Union leader, engineer appointed to the Nassau IDA board

A union leader and an engineer have been appointed to the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency board by County Executive Bruce Blakeman.

Victor J. LaGreca, president of Eastern States Joint Board, which represents 11,000 workers in six union locals across the country, and Raymond S. Pinto, a business development vice president for the engineering firm Parsons Corp., began their IDA service on Thursday.

The seven-member board consists of business and union leaders, all unpaid volunteers. They serve at the pleasure of the county executive and are confirmed by the county legislature.

The IDA provides tax breaks to expanding businesses in return for job creation and capital investment.

LaGreca told the other board members on Thursday: “In labor, I’ve dealt with a lot of business people … [and] I’ve learned a lot about relationships between the workers and the employers, and I think that will help me a great deal in serving on this board.”

Before he founded Local 298 of the International Union of Allied Novelty and Production Workers, based in Valley Stream, LaGreca served in the NYPD, retiring in 1986 as a lieutenant. He succeeds Christopher S. Fusco, who resigned from the IDA board earlier this year when he was named the county’s labor commissioner by Blakeman.

Fusco, a longtime leader of the Carpenters’ union, said of his 14 years at the IDA: “It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve on this board with so many fine people.”

Pinto said, “I’m happy to serve [on the IDA board] … and I hope to do good work.”

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.