Frank Rizzo | Democrat Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development President CEO Allan Scott will step down from his position in a month’s time. He will remain CEO of the Industrial Development Agency.

Marc Baez to succeed Allan Scott

Story by Dan Hust
MONTICELLO — June 28, 2013 — Allan Scott acknowledges his “temporary” job as leader of the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development has lasted two years.
“I’ve been the interim president for quite some time,” he admits.
In a month’s time, however, he’ll relinquish that post to a permanent president/CEO and longtime colleague, Marc Baez.
“I think I’ve completed my role there,” Scott says, citing a membership that’s swelled from 80 to near 200.
He will remain as CEO of the county’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA), a $39,000-a-year post which is in addition to his private consulting work.
“I’m looking forward to going back and spending my primary time with the IDA,” the White Lake resident confirms.
“Allan did a yeoman’s job,” Partnership Board Chair and Democrat Publisher Fred Stabbert III says. “He was well-connected and very much in tune with what businesses would fit in what parts of the county.”
Scott is eyeing retirement eventually, however, acknowledging he will be helping train the IDA’s new vice president, Jennifer Flad, until his contract runs out in 2014.
Baez, meanwhile, will step back into a position he left in 2007 to focus on his consulting firm, Baez Associates.
“It was an easy decision to make,” he relates. “I know the business – it’s what I do.”
Baez is also a Sullivan County resident, raising a family in Liberty.
“It’s very important to me that we put our best foot forward,” Baez affirms.
And he gets his chief joy out of positively impacting businesses and employees in or considering coming to the county.
“There’s nothing better to me,” he says, “... to do what you can to provide someone with a career or an income stream.”
He envisions the Partnership as a “one-stop shop for economic development,” with a positive message.
Indeed, despite the harsh economic times and a county still ranking above its Hudson Valley neighbors in unemployment, Baez sees a brightening future, particularly with the Center for Discovery’s massive autism center plans.
“We’re back in the game,” he promises.
Baez (whose salary is still being negotiated) starts full-time on July 10, though he’s worked with Scott in a part-time consulting capacity for much of the past two years.
“Allan did a terrific job,” he affirms.
Stabbert feels Baez will, too.
“Marc has been handling and fielding most of the inquiries,” Stabbert explains. “He’s a very talented guy ... and it’s going to be a seamless transition.”
Scott agrees, though he notes that one of Baez’s biggest challenges will be to determine which local assets to develop in order to make Sullivan more business-attractive.
“There is no shovel-ready site in Sullivan County at all,” Scott relates as an example, noting that existing office/industrial parks don’t yet have all the services companies need to site themselves locally.
“We have a lot of work to do, no question,” Baez admits. “... But I’ve always been about challenges, and I think we can turn this corner.”