’s administration, Director of Economic Development William M. Mooney, III is stepping down from his position to take a job in banking.

Westchester County Director of Economic Development William M. Mooney, III announced his resignation on Friday.

Westchester County Director of Economic Development William M. Mooney, III announced his resignation on Friday.

Photo Credit: Westchestergov.com

On Friday, Mooney told Daily Voice what he told Astorino more than a month ago: he is resigning from the position he has held since June 2014 to become the Senior Vice President Group Director at Signature Bank, based out of White Plains.

With Mooney stepping away, Astorino’s Chief of Staff George Oros is slated to take over as the new Director of the Office of Economic Development. Deputy Communications Director Phil Oliva will become Chief of Staff.

Mooney, a lawyer by practice, began serving his home county in January 2010, when he left the law firm he was a partner at to become the Chief Advisor of Governmental Operations. He took over as the Director of the Office of Economic Development and Acting Executive Director of the Industrial Development Agency (IDA) four years later.

“The opportunity to work here has availed me the opportunity to work in so many different sectors, whether it’s healthcare, real estate development, not-for-profits, or otherwise,” said Mooney, a Yonkers resident. “Now I have this opportunity to work in a field that affords me the ability to touch many of those worlds and industries I’ve worked in.

“That was very appealing to me at this time in my career.”

At Signature Bank, Mooney said he will have his hands in every facet of the industry, from commercial or asset-based lending to more traditional banking services.

“In the last three and a half years as director of economic development, the overall picture was about attracting and retaining businesses, but another thing we do is collaborate, putting things and people together to benefit all involved,” he added. “I’ve been privileged to work in a number of sectors, so this is a unique opportunity to utilize those relationships I’ve established to see if I can help out on the banking side.”

Mooney said that while he will miss the personal relationships and being directly able to benefit his community, he hopes to continue the good work he started in Westchester, just from a seat in his office at Signature Bank.

“The thing I’ll miss most is the ability to serve the public, which is really a wonderful thing. Often, public servants get a bad rap, but there’s a lot of really good people working on behalf of the people of Westchester with the ability to make impact and change,” he added.

“But hopefully, I’ll still be able to do that, just not eh banking side. I’ll still be involved in many of the worlds I worked in and the people I worked with, so hopefully I can still have the ability to make some change for the positive for the people.” 

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