Mark Geise – Deputy County Executive for Economic Development

Phone: (716) 661-8900 | Email: GeiseM@chqgov.com

Mark Geise was appointed as Deputy County Executive for Economic Development and Chief Executive Officer of the County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency (CCIDA) in March of 2018. In this capacity, he also serves as the Director of the Department of Planning & Development.

Mr. Geise brings nearly 3 decades of public and private sector business and economic development-related experience to his position. Mark earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Design and a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from the University at Buffalo, and started his career in 1990 as Director of Development for the City of Dunkirk where he served for 2 years. For over a decade following this experience, Mark worked in the glass manufacturing sector, concluding his foray in this field as Plant Manager for ACA Reflective Glass products in Dunkirk. From 2002 through 2009, Mr. Geise was employed as a Senior Planner for Ecology & Environment in Lancaster, NY, an international environmental engineering firm, where he worked as a land-use planner and marketing liaison for Middle East operations. In 2009, Mark was appointed to the position of Deputy Director of Planning & Economic Development for Chautauqua County, where he worked until 2016. After a one-year stint with Jamestown Renaissance Corporation as a Senior Planner, Mr. Geise was appointed as Director of Economic Development for the County of Monroe, where he served for 18 months.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Geise has been successful in a wide variety of economic development-related projects and initiatives. These include developing new programs, processes and procedures for the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency; founding the Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation and serving as its original Executive Director; Project Manager for the award-winning Chautauqua County Comprehensive Plan completed and adopted by the legislature in 2011; Project Manager for the ongoing Chautauqua County Equestrian Trail initiative in Cherry Creek; Project Manager for the Chautauqua Lake Macrophyte Management Strategy; Project Manager for the creation of the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance; Member of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative Team that secured $10 Million of state funds for economic development projects in Jamestown; member of the Western New York Regional Economic Development (REDC) Smart Growth Committee; and member of the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency from 2009 through 2016 (to name a few). Mr. Geise has also been instrumental in securing countless grants through state and regional funding sources for a wide variety of projects in Chautauqua County and elsewhere, and has been the project manager for a number of award-winning planning projects.

Mr. Geise is married to Katie Geise, Executive Director of the Chautauqua County Workforce Investment Board. They have three children; Mark, Aiden and Keely.