Longtime leader of Suffolk IDA to retire in June

The executive director of the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency will retire after nearly 40 years with the government agency that grants tax breaks to expanding businesses and housing developments.

Anthony J. Catapano, who has been the IDA’s top staffer since 2014, announced last week that he will step down in June from the $166,000-a-year job. His deputy, Kelly Murphy, was named acting executive director by the agency’s board.

Murphy has served as the IDA's deputy executive director since January 2015 and is a former executive director of the Glen Cove IDA.

Catapano, 63, of Lake Grove, told Newsday that he “is grateful to have played a small role in helping businesses to create jobs in the county. It has been a pleasure to work with the current [IDA] board and past boards, and current staff and past staff."

Catapano announced his retirement at last week's IDA board meeting. The news was received with shock, tears and a standing ovation. 

IDA chairwoman Sarah Lansdale said Catapano "has been instrumental in the creation of tens of thousands of jobs, generation of millions [of dollars] in new tax revenue and played a major role in helping the county’s economy thrive.” She also serves as Suffolk's economic development and planning commissioner. 

Lansdale will lead the four-member committee appointed to find Catapano’s  permanent successor.

Among the projects receiving IDA help during Catapano’s tenure is photocopy and imaging giant Canon U.S.A. Inc.'s headquarters in Melville, the expansion of more than a dozen vitamin and pharmaceutical companies in Hauppauge and new housing developments in Huntington Station.

“Tony is well-respected and known throughout the state," IDA attorney William Wexler told Newsday.

Catapano came to the IDA via a six-month internship as a graduate student in the mid-1980s and found that he enjoyed the work.

“It has been a privilege to go through the ranks of a single organization, which has become increasingly rare in today's environment," Catapano said on Monday. "One of the best parts of the job is visiting a company, touring its factory and hearing about the business issues that they are seeking help with."

IDA executive assistant Daryl Leonette, who has worked with Catapano for 33 years, and bookkeeper Regina Halliday, both praised his management style.

Halliday told Catapano at last week’s meeting, "You always think of everybody and I’m really going to miss you.”

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.