Last month, the Montgomery IDA appointed a new executive director to its team: Vincent Rouhotas, a former electrician and CCA member who is eager to contribute his construction and business expertise to the board.

Rouhotas is a lifelong Orange County resident from the City of Newburgh who graduated from the Newburgh Free Academy in 2009. In 2015, he became an electrician for IBEW Local 363, a Hudson Valley electrician union. Rouhotas resigned from the union in 2019 after a car accident in 2018 made it harder for him to continue doing physical labor. Fortunately, his former manager offered him a new job: membership coordinator of the Construction Contractors Association of Hudson Valley.

“I’ve always been interested in working with my hands, so I became an electrician and I loved it a lot. Unfortunately, I was in a car accident in 2018, which led me to step away from manual labor,” he said. “That’s when I met my former boss and mentor, Alan Seidman, at the CCA, and he gave me a shot working with his office and doing business development.”

Between 2022 and 2024, Rouhotas served as a representative for the CCA at networking events and recruited new members through union construction contractors, engineering and law firms, and banks. He also assisted Alan Seidman, the CCA’s executive director, with labor management and negotiated fair contracts between local unions and construction contractors. While the transition from an electrician to membership coordinator was initially challenging, Rouhotas enjoyed his two years working in the CCA’s business development.

“Business development wasn’t in my plan when I was working as an electrician. I only envisioned my career being an electrician,” he said. “Rerouting my career path, diving into the business development world, and attacking it head-on was probably the biggest challenge I’ve taken on.”

Through his networking with the Orange County Partnership, Rouhotas discovered that the Town of Montgomery was looking for a new IDA executive director, a position that piqued his interest. After researching the town and acing the application process, he was hired and officially began working two weeks ago.

“It’s been great, I’m really enjoying it. I’ve been getting out there, meeting a lot of our local leaders, and working together with our town board, planning board, and Town Supervisor Steve Brescia,” he said. “I’ve been getting acclimated over the past two weeks, getting up to speed on the current projects in the pipeline, and educating myself on everything going on in the Town of Montgomery.”

As executive director, Rouhotas will apply his experiences in construction, business, and networking to the IDA’s discussions and procedures. He wants to give residents a voice during meetings and find a balance between promoting the town’s economic growth and preserving the area’s natural beauty. Most importantly, he is a huge advocate for local labor and will support the town’s workers however he can.

“I believe that our blue-collar workers are the backbone of the community and I want to make sure that they’re properly taken care of and represented,” he said. “I want to make sure that they get to put food on the table for their families.”

While Rouhotas is still learning the ropes, he considers the executive director position an exciting, unique opportunity and he looks forward to collaborating with the town’s officials and residents.

“Being an Orange County resident, I’m very honored and excited to be in this role as executive director for the IDA. I look forward to working together with our local leaders, residents, and businesses to attract quality projects and good-paying, long-lasting jobs,” he said. “I also look forward to being involved and making an impact on my community, not only for the current generation but also our future generations.”