The Board of Directors of the Chemung County Industrial Development Agency voted on Thursday, March 28th to appoint Joseph Roman as the Executive Director of the agency and President of Southern Tier Economic Growth. He has more than 20 years experience overseeing economic development projects in the Southern Tier,

County Executive Christopher Moss on Thursday morning introduced Joseph Roman as the new IDA executive director and new president of STEG.

Roman started his career in 1995 with the Tioga County, New York Department of Economic Development and Planning.

For the past several years, Roman has served as Southern Tier regional deputy director for Empire State Development Corp.

He is also a member of the Southport Town Board and deputy town supervisor.

Roman replaces Mike Krusen, who filled both of those roles until he was fired by the new IDA board in January and resigned from STEG on Feb. 28.

Roman obtained a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York College at Geneseo and a master’s degree from the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy in Albany.

He is married with four children and lives in Pine City.

Roman will officially end his role with Empire State Development on Sunday and will begin his new duties Monday.

“What I want to accomplish is to bring business into Chemung County and expand existing businesses in Chemung County,” Roman said. “I want to work on the (First) arena, the Arnot Mall, tourism, housing.

“I also think some really exciting things are happening in Chemung County,” he said. “I’ve got a real good staff. We’re on the cusp of many good developments in the area. There is no step-by-step plan in place. There’s no magic bullet. But we can make it better over time.”